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Broncos @ Bengals GDT

broncosfan07

By broncosfan07
in Denver Broncos

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BroncoBruin

BroncoBruin

Posted
Posted

Some individual shout outs to players who have gotten better and better and contributed to this team's improvement.

 

Lindsay, Sutton, Chubb - Obvious. All three look like future superstars. That's a franchise-changing draft haul. 

Billy Turner - Whether at RT or one of the guard spots, he's excellent depth at worst going forward or can be a solid starter. Can probably be re-signed at a reasonable rate, that's a must to me.

Todd Davis - Everyone's favorite player to bash on has only improved over time. He's actually really sound in coverage if you limit the space he has to cover. Just keep him out of those situations and he's a plus player. Really great instincts. 

Shelby Harris - They should actually think about re-signing him ASAP before he gets too expensive. He's a borderline Pro Bowl player with more snaps and is exactly what we've missed since Malik left.

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Broncofan

Broncofan

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Got called into work last-minute, so I didn't get to watch, just caught up a quick rewind.

As always, the negative first, but not much today...

1.  Keenum / 1H pass O - man, we just aren't going far with our pass O.   We could afford to with the Bengals' misery, but that 1H normally kills us against good teams.  And the thing is, the opps were there - there was a lot more play-action - and yet Keenum was not on target.  Frankly, even the big plays were more on the WR's making plays than him throwing guys open.  Still, it didn't hurt us, but it will against good teams.

2.  The injuries - we have S depth, but losing Harris is a killer.  We just can't replace him.   CIN lost AJG and they had no answer for Von & co., which is the only reason this didn't get exposed further.   The only silver lining - as long as it's a clean break, and simple fracture (unlike Alex Smith), he should be totally fine long-term.  Still, it's a huge blow.   And while Derek Wolfe isn't the same as his 2015-6 self, that's still a big loss, if it's more than this week.   We'll need our front 7 to be great, because our secondary is very exposed now.   And while Todd Davis played better today for sure, we need to have Josey Jewell back.   When we play in altitude, or get on the field for longer ToP on D, we will wear down without our ILB's in full rotation.  

3.  Our pass coverage - it was actually quite soft.  The #'s won't show it, but given how much havoc our pass rush was creating, we had our guys playing incredibly back in off-coverage.  We can get away with it vs. a depleted CIN team, but don't like that as much when we face better QB's who get even a quarter-second more.   Still, I can get behind the explanation it was gamescript...but it bears watching.

Really, that's about it, for now at least.   I'll leave a more in-depth review by @lomaxgrUK as I'm travelling (again) for the missed negatives (& missed positives), but I'm sure there are others, but RL comes first.

The positives....

1.  Lindsay / Sutton - we shouldn't expect this kind of greatness each week from Sutton, as he's still learning.  But we got a full glimpse of what he can do - he just outlept / wrestled the CB for the big plays (he did get away with an OPI on the last catch, but masking that is also part of the game - don't extend your arm, and refs often don't call that).   He's still going to have his ups and downs, but that was great to see for him.  Not much we can say about Lindsay that hasn't already been said - he's just a beast.  

2.  Shelby Harris - he really dominated inside.   Man, we really do need to extend him this offseason after he gets the no-brainer 2nd rd RFA.  

3.  Von Miller - he wasn't just a beast in pass rush, he totally destroyed the run plays and RPO's his way.   There was also a really bogus penalty for illegal hands to the face where he literally pushed the RT on his *** with a legal chest blow.   Just at his peak, it's a sight to behold.

4.  The commitment to run - while we have a ton of work left in the pass game (and nothing's really changed with Keenum, he is what he is, not much we can do to change him), if we are close or leading, we've gotten away from running when we have a D on the ropes.   This wasn't one of those games.   Should give props for Musgrave, although it was probably the easiest game to see that as an obvious priority.

5.  TO's, field position and ToP - we were the better team going in, and we basically didn't commit the mistakes that allow worse talent teams to catch up.   It was really stark how bad a team CIN is - they lead the league in penalties each year - and it was on full display today.   

This was a game we should have won - and the team did nothing but deliver  (even the TO was an effort play, hard to fault a young guy for it).    But it's also one that likely costs us a real shot at playoffs - which TBH, I'm fine with, because I've still held we aren't a true contender yet - good teams will destroy us in our present form, and certainly now with our best defender out for the season, and with our pass O very easy to defend.    But, the young core is such a good reason to be optimistic about.   

