Run, Forrest, run!
Running down a dream.
Can't stop. Can't stop the running game.
And now our Denver Broncos are in a three-way tie for 2nd-place in the AFC West and stampeded straight into playoff contention in a weak division. Who would have ever thought we'd be in the playoff hunt after that terrible 1-4 start?
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| Okay, maybe they weren't exactly Tebowed...but Denver sure did run over the Cheifs. |
On Denver's first possession of the game Tebow ran the ball to the right, waited for his offensive line to give him a hole, and went 7 yards into the endzone for the first touchdown of the day.
To begin the second quarter, Denver expanded their play book, by letting Tebow attempt a pass. It was long and downfield, but incomplete, just behind the receiver. To finish the second quarter Tebow was 0-3 in passing attempts, but went into the half leading 10-0.
To finish the game Denver kept running. It became obvious that KC could not stop the Broncos on the ground. The KC defense usually had one player assigned to mirror Tebow. He would follow Tebow where-ever he went on the field to make sure that the QB didn't get passed the defense. But this defensive scheme took a player out of the equation because they were so focused on Tebow. This created many opportunities for the offensive line to make holes for the running backs.
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| Decker catches a TD pass in stride |
“We know Tim Tebow can make those clutch throws like that," said John Elway on Monday morning. "You can’t throw a better pass than Tim Tebow made in that situation.”
According to ESPN, Tim Tebow is the fifth quarterback since 1980 to throw all of his team's passes, complete two or fewer and still win the game.
This was another team win. Tebow managed the game well, the offensive line blocked well, the running backs ran well, and the defense made sure that KC consistently got off the field every possession they had.
It may not have been a pretty win. But it was traditional John Fox football. Run the ball and make stops on defense. It might be ugly, but it's working. The Broncos are now 3-1 with Tebow starting this season and 1-4 without him starting.
"It's just a mindset. It's a low-risk offense. It's not an indictment on Tim Tebow or whoever our quarterback is," Broncos coach John Fox said. "It's just whatever is working for us. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. We tried to possess the ball and keep our defense fresh."
So let's see how long this read-option offense can work in the NFL! Denver even expanded the option offense today, putting in a couple triple-option plays, where Tebow has the option to hand the ball off to a running back, run the ball himself, or dump the ball of to a receiver on the end. Today, it looked like the NFL might not know what's hit it. So look out. Here come the 2nd-place Broncos with their crazy read-option offense.
Offensive Line:
Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post wrote last week that there might be one thing that Josh McDaniels did right for the Broncos. Drafting of our offensive linemen Walton and Beadles.
Now, I have been very critical of our offensive line this season, but I was impressed with them in the last two victories over Oakland and KC. Against KC the offensive line did a great job. Most of that has to do with the conservative game plan; they didn't have to protect a passing QB very often. The line's run blocking was fantastic and created opportunities for our runners to get yards. It's good to see the Broncos getting back to the basics of running well, especially after such bad years with our runnings backs. I'm giving the offensive line all the credit for getting our running game going over the last few games.
Defensive Improvements:
The Denver defense is starting to show how much they have improved from last year. The speed of the pass rush is beginning to get to opposing quarterbacks, which is why Elway drafted Von Miller #2 overall. Elvis Dumervil is finally starting to get healthy and back to his 2009 form. He had 1.5 sacks against the Chiefs and pressured Matt Cassel many other times. The combination of Dumervil and Miller is starting to be what the Broncos had hoped for all season.
Chris Harris, an undrafted rookie CB, made a couple big plays against the Chiefs as well. The story of an undrafted rookie making a name for himself in the starting line up is always a feel-good story, and Harris is beginning to be recognized.
