The Officially Official 2015 Denver Broncos

[Spirit]

Meh.  But hey ... it's a win. 

 

 

 

[bloodbrother]

Peyton is done. 2nd half of the season last year is when it started and it's just continued into this season. His arm is completely shot....he'sl ike a Chad Pennington these days. Was tough to watch

 

 

Their D looks solid, though

[Spirit]

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

I'm not going to say he's done yet since the O-line either looked incredibly bad or Baltimore's D-line looked incredibly good.  That said I don't expect them to win Thursday in KC and if the O-line and/or Peyton don't improve then it's going to be a long season.

 

Edit - for the record this is probably mostly homerism on my part.  Manning looked pretty bad but I'm hoping the two times he overthrew a wide open Sanders for TD's it was due to the offense still getting acclimated to Kubiak's scheme.  I definitely avoided Peyton in fantasy drafts given where he was going and one of my friends who took him in two leagues is already in panic mode and I understand why.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Catwhoshatinthehat

[Brandon]

Thursday kids

[nate]

PM is a good man though.  I never understood how anyone could hate him.

 

http://thebiglead.com/2015/09/16/peyton-manning-flew-fan-dying-of-breast-cancer-to-game-in-denver/

[Tank]

PM is a good man though.  I never understood how anyone could hate him.

 

http://thebiglead.com/2015/09/16/peyton-manning-flew-fan-dying-of-breast-cancer-to-game-in-denver/

 

i always enjoy reading these kinds of stories. wish more athletes did stuff like this, and am grateful for those who do but without much fanfare.

[nate]

I think the Chiefs win this by a touchdown.  Peyton is too old to create for himself now, he needs play makers and he doesn't have them.

[Spirit]

Thursday kids

[nate]

That was a great game.  The D is unbelievable.  I still saw receivers confused about what routes they were running or just loafing it.  Clearly an adjustment to the Kubiak offense.

[Spirit]

I love that our offense is still a hot mess, but we're 2-0.

[Spirit]

Offense looked better last night, but still not there yet.  Still ... I'll take 3-0 any day! 

[nate]

Peyton from the shotgun is totally different from being under center.  Again makes me wonder why the Broncos wanted to F with the offense.  If you had a good RB that is one thing, but the Broncos RBs are weak.

[arch stanton]

Elway wanted Kubiak while he was available. They'll eventually find a middle ground that works.

The impressive thing to this longtime Broncos fan is how good the Wade Phillips defense has been. Definitely not the same one that got shredded by the 49ers in the Super Bowl 25 years ago. It's a nice change from recent years to see them make big 3rd down stops and get turnovers.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

As Arch pointed out and I mentioned in another thread they view Kubiak as their long term answer at coach while Manning might be done after this season.  They wanted Kubiak to take over for Shannahan but the opportunity in Houston came up for Kubiak before Denver was ready to move on from Shannahan.  The Broncos had one of the best RB statistically the last half of 2014 while averaging 112 yards on the ground per a game vs. 57 yards per game on the ground through the first 3 games this year.  I think CJ and Hillman are a good combination of power back/smaller quicker back but a lot of the issues are still on the O-line.  During last nights game the announcers mentioned something that I agree with which is that even though they have some talent on the line and it can be productive this is the first time they've played together and it will take time to mesh.  I think they should also be using the RB's more for check down passes as this year they're doing it less frequently and much less effectively than they did last year.   

 

The pistol or shotgun formations are definitely better for Peyton but at some point they have to be able to run the ball with some effectiveness.  Against tougher opponents and/or in the playoffs you need to be able to control the clock to give your defense a break and keep the opposing offense off the field.  The defense alone won't be able to keep them in a game against a team like NE because at a point they will tire and will need the offense to pick up the slack.       

 

The defense has been huge so far this year but they still have a knack for taking dumb penalties, generally in the form of an unsportsmanlike conduct.  Against KC they had 2 on one drive that helped KC move 30 yards and saw them score and they had one last night night where Williams went in late and high on Stafford who was sliding.  Statistically maybe they're average in this regard and this is me watching more of their games but it still makes them seem undisciplined.  They're 3-0 which is great and they could have a 2 game lead on SD/KC after tonight but there's definitely still room for improvement.   

[Tank]

last night they showed a stat about how peyton performs taking the snap under center, taking it in the shotgun, and taking it in the pistol. i found myself going the pistol?? anyone got an answer?

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Pistol formation is the middle ground between taking snaps under center and the shotgun formation.  In the shotgun formation the quarterback is 7 yards back and it's generally a passing play while in the pistol he's 4 yards back with the RB lined up behind him which can be a pass or run play.  The Broncos coach prefers a zone blocking run first scheme which generally has the QB under center.  The issues for Denver with that are that you need to be able to run the ball effectively and your QB has to be mobile because if it's a pass play he's got to be quick and able to roll out if pressured.  Right now Denver can't run the ball for shit and Peyton although more athletic than given credit for in his younger days is 39 years old and needs help taking his cleats off at this point.  Counting on a guy who never ran that type of offense to pull it off at 39 is basically feeding him to the wolves.         

[Tank]

thanks, cat. had never heard of it and wasn't aware manning was doing anything different. i'll look for it next time.

[Glen]

last night they showed a stat about how peyton performs taking the snap under center, taking it in the shotgun, and taking it in the pistol. i found myself going the pistol?? anyone got an answer?

Taking it in the pistol sounds painful.

[Tank]

Taking it in the pistol sounds painful.

 

i imagine the prostate isn't very happy about it, either.

[Spirit]

4-0 ugly  >>>>>  2-2 pretty

[nate]

The offense still looks confused at times.  On that second interception by Manning you could tell that he expected Thomas to make his break earlier.  His passes look so bad now though, the arm strength is totally shot and teams are definitely banking on him not being able to go down field.

 

The OL missed a few blocking responsibilities but the run blocking looked much better.  Minnesota has a good D.

[Spirit]

This feels a lot like our team from 4 years ago where they totally relied on the D to win games.  Only this time Manning is playing the role of Tebow. 

[Spirit]

5

[nate]

Peyton starts the season 5-0 for the 7th time.  Most in NFL history.

 

This season really is not him and all the D but that is beside the point.

 

I didn't watch but looking at stats it looks like another ugly game.