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Broncos revamp defense during bye week

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

From the ‘information we could have used before we made our picks department’ the Broncos spent their off week switching their defense back to the system they used last season.

As reported by Fox Sports:

“We just don’t have the personnel to play it,” said one Denver insider.

Denver entered last nights game as the 32nd ranked defense against the run and 27th in points allowed.

They gave up 4.6 yards a carry to the Steelers and 28 points overall, but on a whole they were a much better unit.

PFW Whispers Review - July

Monday, July 9th, 2007

Pro Football Weekly’s usually weekly compilation of whispers comes out monthly during the offseason.

The team release July’s notes on Monday and in it were a few noteworthy tidbits.

• Following up on earlier news today that Brandon Stokely and Rod Smith will probably miss their mini-camp, “word out of Denver is that the declining 37-year-old Rod Smith could have a difficult time making it out of camp.”
• With Thomas Jones no longer in the picture, Bears RB Cedric Benson is thrilled to be carrying the load and eager to do so. We’re told the team earnestly believes he’s the better player between the two backs.
• Although he has to defer to Seahawks defensive coordinator John Marshall, new assistant head coach/secondary coach Jim Mora appears to have taken on a major role implementing the team’s defensive scheme. It’s worth noting that Mora had great success as the Niners’ defensive coordinator working with multifaceted OLB Julian Peterson, who is now the Seattle defense’s top playmaker.

PFW also reported some interesting news about yet another loomning distraction hanging over the Giants:

…word of Tiki Barber’s soon-to-be-published, tell-all book certainly has whisked its way through the franchise’s halls. And it isn’t likely to paint a positive picture of head coach Tom Coughlin, who often butted heads with the now-retired Barber. Though you cannot say that Coughlin is losing control of the situation based on these three unrelated blows, it’s worth noting that these are not signs of good news heading into training camp in what is Coughlin’s most critical season.

Broncos start mini-camp long after everyone else has closed theirs

Monday, July 9th, 2007

Hard to believe, but the first day of the Denver Broncos’ mini-camp is today.

Andrew Mason, blogger for denverbroncos.com, has some notes and news about the start of the mandatory offseason workouts.

Neither Brandon Stokley nor Rod Smith are projected to be ready for this week’s work, but Brandon Marshall and Glenn Martinez could well be back at full strength after nursing nagging injuries during the May and June OTAs.

NFL | 2006 | Week 12 - Denver Broncos

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

10-19 at KC

I touched on the Jay Cutler decision on Monday, but just to add a few notes as to what he’ll do to the rest of the Broncos’ offense: 1) he’ll create more lanes for the running game as defenses will have to respect the downfield passing game more, 2) help Javon Walker show he’s again one of the best receivers in the NFL, and 3) may actually open up more of the playbook for Denver since Plummer’s poor numbers from inside the pocket had probably limited the Broncos’ playbook already.

The Broncos are averaging 4.5 yards per rush and 132.8 yards rushing per game this season, but in two of their last three games they’ve been held under 65 yards rushing. Moreover, Plummer’s highest passing yardage total of the season came in week three and was only 256 yards.

2006 | Week 2 - Denver Broncos

Thursday, September 21st, 2006

9-6 vs KC

Targets stats only this week.

CATCHES / TARGETS:
Walker - 5/7
Smith - 2/5
Alexander - 2/4
T.Bell - 2/3
Scheffler - 0/3
Kircus - 2/2
Johnson - 2/2
M.Bell - 1/2
Marhsall - 0/1

2006 | Week 1 - Denver Broncos

Sunday, September 17th, 2006

10-18 at STL

Mike Bell made a nice debut, but it looks to me as though he won’t be a 300 carry back for this team; at least not this season. He has great vision, the #1 asset needed to play in this style of run game. But he also takes a lot of hard hits, and I wonder about his durability if he continues to take on tacklers the way he does. There’s just no way a rookie running back can put up with that and last a 16 week season. Bell is an asset in the passing game and the Broncos used him heavily as an option out of the backfield in week 1.

Both Mike and Tatum Bell are liabilities in pass blocking by virtue their size alone. Mike Bell is a willing blocker, but he’s still learning. For example, on the Broncos third turnover of the game, Plummer’s first INT, Mike Bell failed to read a blitz coming from the right side and Plummer hurried his throw into where Tye Hill had press coverage on Rod Smith.

Javon Walker picked up a case of the drops in this game, struggling on quick slants and short routes. His best pass catching aspect is still in the jump balls he has the talent and ball judgement to pull down.

The Broncos still can’t get a pass rush out of their front four and will have to blitz like they did last season in order to pressure the quarterback. Targets/Catches:
Walker - 3/8
Smith - 3/6
M.Bell - 4/4
Scheffler - 1/3
Alexander - 2/2
T.Bell - 0/1

2005 NFL Playoffs - Divisional Playoffs

Saturday, January 14th, 2006

Divisional Weekend

This is a strange weekend of playoff football. Normally, I’d want to look at as much into these games that I could. But something about this week of preparation was different. I really see both the Seahawks and the Colts as special teams this year, and there’s realy such little chance that either one of them will not be playing for a conference championship next week.

Then there’s the Carolina / Bears game that is so evenly matched, it’s almost impossible to find an edge between the two teams. The Bears quarterback has played so few downs in the NFL, no one really knows what to think of him. And I believe that is what will do the Panthers in.

Divisional Round home teams are 15-5 since 2000.

Gil Brandt has more of these kinds of facts:

Under the current playoff format, the top seed in the NFC never has lost its divisional round game: 15-0. The first seed in the AFC is 10-5 in this round.

