skri65 said:
John Clayton predicts a mad matchup for the bronco's off. against our defense....can anyone "kindly" explain the mismatch here?
John Clayton said:
The Broncos matchup is a bad one for the Patriots, who lost in Denver 28-20 on Oct. 16. It's a bad matchup for two reasons. First, the Broncos running game will be hard for the Patriots to stop....The other reason the Broncos are a tough matchup is that they can get the ball deep.
The sky is blue, which follows logical from Clayton's position. Denver's run game is hard
for everyone to stop. The Pats D should do a better job then they did last time based on three factors: Bruschi, Vrabel, and Colvin. One is a diagnostic genius for field tactics, he will move people where they need to be. Another is a 12 game veteran of the ILB position and rated the smartest player on the team for football knolwledge, what he may lack in experience is offset by his ability to learn quickly. The third is now playing with the same dominance he exhibited in Chicago, and has learned how to be a run-stopping OLB in the Patriot mold. If the D reduces the Denver ground game, does Denver score 28 points?
Getting the ball deep is a staple of most offenses; again, there has been improvement here, Hobbs is faster then Starks and uninjured, Hawkins is faster then Sanders and an 8th year veteran. Pressure from the improved pass rush, improved secondary speed, and Hawkins experience vice a rookie SS make a difference, not to mention two other factors: improved communications and Tedy Bruschi. If Denver is unable to create a big play do they still score 28 points?
You also ask about Clayton's belief that secondary with 4 cornerbacks is one that tackles poorly.
This is based on misunderstanding BB's defensive bedrock, one of our fellows has the BB quote in his signature, something about not bringing BB a defensive player who can't tackle, what can he do with him? Freeman, who took over for Sanders after he was reinjured, is gone, he hit people like a ton of bricks and never wrapped up, we saw how that worked for Watson on his 63 yard TD against the Jags. Hawkins and Hobbs tackle, Asante has been our worst tackler about wrapping up, and he's okay. Geno was drafted for his tackling. Clayton didn't do his homework - nothing new. Additionally, Denver used the TEs last time, remember Asante knocking Putzier out of the game for a few series before he returned and made some nice catches to move the chains? That hasn't changed, our defense has.
He makes a big deal about departed Denver DE Hayward and his sack production - we just beat his new team Saturday night to earn a return trip to Invesco. The Jags got four sacks on Tommy, but he was holding the ball a long time looking for a hole in the coverage. He had that problem with Denver last time, but he didn't have Troy Brown. Putting Troy, Deion, and D-Giv out at the same time strains a secondary, add in Faulk and a TE, and things get challenging to keep all the receivers covered. Denver will hit Tommy, but he will usually get the ball to a receiver or thrown away safely beforehand. We need to also realize that Mankins and Kaczur are a little more experienced from their last visit, and we have Ashworth healthy and in reserve.
Wilfork is susceptible to being cut blocked by Nalen, but that will be more effective on sweeps and pass plays, he will control the middle on straight zone blocking runs. Warren survived a filthy chop block last time, he'll do as well this time. Seymour should be effective ( :snob: ) on his side.
Denver needs to score another 28 points to hope to be competitive on the score board. They can't just grind out the clock because they won't get the same yardage on first and second down. As long as our boys execute and don't take any mental naps, we score 20 plus points and win.