Week 2 is already here with the Denver Broncos hosting the Seattle Seahawks in their home opener at Invesco Field.
Last week we saw a "so-so" performance from the Broncos as Seattle went on to completely dominate in their crushing win over the 49ers. As usual, Denver has their work cut out for them if they want any chance at putting up any kind of competition against Seattle. From what I saw against the Jags last week, the Broncos weren't atrocious on the field but I have seen better football from them in the past. But with Pete Carroll as the new HC in Seattle, it's no surprise they are on fire coming into the season and Denver has no choice but to seriously "up" their game tomorrow.
Offense:Kyle Orton vs. Matt Hasselbeck is one match-up to look for on Sunday. With a rating of 108.3 over Orton's 89.8 and overall performance of both QBs, Hasselbeck (with 1 rushing TD) has a stronger advantage of conducting his offense to get the win. He has a strong Oline protecting him in the pocket giving Seattle better opportunities whereas our Oline is still facing Clady's healing injury (among other things). Things were in such bad shape for our Oline in Jacksonville, Clady was uncharacteristically responsible for 2.5 sacks on Orton. Clearly he is not 110% just yet. Look for Seattle's defense to try to exploit his side whether or not Clady plays to try and take advantage of one of our many weak spots. Orton held his own pretty well if you ask me against the Jags and is right now our strongest option for QB and I believe with the home crowd in his corner, that will encourage him even more to conduct our offense to get more TDs but most of all, to play smart football.
Another match-up on offense is the long-long-long awaited debut of Demaryius Thomas on the field. It is very possible we could see the Georgia Tech receiver in Orange & Blue tomorrow. He has been recovering from a reoccurring foot injury - I would love to see this kid play against the 'hawks. Too much talent to be sitting warming up a bench. Along with the rookie, we have Brandon Lloyd as a WR option that nearly stole the thunder from the Jags with what should've been the game-winning TD. This guy is shining very well in McD's system. Also we have the possible return of Eddie Royal, who suffered a "quadriceps" injury last week, you an almost be assured we'll see him back on the field in the home opener. Also in the WR mix for Denver is Daniel Graham (who I didn't see much of last week), Jabar Gaffney (3 for 34 yds & 1 TD) and just maybe they'll play Eric Decker for some plays where he could actually be useful instead of Special Teams. Meanwhile, Seattle's top receivers from week 1 are Mike Williams (4 for 64 yds) & John Carlson (3 for 36 yds) who recorded receptions but no TDs... two of their touchdowns came from 9-year vet Deion Branch (3/11 with 1 TD) and 2nd year WR Deon Butler (1/13 & 1 TD). Their total rushing yards (165) from week 1 were almost doubled by Denver (274), but don't underestimate Seattle. They will be fighting for not only a win but to spoil our home opener.
While I like it better when we pass the ball we have to face reality with our running game. Am I the only one that gets royally annoyed with they try to run the ball up the middle every flippin' time???? Drives me crazy. This is definitely one of our weaker areas. But you have to give credit to Moreno for playing as well as he did (15 for 60 yds & 1 touchdown ) and not getting any extra time to play in pre-season. Biggest concern we face here are no real solid backups and we have the hardest time trying to get anywhere down the field running the ball. I'm still waiting for the moment Moreno gets the chance to break free and run all the way home. That would be a sight to see. Our best bet for a back up is Buckhalter who is also recovering from an injury he sustained at the beginning of training camp. After that, I'm not to keen on our options for running the ball. In more drama for Denver, they picked up Laurence Maroney from the Patriots this week. There has been a lot of mixed feelings over this (rightfully so) but I'll stick with my gut and say until this guy has played for US and gets a fair chance in Denver, I won't stick him on the back burner. Its very likely he could do well here despite his history with injuries. On the other side, there is Julius Jones (8 for 18 yds) and Justin Forsett (7 for 43 yds) who were the top rushers for Seattle last week. Both can pose a big threat for our defense.Overall, I think our offense has a decent chance at taking control of the game but I remind everyone that Seattle completely dominated their home opener. With Pete Carroll in charge, our defense will have to prepared for anything and a tough game. Our offense needs to manage the time better so our defense doesn't get wiped out from being on the field too long.
Defense:
I will say our defense has held its ground despite losing a critical key player in Elvis Dumervil for the season due to a pectoral injury. We all can agree we miss seeing him hit the QB on the field but we have no choice to make do with what we have. Not that I want to revisit the dark moments from last week's game but I have to say it just because it frustrated me to no end. I will be looking to see how well our offense manages the game on their side because it affects the defense physically & mentally. They know it but they never seem to do anything about it. It was more than obvious our D was wearing thin even in the 4th quarter after a 30 minute break due to lightening. We had a lot of mistakes on both sides of the ball, especially with Ryan McBean's 2 unacceptable face mask penalties. That I believe killed the game for us. This team still has the knack for getting penalties and they add up fast. It's ridiculous how many penalties we get in one game. Count on losing more games if that keeps up.