Overall, the NFC teams that have had a bye are 27-3 in this round; AFC teams coming off the bye are 22-8.

Since 2000, the team that scores first in NFC divisional round games is 9-1; the team that scores first in the AFC is 7-3.

And finally:

Since 2000, there have been eight instances when teams that faced each other once in the regular season played a rematch in the divisional playoffs. In those games, the teams that won the regular-season meetings are a combined 8-0 in the playoff rematch. (Note: This does not include three times when teams squared off twice in the regular season and then a third time in the playoffs.)

So for Saturday’s game, a couple of quotes from this week caught my attention:

Shaun Alexander, on their Week 4 loss in Washington:

We realized what it takes to beat good teams…I think after that we changed some things that are going to make us better for the long haul. That was an eye-opner game for us, and from then on we swtiched some things and changed some things to make us better.

And Deion Branch, when asked on how he’s approached facing a talented Broncos’ secondary:

The Colts did a great job this with in giving us an extensive game plan.

The Patriots are 6-0 when rematching within the same year against an opponent they previously lost to. That said, I don’t think the Patriots aren’t going to be able to run the ball very well. Denver will be able to play the run with 7 and road teams in the playoffs don’t win road games by throwing the ball 40 times.

Tom Brady’s home passer rating this season was 103.6. On the road, it was 83.6. He threw 2 INTs at home all season and 12 INTs on the road.

Week 10 - Denver Broncos

Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

31-17 at Oakland

This was kind of a blah game for Denver. The Broncos did their thing- running the ball well, getting an early lead, and playing very good defense. But their fourth quarter was a sloppy one for the offense (2 turnovers, 0 points). They had 12 plays in that final quarter; 40 yards a punt and those two fumbles.

I would say that they’d better be careful against the Jets this week, but I tried that last week with the boys from Jersey and it didn’t work out. So I’ll say that Denver better be ready to play on Thanksgiving against Dallas (who by the way will be playing their third game in 11 days then).

TARGETS(catches):
Smith- 10(5)
Lelie- 3(3)
Putzier- 3(3)
Bell- 3(3)
Alexander- 2(1)
Johnson- 2(1)

Friday Football

Friday, November 4th, 2005

Reminder that the Week 9 picks are up. It looks like people are still in the habit of taking the opponents of SF and HOU as their best bets. Not here will you find such cowardly acts. I’m taking the Colts!

Also, a friend of the Beach, Mr. Keg, is 39-12 now in college football picks on the season.
This week he’s on:
NCST (+14) FSU
UW (+3.5) OSU
MINNY (-13) Indiana

Below are two more game reviews from Week 8.

Philadelphia Eagles:
This was basically a game you could have played online with Madden. When you know the guy you’re playing is going to pass every down, you can bring those eight and nine man blitzes all the time. Sure you’ll give up a few big plays, as the Eagles hit in this game, but there’s no way they can maintain any rhythm or pace against that kind of pressure.
TARGETS(catches):
Owens- 14(3)
Westbrook- 5(4)
Smith- 5(1)
Lewis- 4(1)
Brown- 4(2)
Gordon- 1(1)

Denver Broncos:
I picked Denver to win as my best bet last week because of three things: 1) Broncos back home coming off a tough road loss against a very good Giants team, 2) The success the Eagles have had versus the run this year has been largely do to the styles of offenses they have faced (and they struggled against the zone blocking scheme of Atlanta in week one), and 3) Philly’s one dimensional offense versus a very aggressive and very fast Broncos defense (Gold, Mobley, Wilson, Bailey and those young talented DBs Foxworth and Williams).

So what Denver’s defense did in this game is stack the line of scrimmage not with run stuffers, but with corners and safeties with the intent to rush the quarterback. And more often than not, they got to McNabb. With no threat of the run, or a big tackle-breaking running back, that will continue to be the weakness of this Eagles’ offense. The thing is, Philly’s style of offense will work against some teams, but against others, like Denver, it is doomed to fail. They’re separating coaching from playing that much.

The Broncos outgained the Eagles 200-4 in the first quarter. They had 12 first downs, compared to none by Philly. And the time of possession was 12:22 to 2:38 to start the game.
TARGETS(catches):
Lelie- 6(3)
Devoe- 6(5)
Smith- 5(5)
Adams- 5(3)
Putzier- 5(2)
Johnson- 5(1)
Alexander- 2(2)
Anderson- 1(1)



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Miami Dolphins:
Despite the win, Gus Ferotte’s accuracy hasn’t gotten any better. The score was 11-6 at the end of the third quarter, and the Saints left at least 14 points on the field prior to that.

The Dolphins are indeed designing ways to get the ball into Wes Welker’s hands. His role continues to increase, and deservingly so.

Ricky Williams showed a good burst and a willingness to deliver a hit in his 17 carries against the Saints. Then again, it was against the Saints.
TARGETS(catches):
McMichael- 6(3)
Chambers- 5(4)
Welker- 5(3)
Booker- 4(3)
Brown- 3(2)
Boston- 1(1)
Diamond- 1(0)

New Orleans Saints:
Another week, another bad break for the Saints. Dwight Smith’s fumble in the first quarter was caused by the ground, but only after he had tripped over a teammate. So the play was live and Miami got the ball back.

Aaron Brooks held on to the ball too long in this game, something he hasn’t done too much of this year. That leads me to believe he had a hard time reading the mixed coverages the Dolphins threw at him. I didn’t see many plays where Brooks had anticipated his throws.

