Week 17 GDT: Broncos @ KC Chiefs @ 11:00 AM MST

[Zukhyubern]

6 hours ago, AKRNA said:

Not one person on this forum would have figured that was possible except @Zukhyubern.

Thank you 😆 

 

[broncosfan07]

More than anything I’d chalk this up as a team that wanted to end a losing streak and played hard but got outplayed. 

Probably will get destroyed next week but it is the Chargers so wouldn’t be surprised to see us dominate them just cause.

[germ-x]

5 hours ago, broncos67 said:

Impressed with the effort today. We've lost nine games by 7 points or less. The coaching issues and injury issues completely wrecked this team at the margins. Compounded by awful playcalling, a bad OL, and Russ being out of sorts.

Liked what I saw from Rosburg. Seems to have the respect of some guys which is good. Don't think he stands a chance at HC, however.

Anyway, at least the season is almost over. Another wasted year. Hopefully it gets figured out next year.

I do think Rosburg is giving everything he has to win this job based off of his conferences.  Even if he won this last 2 games he was going to be a long shot, though.

There is more to it, but the biggest thing Rosburg is bringing is accountability.  Montrell Washington being a great example.  I get Washington is a rookie, has a lot of upside and hopefully develops into a good player, but he has been an absolutely pathetic returner this year and a complete liability as a punt returner because he can’t catch the ball to begin with.  Stukes and Hackett had him back there all season.  Rosburg has him inactive.  This is the NFL, it’s not a charity or a developmental league, the roster should understand that if you aren’t getting the job done we will find someone who will.  

[germ-x]

Even Rosburg’s response on Albert O playing.  He jumped him the entire TE depth chart.

I 100% believe in meritocracy in sports, as I just posted with Montrell Washington, but there is ABSOLUTELY no way Albert O is the last TE on this teams depth chart based off of the play from that position this year.

I know @lomaxgrUK pointed out he was awful, and he’s definitely not a world beater, but on this roster with a team lacking in weapons, the 6’5” 260 pounder that runs a 4.5 (that alone creates matchup problems) should be getting reps and should’ve been getting them all year. 

[AKRNA]

1 hour ago, germ-x said:

Even Rosburg’s response on Albert O playing.  He jumped him the entire TE depth chart.

I 100% believe in meritocracy in sports, as I just posted with Montrell Washington, but there is ABSOLUTELY no way Albert O is the last TE on this teams depth chart based off of the play from that position this year.

I know @lomaxgrUK pointed out he was awful, and he’s definitely not a world beater, but on this roster with a team lacking in weapons, the 6’5” 260 pounder that runs a 4.5 (that alone creates matchup problems) should be getting reps and should’ve been getting them all year. 

I wonder how much of it was Dulcich going on IR?

[lomaxgrUK]

I just cant get onboard with any criticism of Albert O's lack of playing time. His blocking was that bad, id say he was a danger to his teammates. 

If you are an excellent pass catching TE then you can (begrudgingly) accept blocking deficiency. But Albert simply isnt that because he doesnt catch the ball well. 

[Broncofan]

Yesterday showed that we still have issues where we knew - Bad OL, no cover ILB, thin DL.   And yes, Russell Wilson has several areas to work on.  
 

But we also saw far better play scheming with moving Russ around, and using the RB mismatches.   Frankly the Sutton OPI call  changed  the momentum.   Putting up 3 TD’s on the road with our limitations was a really good sign.  
 

The lack of OL protection made intermediate-deep ball throws almost impossible.   It highlights why we need such a big IOL upgrade at RT/C/G.    But even with that - we used Edmonds and the TE more and we had Russ running in the RZ.  That’s the type of O we envisioned.   Imagine Dulcich and Hamler/Patrick back at WR3 and complete RB’s with an upgraded OL - that’s reason to believe the O can be a lot better in 2023.  

 

And OMG we played so much better on ST.   Hinton might be our 2023 answer - no he’s not likely to get the TD but getting 5–10 yards on every return and the odd bigger one, and making the right return decisions every time, was such a big diff.  
 

I don’t know how ppl can think Hackett wasn’t a massive liability for us after yesterday.   I think it should have been obvious b4 but it should have been plain as day yesterday for all to see.  It doesn’t mean all of our problems are fixed simply by his departure - but I think we can all see much better days ahead provided we upgrade the OL and get the right HC/OC hire.    The other areas are far easier to fix IMO (DL depth and cover LB).  
 

 

Edited January 2 by Broncofan

[Broncofan]

4 hours ago, broncosfan07 said:

More than anything I’d chalk this up as a team that wanted to end a losing streak and played hard but got outplayed. 

Probably will get destroyed next week but it is the Chargers so wouldn’t be surprised to see us dominate them just cause.

I took DEN +13.5 as my most confident play yesterday and will almost certainly repeat next week.   The post-Hackett effect is very legit imo.  

