Peyton Manning reflects on how this big of a douche-bag managed to become so successful

Another week in the books, and another win.  Oh the humanity… winning by only double-digits… fortunately, we got to see the surreal sense of entitlement apparently rampant in a large segment of Bronco fans as they booed their undefeated, historically-potent team as they head into the half.  As if that wasn’t enough to piss Peyton off, the media decided to pile on, questioning his manhood in not diving on fumbled snaps… because that’s what exactly what we need–to risk our GOAT QB in a double-digit win to try and beat the spread.

…but it doesn’t end there!  Shooter McGavin Jim Irsay just couldn’t help himself and had to

tug on Superman’s cape.

Fox came to Manning’s defense and replied by calling Irsay’s comments “inappropriate” when all he should have said was, “Thanks again.”

Meanwhile, Manning had a much more private reaction and just smiled and thought, “See you Sunday night.”

The Jaguars

My intention was not to waste any time covering this subject, but quite a few people posed some very good questions regarding the game–specifically the defense (If your question isn’t answered here, it’s either in the Q/A section below or wasn’t worth my goddamn time so leave me alone)–so let’s get started.

Issues (“issues” because “problems” don’t exist in a 16 point victory) began on offense when Peyton started taking shots from the Jaguars front four.  Speaking of, maybe with the sprain you’ll have some time to pay attention now, Orlando Franklin.

Hey @OFranklin74, Babin’s been cheap shotting QBs all season. Please cut him whenever possible.

— Patrick Turley (@patrickturley) October 13, 2013

Of course, a few minutes into the first quarter and Babin went low on Manning.  That was the first time I crapped my pants.  Seeing Manning walk to the locker room only had me further soil myself.

The pressure applied by Jacksonville’s front four early (pervasive defensive philosophy: “Hit him early, he’ll give it to you late”) placed the offense behind schedule.  An offense behind schedule placed the defense in a bind because of…

The Gameplan

Raise your hand if you predicted a 2 point game into half.  No?  Well, neither did the Broncos.  The defense came prepared to play to protect a lead and work clock with a big mix of zone (further, as a HEAVY man coverage team, this also functions as an opportunity to evaluate players’ zone coverage skills in a live setting, exhibition elements on a bigger stage) coverages.  Truth be told, this issue wasn’t that big of a deal, you make adjustments and go execute, but compounding the problem lay the primary issue with the defense: injuries and suspension.

Wesley Woodyard may have become our defensive MVP.  Controversial with Miller’s dominance rushing the passer, but looking at what Wesley has done statistically as a starter under Del Rio is nothing shy of remarkable and near godlike when you consider his intangibles.  Further, with Miller out, we managed to at least adequately fill the void with Nate Irving on base downs and Shaun Phillips rushing in the nickel.  With Wesley out, all hell broke loose.  That sounds like an exaggeration until you see the facts: we played defense with ONE linebacker more often than not.  Danny Trevathan rang in a whopping 73 defensive snaps in all the dime looks (Dime: 6 defensive backs).  To provide some context, that’s more than EVERY OTHER linebacker on the team COMBINED (Lenon-38, Irving-30, Robinson-3).

The lack of Wesley was most apparent over the middle where the Denver Broncos were eviscerated by the slant.  Blackman alone racked up approximately half of his production on this one pass pattern.  By design, a corner can only hope to get an early slant break and, GENERALLY, the linebacker should be there to lower the boom and break up the pass with the big hit.  Trevathan continues to play admirably, but we simply had no presence over the middle without Wesley.

With Miller gone, Wolfe has been forced to rush the passer more from the outside when he’s more of an inline penetrator on a 3-technique than a dip-your-shoulder-and-beat-him-outside defensive end.  With Ayers also out, Wolfe was placed into assuming this less effective role on a full-time basis notching 58-snaps at defensive end.  Too many to provide fresh pass-rush and in the wrong spot to be optimally effective.

Champ returned straight to his LCB as explained several weeks ago, and after missing over a month of football, produced a mixed bag, as expected, getting tested often–several pass breakups but more completions. I expect this performance to improve dramatically from here out, and if there’s one valuable takeaway from this game concerning Bailey, he’s healthy and a true warrior amassing more playing time than ANY other defensive back.

Let’s test Duke for color-blindness.  No chance he hit more Jaguars than Broncos.

Let’s give some measure of credit where credit is due, Blackman looks like a fine, young player when he’s not too busy drunk driving and getting kicked off the sideline.

Cliffs and Context

Despite working “behind schedule”, out of position, treating the game like a Bye-week with dinged up players, AND placed in bad positions by the offense: THE DEFENSE ONLY GAVE UP 12 POINTS.  JESUS, SHUT UP.