The Saints weren’t ready to face the Dolphins’ pass rush. Whenever Miami needed a play on defense, they’d just call one of those blitzes from anywhere plays and defenders would be in Brooks’ face before he hit his back step.
TARGETS(catches):
Horn- 12(7)
Stallworth- 7(3)
Henderson- 5(3)
Stecker- 4(1)
Meier- 1(0)
Smith- 1(0)

Tuesday Football

Tuesday, October 25th, 2005

San Diego Chargers
The Chargers put themselves in a position to lose this game because of penalties, plain and simple. They had 9 for 72 yards, but every one was huge. The Eagles picked up 4 first downs via a SD penalty.

Both teams looked real sloppy, but San Diego was especially bad.

Caldwell was having a nice game until he fumbled on the 18 yard line with a 1:30 left in the game.

The Chargers only pass rushed 4 players for most of game. Sometimes, they’d send a 5th, but for the most part it seemed they were protecting their secondary. And the Eagles offensive line is one of the best pass blocking units in the league. They had no trouble with the Chargers’ rush.

Don’t worry about Tomlinson. The Eagles did not so much stop LT as they stopped Marty-ball.

In the second half, San Diego found ways to move the ball by using Brees on more short drops with quicker throws. They also began to vary their formations and sets, often lining up Gates in places where they could dictate his matchups. Welcome to the modern day NFL Marty. Guess what, everyone does this from the opening kickoff- not after halftime.

Attention san diego playoff chances, Nate Kaeding is scary. His kicks are still real ugly.
TARGETS(cathces):
Gates- 12(8)
MCCardell- 8(5)
Caldwell- 7(4)
Tomlinson- 6(4)
Parker- 2(0)
Peelle- 2(1)
Osgood- 1(0)
Neal- 1(1)

Philadelphia Eagles
I don’t know why some thought after the Eagles’ week 5 loss to Dallas, that they could not stop the run. In fact, I’ve seen them play extremely well against their opponents’ rushing attack this season and this game against San Diego was further proof of that. The middle of the DL did a good job of collapsing the interior of SD’s offensive line into the backfield.

And Washington should take note, those power right and power left plays that Marty and Gibbs like to run aren’t going to work against Philly.

L.J. Smith looked healthy and showed no ill effects from his ankle injury a couple of weeks ago.
TARGETS(catches):
Westbrook- 13(10)
Smith- 11(6)
OWens- 10(7)
Lewis- 6(4)
Gordon- 5(3)
Spach- 4(1)
Parry- 3(2)
Brown- 1(1)
McMullen- 1(1)



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Indianapolis Colts
Why does anyone ever blitz the Colts?

Don’t look at the score, this game was never close.
Indianapolis was flat for the entire game, and still it was an easy win for them.
TARGETS(catches):
Harrison- 9(7)
Wayne- 9(9)
Stokely- 5(1)
Clark- 5(3)
James- 1(1)

Houston Texans
The Texans’ offense didn’t really get back on track with their 20 points in this game, but they did show a little life. Houston played a smart first half by giving the ball to Dominick Davis over and over and over again. But there is still just nothing going in the passing game and this team will continue to strike out on third downs. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but Houston’s only chance to produce points on offense is if they move more towards a similar offensive philosophy to what Mike Shannahan has going in Denver. Houston is the perfect fit for a one cut running game and bootleg quarterback. The only plays they are making this year are just that. David Carr threw just 9 passes all game.
TARGETS(catches):
Gaffney- 5(4)
Bradford- 1(0)
Mathis- 1(0)
Davis- 1(1)
Rivers- 1(1)



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Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs came out again with a number of three wide receivers sets. And they’re able to run the ball out of those sets often and effectively. With Sammy Parker out with an injury, Marc Boerigter had a busy night. Tony Gonzalez picked up 7 more catches on the night, but a majority of those came in the fourth quarter when KC had a comfortable lead. The Chiefs held the ball for 41:40 of this game.
TARGETS(catches):
Gonzalez- 9(7)
Boerigter- 7(2)
Hall- 4(3)
Kennison- 4(2)
Holmes- 3(1)
Horn- 2(1)
Dunn- 2(2)
Richardson- 1(1)
Johnson- 1(1)

Miami Dolphins
Gus Frerotte played a terrible game. He was highly inaccurate throughout the contest, until he was pulled late in the fourth. It seems to me like he’s forcing too many deep throws and passing up some of the shorter options. And again, his accuracy was just awful. Gus should have had two touchdown passes in the first half (which would have made it a 14-14 game) but he twice missed open receivers in the end zone on third down.

The Chiefs’ aggressive defense gave Miami’s line trouble. They had just 17 rushing yards in the first half. And other than Ronnie Brown’s impressive 65 yard TD run, the Dolphins’ running game was empty (13 carries for 29 yards).

All Wes Welker does is make plays. He deserves more chances.

Chris Chambers’ first catch of the game came with about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter. And his second catch, the big touchdown score, came from Sage Rosenfelds with two and a half minutes left in the game.
TARGETS(catches):
Chambers- 11(2)
Booker- 6(2)
McMichael- 6(3)
welker- 4(2)
Brown- 2(2)
Williams- 1(0)
Evans- 1(1)



---

Denver Broncos
Despite their early season success, I still don’t see how this Broncos’ team can go far with Plummer as their quarterback. What he does well is just too limiting. And on a couple of key throws in the third quarter that could have shifted momentum and stick the Giants behind by 17 points, Plummer had time to throw but missed open receivers on back to back plays.
Opposing defenses really have to take into consideration Denver’s FB Kyle Johnson. This guy has some moves and he can really get open.