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AKRNA

AKRNA

Posted
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1 hour ago, Broncofan said:

Got called into work last-minute, so I didn't get to watch, just caught up a quick rewind.

As always, the negative first, but not much today...

1.  Keenum / 1H pass O - man, we just aren't going far with our pass O.   We could afford to with the Bengals' misery, but that 1H normally kills us against good teams.  And the thing is, the opps were there - there was a lot more play-action - and yet Keenum was not on target.  Frankly, even the big plays were more on the WR's making plays than him throwing guys open.  Still, it didn't hurt us, but it will against good teams.

2.  The injuries - we have S depth, but losing Harris is a killer.  We just can't replace him.   CIN lost AJG and they had no answer for Von & co., which is the only reason this didn't get exposed further.   The only silver lining - as long as it's a clean break, and simple fracture (unlike Alex Smith), he should be totally fine long-term.  Still, it's a huge blow.   And while Derek Wolfe isn't the same as his 2015-6 self, that's still a big loss, if it's more than this week.   We'll need our front 7 to be great, because our secondary is very exposed now.   And while Todd Davis played better today for sure, we need to have Josey Jewell back.   When we play in altitude, or get on the field for longer ToP on D, we will wear down without our ILB's in full rotation.  

3.  Our pass coverage - it was actually quite soft.  The #'s won't show it, but given how much havoc our pass rush was creating, we had our guys playing incredibly back in off-coverage.  We can get away with it vs. a depleted CIN team, but don't like that as much when we face better QB's who get even a quarter-second more.   Still, I can get behind the explanation it was gamescript...but it bears watching.

Really, that's about it, for now at least.   I'll leave a more in-depth review by @lomaxgrUK as I'm travelling (again) for the negatives, but I'm sure there are others, but RL comes first.

The positives....

1.  Lindsay / Sutton - we shouldn't expect this kind of greatness each week from Sutton, as he's still learning.  But we got a full glimpse of what he can do - he just outlept / wrestled the CB for the big plays (he did get away with an OPI on the last catch, but masking that is also part of the game - don't extend your arm, and refs often don't call that).   He's still going to have his ups and downs, but that was great to see for him.  Not much we can say about Lindsay that hasn't already been said - he's just a beast.  

2.  Shelby Harris - he really dominated inside.   Man, we really do need to extend him this offseason after he gets the no-brainer 2nd rd RFA.  

3.  Von Miller - he wasn't just a beast in pass rush, he totally destroyed the run plays and RPO's his way.   There was also a really bogus penalty for illegal hands to the face where he literally pushed the RT on his *** with a legal chest blow.   Just at his peak, it's a sight to behold.

4.  The commitment to run - while we have a ton of work left in the pass game (and nothing's really changed with Keenum, he is what he is, not much we can do to change him), if we are close or leading, we've gotten away from running when we have a D on the ropes.   This wasn't one of those games.   Should give props for Musgrave, although it was probably the easiest game to see that as an obvious priority.

5.  TO's, field position and ToP - we were the better team going in, and we basically didn't commit the mistakes that allow worse talent teams to catch up.   It was really stark how bad a team CIN is - they lead the league in penalties each year - and it was on full display today.   

This was a game we should have won - and the team did nothing but deliver  (even the TO was an effort play, hard to fault a young guy for it).    But it's also one that likely costs us a real shot at playoffs - which TBH, I'm fine with, because I've still held we aren't a true contender yet - good teams will destroy us in our present form, and certainly now with our best defender out for the season, and with our pass O very easy to defend.    But, the young core is such a good reason to be optimistic about.   

Thats a bit much hyperbole don't you think? We've played the best the NFL has to offer and haven't been "destroyed" yet.

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Broncofan

Broncofan

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8 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

Thats a bit much hyperbole don't you think? We've played the best the NFL has to offer and haven't been "destroyed" yet.

Fair enough - we play the best teams and keep winning the TO battle 6-0, we'll be close.  Without Chris Harris - remember, present form.

 

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AnAngryAmerican

AnAngryAmerican

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I'll admit I was pretty nervous going into yesterday but getting a convincing win went a long way to make me a believer in this team. Do I think Vance or Case are the long-term answer in their respective roles? No, even if we win out and get help and get the No. 6 seed I still think the best bet for the long-term interest of the franchise would be to move on from both. 

That being said, this is the type of game that we very well could have lost and we didn't just escape with a win, like we did the last two weeks against Pittsburgh and San Diego, but we won convincingly. 

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