Our brightest moment for the defense came when Robert Ayers got his first career sack on QB David Garrard. Jump for joy everybody!! lol While that was so much I can hardly contain myself, Seattle's defense managed to get 2 sacks and 2 INTs (1 INT-turned -TD for 32 yards). We had a few moments ourselves where we almost had a few interceptions but it didn't happen. I do believe the Seahawks can be contained and while it may not look like it statistically, Denver can be the one to put an end to their 1-0 start. I wouldn't put it past Denver's D to really "Hassle" the "Beck"... hahaha, ok sorry bad joke - probably the only one that got the joke. lol Moving on.......
I hope to see strong games from our starters - defense putting pressure on Hasslebeck while Orton & Co., start managing our offense & time better. Special Teams... uh, what can I say? Not sure it will happen but I would love to see the Squid get a chance or two or three to take punt and/or kick return. The kid is good and very talented. I like what I saw from him in pre-season. I would also say the punts could've been handled better... we gave the Jags one too many opportunities to catch the ball and make a run for it, while a few punts to us went far past the end zone or landed us close to our own end zone. Princess no likey!! I can only hope our boys got a wake up call last Sunday and can make some drastic improvements tomorrow.
League stats with comparisons for tomorrow's game:
***As of now, the Broncos are 14th in the league for points (17) while Seattle is 5th (31 pts)
***Denver is 9th for yards (363) while Seattle is 27th (242)
***Denver is 6th for passing yards (274) while Seattle is 21st (165)
***And big shocker, Denver is 22nd for rushing yards (89) while Seattle is 26th (77)
Obviously, both teams have weak running games but any of the RBs playing tomorrow are capable of breaking free for the long run. Seattle's passing game is far behind Denver when you look at the stats but nevertheless, it will be a test for Denver's secondary. Hasselbeck will need to be contained but unlike last week, all the focus should NOT be put on one particular player. That's the mistake they made when they put all the focus on Jones-Drew and underestimated Garrard. I want Seattle to make that mistake with us. Orton is clearly a very underestimated & underrated QB in this league given his history in Chicago, but Orton continues to improve every time he plays a game. If our Oline can give him the protection he needs, our offense will have a great game. The defense can't afford to let down their guard and there is ZERO room for penalties. We've had enough penalties to last 3 games. Cut it out already! There's my 2 cents.
This is a big game for us even though it's only the 2nd week. We need to start winning and more so because this is our home opener. This is a very BIG deal! Jim Saccomano on DB wrote an interesting, fact-filled blog post about our home opening record . Worth a read. Well, my guess for last week's score was a bit off (being sarcastic there) but I'll give it another go. It will be another close game but the Broncos take the win, 23-20.
Good luck again... GO BRONCOS!!!!
Keep the faith Broncos Country
Extra highlights from Denver-Jacksonville game
17-yard run by Moreno
Orton to Lloyd 41 yard pass
Nice Princess love the article keep them coming. And go Broncos!
ReplyDeleteI don't think this one will be as close as you think. I hope the Broncos show what the Hawks really are and that is weak. I say 30-14.
I think I will be getting up early to watch this game, can't wait!
ReplyDeleteI hope the Broncos can exploit Seattle's weak side as well but I still think it will be a close game, but I will be glad to be proven wrong if they can shut them down 30-14. Seattle is a good team and then they are even better with Carroll leading the ship. If there's one thing I know from college football is Pete Carroll knows what he's doing, college or pro. It will be a challenge but I think we'll win this especially with a home crowd that will not quiet down or be tamed. lol Wish like crazy I could be there. :'(
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has a link to the game please share
ReplyDeleteHere's where I'm watching it Doc.
ReplyDeletehttp://atdhe.net/24444/watch-seattle-seahawks-vs-denver-broncos
I had to download something though.
Half time notes:
ReplyDeleteDJ Williams has made some bad reads in the run game.
Thomas looks like a beast, and Orton has already fallen in love with him.
And interesting to see the Hawks line change from doing zone to a man on man run scheme. Zone wasn't working so went to the man on man (power) scheme in the second and started to move the ball better. At the moment they are out muscling our front.
But so far so good.
Oh yeah Dawkins and Champ are still awesome, loving the turnovers.
ReplyDeleteOne point! Could I get any closer with a prediction.
ReplyDeleteAnd awesome win.
Again Thomas is a beast.
I am still worried about our LBs (who are slow) and the D-line push. But the DBs are good, 3 picks, awesome.
Now that was a football game!!!!!! LOL, nice choice of prediction Aussie. I will proudly say I was WAY off with mine and I am beyond thrilled with this huge win for us. Our next 4 games will be very tough but if they can manage to play like they did today, say hello to more W's.