Denver’s secondary has a lot of talent, but I think the Broncos’ put them in plays with single coverage and little help. Far too often they have to play 10 yards off the line of scrimmage and make things happen on their own.
TARGETS(catches):
Putzier- 6(3)
Lelie- 6(5)
Smith- 4(3)
Alexander- 4(3)
Bell- 4(2)
Johnson- 2(2)
Jackson- 1(0)

New York Giants
Tiki Barber’s fumble in this game came as his body was nearly horizontal, trying to keep his balance. It had nothing to do with his past fumbling problems and should not be of any concern.

The Giants did a great job at containing the Jake Plummer bootleg while still holding their own against the run.

And I don’t think New York’s secondary will suffer without longtime veterans Will Allen and Will Peterson. Both Deloatch and Webster are good, young corners and they have the potential to be solid starters. In fact, this Giants defense has young talent at all three levels.

The crossing routes to Shockey are really working well for this team right now. Opponents are going to have to make that a point of focus for their defenses.
I don’t know why only now people are saying that Eli Manning is a good quarterback. Was that ever up for debate, really? He did spend too much of this game making throws off his back foot. He’s got to learn to stand in the pocket a little better or he runs the risk of turning into Joey Harrington.

Despite his great numbers this season, Plaxico Burress is still not a consistent receiver. With five minutes to go and down by 6, he dogged it on a post pattern and allowed Champ Bailey a chance to make a great interception. The Broncos got the ball on their own 40 and could have closed the game out right there.

This was a great game on both sides, much like last week’s KC/WAS match. Both teams are playing good football right now.
TARGETS(catches):
Burress- 13(6)
Toomer- 13(8)
Shockey- 7(3)
Barber- 7(6)
Carter- 2(0)

Saturday Football

Saturday, October 22nd, 2005

Filling out the rest of week six, below. I’m borrowing today’s NCAA picks from a fellow named Keg. He’s doing much better than my 23-30 this season. And if he finishes 0-4 today, I’ll kindly apologize for passing on my curse to him and I’ll pledge never do it again.



New York Jets TARGETS(catches): McCareins- 11(5) Coles- 7(4) Martin- 2(2) Chrebet- 1(1) Baker- 1(0) Dreesen- 1(0) Buffalo Bills: TARGETS(catches): Moulds- 9(7) Evans- 6(3) McGahee- 4(3) Campbell- 3(2) Reed- 1(1) Smith- 1(1) Peters- 1(1)

St Louis Rams: TARGETS(catches): Holt- 8(6) Jackson- 6(5) Curtis- 5(3) Faulk- 4(4) Looker- 2(2) Manumaluena- 2(1) Cleeland- (2) Indianapolis Colts: TARGETS(catches): Wayne- 10(7) Harrison- 7(4) Stokely- 5(4) Clark- 4(3) James- 4(3) Rhodes- 2(1)

New England Patriots: TARGETS(catches): Givens- 13(7) Branch- 12(7) Pass- 7(6) Dwight- 5(1) Watson- 4(1) Johnson- 1(0) Zereoue- 1(1) Graham- ??? Denver Broncos: TARGETS(catches): Smith- 7(6) Lelie- 4(3) Putzier- 4(3) Bell- 4(3) Johnson- 2(1) Adams- 1(0) Alexander- 1(1)

Friday Football

Friday, October 14th, 2005

The picks for Week 6 are up. Thanks, as always, to Eric Mirl for gathering up all 34 of us. The Beach is back in second place, after a 9-5 week 5. I’d also like to point out that I’m picking Houston to win on Sunday night in Seattle. It’s crazy, and it’s probably a loser, but it’s a statement pick. If you’re still in a survivor pool, go with someone other than Seattle this week. I just have a feeling the Texans are going to give the Seahawks a game here. I am, however, the only one on the list to take Houston and in fact I’m going against 16 best bets. Sounds like a winner to me.

Miami Dolphins
Ronnie Brown continues to improve. He’s running with a good burst and on one particular play in the second quarter he laid a great pass block on a Bills’ DT who came in free off the snap. That play allowed Ferrotte to stay in the pocket long enough to hit Chris Chambers down the sideline for a nice gain. And on the Dolphins first TD drive, Brown had a really sharp looking 28 yard run that got Miami down to the two. Who knows what the plans are with Ricky back, but Ronnie Brown is just starting to get it and it would be nice to see what he can do. Still you’ve got to do the same for Ricky. Though situation.

Gus Ferrotte had two INTs in the first half that came in Bills territory; one of which was picked in the end zone.

The Bills played okay in this one, but Miami just killed themselves for three quarters with penalties and turnovers.

On the final Miami drive, down 14-20, the Dolphins were moving the ball well. Buffalo kept blitzing and the Dolphins just took the easy throws and executed all the way down the field until Brown fumbled on the Buffalo 15. They could have easily won this game on that drive.
TARGETS(catches):
Chambers- 9(4)
Brown- 7(6)
Booker- 5(3)
Welker- 3(2)
Diamond- 2(1)
Evans- 2(2)
McMichael- 1(1)
Heller- 1(1)
Morris- 1(1)

Buffalo Bills
Kelly Holcomb must have drawn the Dolphins off-sides about four times in the game’s first twenty minutes. That’s already something you can point to and say that Losman would have not done this season.

Sam Adams received a red zone target on the first drive and it took a pass interference penalty to keep him from scoring on the play.

Lee Evans is immediately worth a pickup now that Holcomb is playing QB. Evans will end up being a top tier WR sometime over the next two/three years. He’s not as shifty as someone like Steve Smith, but Evans has that rare top end speed and understanding of the position combination.