[7DnBrnc53]

5 hours ago, germ-x said:

There is more to it, but the biggest thing Rosburg is bringing is accountability.  Montrell Washington being a great example.  I get Washington is a rookie, has a lot of upside and hopefully develops into a good player, but he has been an absolutely pathetic returner this year and a complete liability as a punt returner because he can’t catch the ball to begin with.  Stukes and Hackett had him back there all season.  Rosburg has him inactive.  This is the NFL, it’s not a charity or a developmental league, the roster should understand that if you aren’t getting the job done we will find someone who will.  

Reminds me when Elway was putting Isaiah McKenzie out there against the Pats to return punts even though he was fumbling. 

[broncos67]

The obvious key to success with Russ is getting him on the move. He doesn't have to be Justin Fields, but the ability to pick up 5-10 yards on occasion pays big dividends and keeps the defense honest. Clearly we saw a bit more of that and no surprise, the offense moved the ball better.

[germ-x]

6 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

I just cant get onboard with any criticism of Albert O's lack of playing time. His blocking was that bad, id say he was a danger to his teammates. 

If you are an excellent pass catching TE then you can (begrudgingly) accept blocking deficiency. But Albert simply isnt that because he doesnt catch the ball well. 

He’s a terrible blocker.  Even climbing to the 2nd level there’s no aggression, it’s clearly not something he really wants to do.  On 2 occasions he’d just punch at defenders running by him. 

On a team that lost its #3 and #4 WRs for much of the season and their receiving TE missing 10 games Albert O being inactive since week 5 is a joke on a team lacking talent for receiving options.  Having Brandon Johnson and Freddie Swain and even Montrell Washington active as receiving options over Albert O is poor player management, pure and simple.  The team has 3 TEs active that can block in Tomlinson, Saubert, and Beck. 

I am not going to include all of the statistics, but Albert O is also someone whom Wilson targets and is statistically comparable to the combined contributions of Johnson, Swain, and Washington as receivers this season and Hackett and company chose to activate the trio over him.

[broncosfan_101]

3 hours ago, broncos67 said:

The obvious key to success with Russ is getting him on the move. He doesn't have to be Justin Fields, but the ability to pick up 5-10 yards on occasion pays big dividends and keeps the defense honest. Clearly we saw a bit more of that and no surprise, the offense moved the ball better.

I mean, just getting him out from behind the OL with bootlegs and moving pockets, his vision very clearly increases.

3 hours ago, germ-x said:

He’s a terrible blocker.  Even climbing to the 2nd level there’s no aggression, it’s clearly not something he really wants to do.  On 2 occasions he’d just punch at defenders running by him. 

On a team that lost its #3 and #4 WRs for much of the season and their receiving TE missing 10 games Albert O being inactive since week 5 is a joke on a team lacking talent for receiving options.  Having Brandon Johnson and Freddie Swain and even Montrell Washington active as receiving options over Albert O is poor player management, pure and simple.  The team has 3 TEs active that can block in Tomlinson, Saubert, and Beck. 

I am not going to include all of the statistics, but Albert O is also someone whom Wilson targets and is statistically comparable to the combined contributions of Johnson, Swain, and Washington as receivers this season and Hackett and company chose to activate the trio over him.

Yeah, I’m kinda between you and George. Albert is a net negative, not gonna be on the roster next season. But for a team as currently starved for playmakers as we are, I think there are 15-20 snaps a game where you can line him up out wide and look for some mismatches. Never in-line, not even once. But this isn’t like a Philip Lindsay situation where you’re 100% transparent in your play call when he’s on the field. You can still run the ball in 12 personnel with Albert out wide. 

[germ-x]

18 minutes ago, broncosfan_101 said:

Yeah, I’m kinda between you and George. Albert is a net negative, not gonna be on the roster next season. But for a team as currently starved for playmakers as we are, I think there are 15-20 snaps a game where you can line him up out wide and look for some mismatches. Never in-line, not even once. But this isn’t like a Philip Lindsay situation where you’re 100% transparent in your play call when he’s on the field. You can still run the ball in 12 personnel with Albert out wide. 

That’s basically where I am at.  I by no means think Albert O. is a superstar.  He has the size and athleticism to be, but he can’t match the physicality of the game and is more athlete than football player.

I am more of Rosburg’s take though.  Basically we have a 6’5” 260 pound incredible athlete on a team that needs receiving options and we have him inactive for 10 or so weeks and are running out guys like Johnson, Swain, and Washington.

That’s not even getting into the fact that in the little bit he’s played he’s a player Wilson has actually targeted relatively often in a small sample size.

 

[lomaxgrUK]

3 hours ago, broncosfan_101 said:

You can still run the ball in 12 personnel with Albert out wide. 

But then i just don't think he creates mismatches when Defense just covers him with a Safety in that scenario. His contested catch ability isnt good enough. 

But either way, i get the point about how you may as well just play him. 

[broncos67]

2 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

But then i just don't think he creates mismatches when Defense just covers him with a Safety in that scenario. His contested catch ability isnt good enough. 

But either way, i get the point about how you may as well just play him. 

if nothing else, he would've or could've been useful in mismatches near the goal line given his athleticism. He's gone next season regardless I'd imagine. Dulcich has potential to be the real deal. Could absolutely see him making a Top 8 TE type of jump next year.  He's got an obvious connection with Russ and he's a good athlete.