ReplyDeleteThose penalties add up so fast and we saw the result of that in our week 1 game when we were the ones making the mistakes and it cost us... now we controlled the entire game, Orton was on fire (lovin' having him on the team the more he plays, he's getting so much better), and because we controlled the game, controlled the time of possession we destroyed these guys. Whatever they did this week in preparation for the 'hawks, they need to do that all season long. It worked.
There was a huge drastic change in how we played the game and making less mistakes/penalties was a big part of that. I'm impressed. The week 1 Broncos were a totally different team than this week. One game at a time and we'll be the envy of the league if we keep this up. Will be interesting watching the Colts tonight to see how well they'll come back from a week 1 loss (which I still think is hilarious for a Manning).
And I say we name Thomas the new "Beast" of Denver. Brandon Marshall who??? That kid (if he can stay healthy, God I hope he does) will be a big help to our offense. So exciting seeing him out there, FINALLY! Worth the wait though. And props to my homies on defense, lol, 3 awesome picks. Is it obvious I'm happy about this win?? lol Still some mistakes to work on but it was not nearly as bad as our game in Jacksonville. Huge improvement today.
One thing that ticked me off big time today was that they let Hasslebeck get that rushing TD. He went completely untouched. He might as well have just walked into the endzone. Not cool... not cool at all. Funny thing is I kept telling myself on that play that they were going to sack him and they did the complete opposite. Go figure that one out?!
ReplyDeleteOrton was on fire??? Hardly. OK game though and WRs did great. I agree on Thomas. We still have Decker and Willis waiting in the wings too.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of the game(not trying to ruin the spirit) is it was a lot like last week. The difference, turnovers. The ball bounced our way today. Don't get overly confident about it. We did have some long drives which gave us the win in time of possesion also. That helps.
I am pleased, but it was just the Seachickens and it was at home. No matter what the result, you still have to look at the problems, which are still the same.
1)Can't run(38-65, 1.7 ypc)
2)Can't stop the run(20-109 5.5 ypc)
3)No pressure on opposing QBs.
4)Kick coverage. Other than the fumble recovery.
This game was far from being "a lot like last week". Why is it when we win a game, a great game, people still go the extra mile to point out every single negative thing and can't appreciate the effort these guys put in today?? Yeah I know our running game sucks... enough so, its hard to say we even have a running game and in the last 2 games in particular we haven't put pressure on the other QBs at all (except the 1 time Ayers sacked Garrard). I never said this team was perfect, they are far from it but give these guys some credit for today. They did not play like they did last week at all. That is some major BS right there. I'm not saying either though that we'll win it all this season based on this one game, that's not I see things. I'm not sitting on cloud 9 thinking we've got this season in the bank or that we don't need to try anymore now that we beat the 'hawks... I'm not delusional. The way the 'hawks played their game against the 49ers was how we played today... total domination. We controlled the game from the start. Made plenty of errors, enough to let them score on us, twice, that Hasslebeck TD is still on my nerves. Clearly, we don't put pressure on the opposing QBs. I'm not blind.
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked past our problems. I know we have problems, I'm not in denial about any of it but they played a great football game today. And clearly we don't see eye to eye on much at all, but compared to the few moments Hasslebeck was on the field, Orton was most definitely on fire. He managed that game just like I had been hoping for, enough so that our D weren't the ones getting completely worn out. They made improvements... give them some credit. The home crowd helped, this being the home opener gave them momentum but they played this game all on their own. Now, they will have their annual challenge when they face Indy at home next week. Indy is never easy, they will have to seriously "up" their game again if they want a chance to win that game. Talk about fixing the problems. We held Seattle to NOTHING in the first half, that's something to be proud about... the Broncos clearly fought for this win.
Again I'm not writing off their problems, they are there and they need to be fixed. But for once, enjoy the win, would ya??
Also saw that Champ may be out for next week's game. That could be deadly for our D. He was a key player for our defense against the Hawks. Good news though is he shouldn't be out for long... I can only hope. Drama, drama, drama.....
ReplyDeleteI sure am enjoying this one Princess! As some people would say "its just entertainment."
ReplyDeleteHaha yes 80# and you have to joy the entertainment today.
ReplyDeleteI am with Princess, enjoy the win, it isn' how you win, but that you win and that is what we did today.
I see problems like Digger says and the team can improve. But I like where we are at, just need to get better and put up a good game against the Colts.
In the spirit of the old Digger(for you 80), did you see the total domination Sunday? Holy cow, we smoked the Seahawks. The same team who smoked the 49ers last week. We controlled the clock and beat them by at least 10 minutes on time of possion. Had the old bend but don't break defense going. Shuting them out in the first half. Thomas was unreal. No INTs by Orton and the OL looked like they did alright IMO. Very happy and feel we match up fairly well with Indy next week. We will need some breaks again because they ARE the better team. We have a good shot though at home. Need to get pressure on Manning to get him flustered.
ReplyDelete