A couple games ago, McGahee was criticized by his head coach for his passive running style. Willis is doing a better job at hitting the hole now but he’s still not making things happen on his own as much as one would like to see out of a #1 back. And Shaud Williams has been subing for McGahee on passing downs quite frequently of late.

The Dolphins were 5 for 6 in stopping the Bills from scoring from the one yard line. So the third time Buffalo got down there, they put the ball into the end zone by throwing it.
TARGETS(catches):
Moulds- 9(7)
Evans- 3(3)
Campbell- 3(3)
McGahee- 3(2)
Shelton- 3 (2)
Reed- 2(2)
Williams- 2(1)

—
Carolina Panthers
Like I haven’t told you Steve Smith is good. Last year for the Panthers, Mushin Muhammad caught 93 balls for 1405 yards on 159 targets. Well, Smith is on pace right now for 105 catches, 1513 yards and 160 targets.
TARGETS(catches):
Smith- 12(8)
Magnum- 3(3)
Proehl- 3(1)
Gardner- 3(3)
Colbert- 2(0)
Foster- 2(2)
Gaines- 1(1)
Hoover- 1(0)
Goings- 1(0)

Arizona Cardinals
The roles of Marcell Shipp and J.J. Arrington looked more defined in this game. Shipp was getting carries as the team’s #1 back and the Cards were using Arrington more as a Brian Westbrook-like tweener. Arrington looked healthy and very comfortable when doing the things he’s used to doing. I still think Shipp is and should be this team’s first option, but it’s good to know that Arrington is improving on his terrible start to the season. Regardless, this team still can’t run the ball.

Fitzgerald and Boldin were making plays all over the place. That’s one thing Josh McCown allows his receivers to do. McCown will makes his share of errors, but he trusts his receivers and gives them a chance to make plays. Kurt Warner just held on to the ball way too much for this team. Arizona has two of the best receivers in the league and McCown is giving them a chance to make plays. Just think about that pass he threw to Nate Poole to end the Vikings’ 2003 season. Take a look at the target stats below!

Key play of the game: 13:21 left in the second quarter, the Panthers have 3rd and 10 from their own 20. The Cards show only three down linemen, dropping 8, and they end up forcing an incompletion. But Bertrand Berry jumped off-sides giving Carolina a free play, which they convert on a much easier 3rd and 5. The very next play, Steve Smith catches a pass 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage and beats rookie corner Eric Green for a 65 yard touchdown. You just can’t give good teams cheap scores like this.
TARGETS(catches):
Boldin- 17(10)
Fitzgerald- 16(9)
Ayanbadejo- 4(4)
Shipp- 3(2)
Arrington- 2(1)
Johnson- 2(2)
Lee- 1(1)
Bergen- 1(0)

—
Denver Broncos
The Broncos never trailed in this game, and that’s the recipe for success with this team. For the rest of the year, I’ll probably be refering to my preseason write up on Denver and Jake Plummer. Basically, if you put Jake in a shootout, you’re probably going to lose. And this week’s game versus NE looks like it’s going to be a shootout.

I saw a stat this week in the print edition of Pro Football Weekly that said that the Broncos are 9-1 when Plummer throws for less than 200 yards. Weird. But I completely understand it.

Ashley Lelie finally scored on that end zone fade they’ve been working on this year.
TARGETS(catches):
Lelie- 7(1)
Smith- 6(2)
Adams- 3(2)
Johnson- 3(1)
Putzier- 2(1)
Alexander- 2(0)
Anderson- 2(2)
Bell- 1(1)

Washington Redskins
I really feel bad for Clinton Portis. I don’t know if it is as easy as the Redskins changing their blocking schemes, but on the few plays I saw Portis get a chance to run behind a line that zone blocks straight ahead, he looks like a 1600 yard runner. But when he has to wait for a guard and/or a fullback, well Washington might as well have Betts in there.

It was nice to see David Patten play his first productive game of the season.
TARGETS(catches):
Moss- 13(8)
Cooley- 12(8)
Patten- 11(7)
Thrash- 3(1)
Portis- 3(2)
Betts- 3(2)
Royal- 2(1)
Sellers- 1(1)

—
Cincinnati Bengals
Perhaps Chad Johnson was crying because he missed his friend, T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
TARGETS(catches):
Johnson- 8(5)
Walter- 6(3)
Henry- 5(3)
Schobel- 4(3)
Washington- 3(2)
Perry- 2(2)
RJohnson- 2(2)
JJohnson- 2(1)
Kelly- 1(1)

Jacksonville Jaguars
TARGETS(catches):
Smith- 8(3)
Williams- 5(2)
MJones- 3(0) Wrighster- 3(2) GJones- 2(0) Wilford- 1(1) Brady- 1(1) Pearman- 1(1)

—
New Orleans Saints:
TARGETS(catches):
Hakim- 11(5)
Conwell- 6((3)
Stallworth- 5(1)
Henderson- 3(0)
McAllister- 3(3)
Hilton- 3(1)
Smith- 1(1)

Green Bay Packers:
TARGETS(catches):
Driver- 7(5)
Fisher- 7(6)
Ferguson- 4(3)
Martin- 4(2)
Chatman- 2(0)
Henderson- 1(1)
Lee- 1(1)
Davenport- 1(1)
Leach- 1(1)

Thursday Football

Thursday, September 29th, 2005

NO- This game was a battle of quarterbacks who don’t know how to throw the ball on time. Devery Henderson took advantage of the Vikings’ lack of depth at corner for 6 catches on 7 targets and 137 yards. Joe Horn had a hard time against Antoine Winfield. Horn had just 1 catch on 6 targets. Donte Stallworth was covered up pretty well too. He didn’t catch any one of the four passes thrown his way. Stallworth did have a punt return TD called back on an illegal block. Ernie Conwell is still the most consistent receiver on this team. Aaron Brooks clearly trusts his tight end. Conwell picked up 8 more targets, but he dropped a few and ended up with just 3 catches. Also, Duece McCallister doesn’t look as quick as I remember him being.