Quotes
"Lance has been with us for a while, everybody knows what he can do and has confidence in him so we felt like he could get it done for us." --Willis McGahee
"I think the offense did an amazing job today, we lost two running backs and still didn't lose a beat. Hats off to the offense, to Tim Tebow, Willis McGahee. Lance ball, he really carried the team on his back and hats off to him too." Von Miller
"It's a great team win"-- Elvis Dumervil
"We just have the same mentality that we have every week. If we get up and make them pass, me and Elvis, our mindset is we gotta get there. This is our role on the team to supply pass rush for us and I think we got that done today" --Von Miller
"We been working, we've been through a lot of adversity, a lot of tough times. This win just shows the character we have in our locker room. We just going to keep on pushing. Keep on taking it one play at a time." --Von Miller
Next Week:
The Broncos will face the NY Jets at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Thursday Night Football. The Jets will be coming to Denver on only three days rest after losing a heart-breaking game to New England on Sunday Night at The New Medowlands, 37-16. On Sunday, the Jet's defense gave up the most points at home since Rex Ryan took over as head coach.
Ryan is known for traditionally having great defenses on his teams, and the question of the week will be: How will the Jets defend against Denver's read-option offense?
Cris Collinsworth of NBC Sports said during the broadcast on Sunday night that Denver's offense is "the craziest [he's] ever seen". It's un-traditional and unorthodox in the NFL, and as Oakland and KC proved teams are not prepared to defend against it. The Jets will continue the trend and struggle to stop the Broncos and their wacky offense led by Tebow and company. The short week and cross country flight, combined with altitude, will not allow New York to prepare. It will be even more confusing for the Jets because they just faced new England's pass-centric offense which is the complete opposite of what the Broncos are running.
My prediction: Jets 17 - Broncos 23.
Main Keys to the Game:
To win against The New York Jets, Denver will need to do the following:
1) Keep the Pressure on Sanchez. As New England showed on Sunday night when Sanchez is under consistent pressure he starts making very poor decisions. Sanchez has also struggled to play at a consistently high level for an entire four quarters this season. Denver needs to step up the pressure and keep Dumervil and Miller coming at Sanchez and creating havoc for the New York offense.
2) Champ Bailey covering Paxico Burress. Burress is starting to make a comeback into the NFL in recent weeks. He was disappointed with his early season performance and went back to watch tape of his years with the Giants to see what he's doing differently now. Whatever he found out, he's gotten much better catching a lot of touchdown passes for the Jets. Champ Bailey will have to show he still has his all-star caliber play in him and shutdown the Sanchez to Burress connection.
3) Expand the playbook for Tebow. I think that the Jets defense is much better than Oakland's or KC's. Running the ball 55 times and passing 8 times will not work against a Rex Ryan led defense. The Broncos will need to have a less conservative game plan that allows for Tebow to find a rhythm passing the ball. Tebow has shown that when he can find a rhythm in his passing game (like against Miami and Oakland) he can be successful. Fox will need to give him this opportunity. Tebow's throws, both deep and short, will have to be more accurate. Against KC Tebow nearly hit his receivers in the hands on every incompletion but one. If the receivers don't have to slow up or reach for the ball and Tebow improves his accuracy the offense will confuse the Jets enough to score points to win.
I'm not saying let Tebow go crazy throwing the ball, but 15-20 pass attempts will be needed in the game with better accuracy from Tebow.
Finally, Denver's offense will need to increase their speed of play. New England demonstrated on Sunday night that a hurry up offense is difficult for the Jets to defend. New York had trouble getting set before Brady got the plays off. Tebow has been successful at running a no huddle offense before, and if the Broncos start the game with this the Jet's defense will tire quickly, especially playing at altitude on a short week.
4) Stop the run. Rex Ryan loves to run the ball and control the clock, and make stops with his defense. The Denver defense will need to such down the running game to force Sanchez to beat them with the pass.
Beer of the Week:
The Trickster Stout at the Southern Sun is actually the brewery's Black IPA. It's made with lots of simcoe hops to give it a very hoppy/citris flavor to begin and finishes with the taste of dark roasted malts. One of my favorite beers they serve and I'm glad to see it on tap before stout month starts in February!
Drew Litton Comic of the Week:
Here's this week's comic!
Other NFL Thoughts of the Week:
Buffalo may have lost a terrible game to Dallas, showing that they might not be as good as everyone hoped. But the one great moment of the game is when David Nelson of the Bills caught a TD pass and ran 100 yards to give the ball to his girlfriend, a cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys. She didn't know what to do with the ball. Here's the video:
If that video doesn't work, here is the link to the replay on the NFL site.
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