MIN- Don’t be fooled. The Vikings are not back yet. Daunte Culpepper is having problems in the pocket. He’s playing like a first year QB, at times running with the ball way too much and at other times holding on to it too long. And I don’t think it’s so much that he can’t read the defense during the play, but maybe he just doesn’t have confidence in either the offense’s design or his receivers or both. Bottom line, he’s not confortable. The Vikings need to give him more check down options. A couple times they used Mewelde Moore as a swing out option, like how Norv Turner does in Oakland, and they need to do more of that. Mewelde isn’t the best blocker anyhow, so they’re better off getting him to chip on someone before flaring out as a safety valve. With the way the Saints were turning the ball over in their own territory, if Minnesota’s offense was truly fixed, the Vikings would have made this game 28-0 after the first quarter.

What big plays Minnesota did have were just as much at the fault of the Saints as they were to the credit of the Vikings. Minnesota’s first and third touchdowns were simply a case of the receiver beating a corner in man coverage without much help from a safety. Dwight Smith, in particular, had a terrible day against the Vikings.

Still, there are some areas where a little optimism isn’t misguided. Moore looked like he can make a difference out there as this team’s featured back, as long as he can stay healthy. The OLine did a good job blocking for him and despite the seven sacks the stat book shows, they weren’t awful in pass protection. A lot of those should be put on Culpepper.

Also, the Vikings’ defense did a good job forcing the Saints into third and longs, and then brought a myriad of blitzes on third down.

With Atlanta coming up for the Vikes, I’m not too confident that this team has turned the corner on their problems. They easily left around 20 points on the field in week three. They also threw for just 30 yards in the second half, and this wasn’t a blow out either. At one point, the Saints were down by just 8.

As for the targets, Jermaine Wiggins led the team with 7, with Travis Taylor right behind him with 6. Troy Williamson did some good with the four passes thrown his way, but Marcus Robinson was a non-factor, except for one long play down the sideline that Dwight Smith left him wide open for. This team has too many perimeter receivers and will miss Nate Burleson dearly for as long as he’s out. And the bottom line is that Culpepper doesn’t have too much confidence in anyone right now. He’ll throw to them if they’re running free, as they were against the Saints. But against the Falcons, I think they’re going to continue to struggle.

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ARZ- Anquan Boldin led the team with 12 targets, and he has 30 on the year. Larry Fitzgerald had only 6 passes thrown his way, as he’s clearly the guy opposing defenses want to stop first. Adam Bergen is the starting TE for this team right now, but his chances have been limited. Marcell Ship had another good game running the ball, but his playing time was again limited. This game was 10-9 Seahawks at the half and then 24-9 Seahawks 5 minutes into the third and 31-12 Seahawks after three quarters. The Cardinals defense is very vulnerable up the middle and the only thing they do well (rush the passer) can be partially negated when they play a team like Seattle who uses mostly three and five step drops. Kurt Warner’s groin injury is a serious one, so look for Josh McCown to start more than just this week. I think the Cards are better off with him in there anyway. Arizona has been terrible inside their opponents thirty yard line this year.

SEA- As I mentioned above, Seattle’s strengths on offense really played well into Arizona’s problems on defense. Bobby Engram again had a fine game, catching 5 balls on 8 targets. Darrell Jackson was the team leader with 13, as Arizona played their DBs 10 yards off the line for much of the game. Jerramy Stevens getting chances as the lone TE threat. He picked up 3 catches on 4 targets (including one in the red zone to set up a Alexander TD). Seneca Wallace and Peter Warrick hooked up on a nice 42 yard pass play. It was the first ball thrown to Warrick all season. PDub did a nice job returning punts as well.

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KC- Tony Gonzalez had a tough time against the Broncos’ linebackers. He did get a season high 9 targets, but caught just 5 of them for a lowly 29 yards. As I expected, he is way behind last year’s pace. Eddie Kennison is still the receiver leader. He picked up 8 catches on 11 targets. The Chiefs tried to get the ball to Sammy Parker too. He got 9 passes, but caught just two of them. KC gets the Eagles at home this week.

DEN- With 17-0 first quarter lead, the Broncos ran the ball for much of the game. They are still a two WR team though, and Rod Smith led the team with 8 targets. After a couple of poor outings, the tight end has temporarily disappeared from this offense. Jeb Putzier did not get one pass his way and Stephen Alexander got only one. The Broncos’ schedule doesn’t get any easier on their short week. They travel to Jacksonville and I hope they saved some real good plays for the Jags. Actually, I’ll be picking against them. So I hope the didn’t.

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NYG- Depsite missing the first quarter, Plaxico Burress led the team in targets for the third straight week. He had 5 catches on 11 passes. David Tyree was active as well, with 5 catches on 6 targets. Amani Toomer had his biggest game of the year, with 8 targets, but clearly he’s Eli Manning’s third favorite receiver on this team. Jeremy Shockey went 6 for 9, but he didn’t get any red zone chances. Those went to back up Visanthe Shiancoe (two).

SD- The Chargers got back to doing what worked for them last year. Antonio Gates caught six more passes on six targets. And LT picked up 7 targets to go with his 21 carries and 1 pass attempt. Keenan McCardell saw his targets fall to just 4, but he made the most of them, catching each for a total of 80 yards and two scores.

Friday Football

Friday, September 23rd, 2005

AFC Targets, and related team news from Week Two:

BAL- In their first game with Anthony Wright at quarterback, Derrick Mason was the most active Ravens receiver. He caught 8 passes on 10 targets for 60 yards and a score. The tightends, all three of them, were again heavily featured. Heap, Wilcox, and Dinkins had 11 total passes thrown their way. With a bye this week, Baltimore’s top priority is to find their running game.

BUF- J.P. Losman was lucky he didn’t leave Tampa with two or three interceptions to his credit. Josh Reed picked up 7 targets, as did Eric Moulds. But the real story with the Bills right now is with their running back, Willis McGahee. He and Coach Mularkey have had a minor media fued this week in reference to McGahee’s running style lately. I, too, noticed in the preseason that he looked hesitant. The 1-1 Bills face another tough defense this week as they host Atlanta, and McGahee needs to show that he can dominate games because J.P. Losman can’t.

CIN- After picking up 4 more targets against the Vikings, Chris Perry now has 10 total on the season. He also had an impressive 87 yard flare pass called back on Sunday by a holding penalty. Chad Johnson was again the team leader, with 13. He’s on pace for a 184 target season (last year he had 158). Chris Henry looked good, catching 4 of the 4 passes thrown his way. And T.J. Houshmandzadeh picked up 4 red zone targets.

CLE- Trent Dilfer is doing a good job so far this season at getting the ball out of his hands quickly. He’s also spreading his targets around well. Steve Heiden led the team with 8, as the Packers have been hurt by tight ends a lot this year (Marcus Pollard in week 1). Billy Miller also got a chance in the end zone that was knocked away by a defender. As expected, Frisman Jackson only had two passes thrown his way and everyone saw what Braylon Edwards did with three of his four targets. The Browns will face a very fast Colts defense this week, and I expect their rather immobile offensive line to have all kinds of troubles.

DEN- The Broncos did all they could to lose to the Chargers, but it didn’t take. Denver turned the ball over twice inside the Chargers’ 30 and Elam missed two field goals in their first 8 possessions. But 10 fourth quarter points led them to a key divisional victory. Rod Smith (11) and Ashley Lelie (10) led the team in targets and Jeb Putzier had a surprisingly low 3. Charlie Adams seems to still be the #3 WR, as he got 4 passes thrown to him. Darius Watts had just one. The Broncos host KC on Monday night, and they should doing so with an 0-2 record. Still, they also could have beaten San Diego by three touchdowns. Denver’s defense played well.

HOU- Awful.

IND- The Colts are going to expload this week, I can just feel it. They’ve faced two of the best defenses in the league, and yes they are going against Romeo Crennel this week but his Browns just don’t have the talent to do what the Pats have done in the past. Dallas Clark played his first game of the season and he picked up 3 targets. The WR trio maitained their form; Harrison 8, Wayne 7, Stokely 5.

JAX- Reggie Williams continued his rise, with 4 catches on 5 targets. The Jags also kept Matt Jones involved with 3 targets. But Jimmy Smith is still the clear #1. He picked up 7 passes.

KC- Almost by default, Eddie Kennison is still the top WR on the Chiefs. He had a career high 1086 yards in just 14 games last year. He picked up 102 targets last year and is on pace for 104 this season. But I still like #2 guy Sammy Parker. He had 6 passes thrown to him against Oakland, catching 3 for a 28.7 ypc average. In the red zone, the Chiefs went to their running backs 10 times in week one, and 11 times last week. Tony Gonzalez has just two RZ chances on the season. He’s a little behind his three year average of 21.6 and he’s got those talented Denver linebackers to deal with this week.

MIA- Randy McMichael was busy against the Jets, pulling in 8 passes on 11 targets. On the year, he has 14 catches on 18 targets, and four looks inside the red zone. Chris Chambers is also getting a lot of passes, as he has 20 targets on the year and five inside the twenty. But Chambers only has 6 receptions so far.

NE- Daniel Graham only got one pass thrown his way in week two, but it was a 1 yard touchdown strike. Ben Watson is still the top TE target, he got 5 more passes thrown to him against Carolina. Deion Branch (14, 25 in two weeks) is the clear #1 and David Givens (9) a solid #2 guy. New England’s offense really struggled last week. They only ran one play in the red zone (Graham) and that was only after Troy Brown’s 71 yard pass play that ended on the 1. Their best starting field position was from their own 33 and they made it into Carolina territory just four times (TD, INT, FG, Fumble).

NYJ- Laveranues Coles and Justin McCareins had identical target numbers in week two (10 and 8, respectively). Not too much else going on here. The Jets are still finding their way around their new offense.

OAK- Lamont Jordan had a tough time hanging on to the ball against the Chiefs. He caught just 6 of the 11 passes thrown to him. Many of those incompletes were due to Jordan trying to run with the catch too soon. I still think he’s a above average receiver, especially considering his size. The errors he made Sunday night were not really physical; he definitely has the hands to catch 70-80 passes this year and he’s obviously going to get the chance to in this offense (see the OAK preview). After two weeks, it looks like I might be wrong about Randy Moss. He’s got 10 catches and two scores so far and that’s in line with the projections I had him at. But the 257 yards he’s racked up is way ahead of the pace I’d thought he’d go on. In fact, he’s on pace for 2056 and even though it’s only two games, I didn’t see him getting to 1600. But that looks to be where Moss is headed. He’s getting the ball thrown to him plenty (22 total targets). Jerry Porter had 11 targets in week two and with Ronald Curry out of the year, Porter should see an increase in his production. Also look for Doug Gabriel to make an impact as he returns this week from a finger injury.

PIT- All of these crazy Pittsburgh stats are either very misleading or they underscore how fantastic this team is playing. We’ll find out this week, but from my point of view, it looks like they are rolling.

SD- The Chargers got Antonio Gates involved right away, as he went 8 for 8 in passes. Keenan McCardell continued his high pace with 8 more targets, giving him 22 on the year. And not only has LT not caught a pass all season, but he’s only been thrown one ball.

TEN- Steve McNair used his back heavily against the Ravens, throwing 15 passes to the trio of Chris Brown, Travis Henry, and Troy Fleming. In turn, the tight ends saw considerably fewer balls (4, down from 13). The wide receivers were led by Drew Bennett (8) and Brandon Jones (6). The Titans are back on the road to St. Louis this week.

And from the NFC…
CAR- The Pats were focused on slowing Steve Smith. He only had 4 catches on 6 targets for 34 yards. Keary Colbert had 7 balls thrown his way but didn’t come down with one. Ricky Proehl stepped up for the Panthers, catching 3 of 3. And Rod Gardner, who reportedly has been slow to learn the offense, picked up one red zone chance. It’s Stephen Davis’ team inside the twenty, he scored 3 RZ touchdowns on 6 chances.

Wednesday Football

Wednesday, September 14th, 2005

I absolutely love Directv’s new Sunday Ticket feature: Short Cuts. It was offered this week as a free preview, but as a result, I know that sometime this next weekend I’m going to be $99 dollars lighter. Being able to watch an entire game in less than a half hour… well by then I’ll have convinced myself it’s worth it.

Anyhow, here are some notes from two particular week one contests that I caught on Short Cuts:

Broncos at Dolphins

Denver blizted Gus Ferrotte an awful lot. And Gus looked rather poised in the face of it.

Ronnie Brown has the spin move of Warrick Dunn in a body closer to T.J. Duckett’s.

Denver should have been tied at half time. They went for it on fourth and goal inside the five and missed. Later, in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins almost held Denver out of the end zone again on four straight plays inside the five, but Broncos fullback Kyle Johnson scored on fourth down.

The reverse Chris Chambers took for 61 yards should have been a touchdown. He had plenty of blockers in front and did actually reach the end zone but it was rightly determined that he stepped out of bounds around the 18 yard line. Miami needs to show that play again soon.

Tatum Bell’s fumble was inexcusable. He’s not going to earn himself more playing time with moves like that. Still, he got a lot more playing time than most expected because of Mike Anderson’s injury.

Miami ran more four man defensive fronts than I expected.

Nearly every time Wes Welker touched the ball, on returns and on catches, he looked like he could score. Welker is a Texas Tech product, so he should know what he’s doing with the ball in open space. He did give up a key fumble early in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t a careless one. Welker was hit from three directions and had the ball pop out from behind.

Both of Denver’s tight ends, Putzier and Alexander, struggled mightily.

As I mentioned in the Tuesday Targets, both of Ashley Lelie’s red zone targets were indeed jump ball fades in the end zone.

Also mentioned in the above link is that Chris Chambers was everywhere. He had 13 balls thrown to him but only made 5 catches. He also picked up an extra 28 yard pass interference penalty on Dominique Foxworth.

This game re-affirmed everything I wrote about Jake Plummer here. Of course, none of this is new. Still, both of his INTs on Sunday were essentially garbage time picks. He earned the first one, but certainly not the second.

Titans at Steelers

Tennessee drove 61 yards on 11 plays on their first drive of the game. They were up 7-0 to start.

Willie Parker’s speed has certainly been talked about over the past few days. But he also has shown good ability to break off or elude the first tackler behind the line of scrimmage. Since he only needs two steps to be at full speed, Parker running behind Kreider and this O line is a dangerous guy. The one thing I kept thinking he looked like was a pinball. He would bounce off of one guy, curl around another, and then plow right over a third all in the matter of two seconds. Keep in mind also that Parker did not touch the ball in the fourth quarter and he still had 209 yards from scrimmage. Also keep in mind that he shredded the Buffalo defense in week 17 last year when the Bills were playing for a playoff berth.

This game could have easily been 17-17 with five minutes left in the first half.

Travis Henry’s fumble wasn’t horrible. James Farrior stuck him right in the gut/football and the ball popped loose. The fumble wasn’t at all reminiscent of the fumble problems Henry had early in his career.

Steve McNair’s INT really wasn’t his fault either. It came out of the hands of Drew Bennett, who was going over the middle at the time and should have been securing the ball into his chest. The pass would have fallen incomplete had it been an out route instead of a slant. McNair’s other turnover, a lost fumble, wasn’t unforgiveable either. He had barely got back into his drop before Joey Porter came screaming around the edge and stripped the ball while McNair was loading up for a throw. This Titans’ offense really isn’t as bad as it may seem. They only had one unproductive drive all day.

The Titans secondary really is that bad.

Ben Burger was (again) very much a half field passer throughout this game. He still threw for 218 yards on just 9 completions. I mentioned on Tuesday that the Steelers probaby won’t do anything special this week againts Houston. So if you’re watching, count how many times Ben looks off his first receiver and still stays in the pocket. I’d be surprised if he did it once. Burger really takes himself out of plays sooner than he needs to and it’s hindering his development. He’s not a bad quarterback, not at all. And I only call him Ben Burger cause I have enough carpal tunnel problems thatI don’t need to be going through Rothifskfvnsl every time. Sorry. Pajamas.

Courtney Roby didn’t do much on Sunday. He returned a few kicks. I’m sticking by it though. This guy can really play. Just wait for it.

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