Truly, the game and the fan reaction can be summed up expertly here.

Battling a Luck Dragon

Oh, be quiet, it even looks AND sounds like him.

The Colts are an incredibly competent team in nearly every phase of the game–you can’t hold a Chargers loss against them, the Chargers (and the Cowboys) are as hot and cold as they come, and they were hot.  Fortunately for Denver, the Colts have a significant identity crisis where they actually believe they’re a “run-first” team.  They have a respectable defense creating as many turnovers (7 INT, 3 FR) as Denver (9 INT, 1 FR), that has similarly sacked the QB as many times as the Broncos (17.0).  Of course, the difference defensively comes from their pass-rushing monster Robert Mathis who is currently on pace to break the sack record, and ours… well…

Welcome Back Von

I spent a lot of time trying to find an intimidating picture of Miller, but apparently it doesn’t exist.  Yet.

Not only do the Broncos get one of the best defenders in the league back, but a “rising tide lifts all boats” and here’s how:

Von’s return allows every other player to adjust to favorable match-ups they excel in.  For example, Wolfe can bounce back inside to more favorable match-ups on pass-rushing downs, either Shaun Phillips or Ayers are likely to get isolated on a guard or tight end and Von’s gonna Von.

The pass rush, currently a very respectable 9th in the league, just took a quantum leap forward.  Teams will be forced to fan protect (1-on-1′s) which also means that whenever Wesley blitzes, he’s going to get a clear lane up the middle against a running back–detailed explanation given here (ignore the Tebow talk and replace Carter with Duke, Elvis with Phillips, Thomas with Wolfe and Bunkley with Jackson), which interestingly enough was before the signing of Del Rio and has been HEAVILY implemented ever since.  There isn’t a back in the league that can match Wesley’s intensity.

Combine this with the return of Wesley and Ayers AND the return of aggressive, physical coverage, and australopithecus Luck is DOA.

So, after six weeks of getting by without him, how will the Broncos use Miller?

I would expect the Broncos to leave Irving in situational run-defense packages and for Miller to hit the field everywhere else as an OLB or DE.  Not only has Irving done well in that capacity, this will allow Von to dive back into the speed of the game within his optimal niche and permit enough rest for him to beast anyone who tries to line up against him.

Offense

Irsay handled this.  Thanks again, bro.

Q/A

Are the Chiefs considered a real threat now or paper tigers yet to play a legit team?

Both.  Andy Reid is an incredible coach that has a talented football team playing mistake free football, but it’s… different.  Teams can’t prepare for 2013 Andy Reid because he’s approaching both sides of the ball in ways he never has before.   For the first time in his career, Andy is running the football.

It will be unfortunate for Denver that the Chiefs will come to Mile High off the Bye with an extra week to prepare, but not unfortunate enough.

I think a topic that should be touched on briefly depending on Walton’s condition and health. Could he be put back in as the starter or do you just roll with Manram?

While valuable to every unit and overall team function, no unit is more dependent on COHESION than the offensive line.  Walton’s return will be a massive boon for depth on a crippled unit, but as we saw with Chris Kuper’s patient wait, you don’t disrupt cohesion unless necessary and Manny is playing admirably.  Of course, if his snap issues continue (something that’s been apparent since week 1), a change may be necessitated.

What are they going to do on the OL? move Vasquez over?

This was the solution on Sunday (Vasquez to RT and Kuper in at RG) when Franklin went down with injury, and, to be TOTALLY honest, it was more effective.  Of course, that needs to be qualified two-fold by stating that at that point, our run-pass ratio was much more even and the Jaguars were playing the run playing from behind.  I highly doubt Winston Justice can play as competently, and this line-up is what I’m expecting until Franklin returns, likely after the Bye.

When I type in ‘Jim Irsay’ in my google queue, why is one of the autofill options ‘Jim Irsay Douche’?

Easy.  Next question.

If you’re game planning for the Chiefs, how do you counter their edge rushers and front 4? Who do you target on their defense?

The answer to both questions is “the screen game”.  Kansas City is one of the few defenses more aggressive than Denver’s.  Slow down the pass rush with screens, draws, and the running game (now that Terrell Davis has been sneaking into games wearing Knowshon’s jersey), and play small ball.  Passes will be LARGELY screens or quick shotgun/3-step drops.  Don’t let them have shots at Manning and when it’s time to go deep, the play action will be there.

Free Money (Please don’t check my cumulative record, I’m clearly an imbecile)

COWBOYS +2.5 (this has to be a mistake, right?!)

49ers -4

Atlanta -7

Broncos -6.5

Patriots -4

Cumulative: 10-14. 2-6 last week is as embarrassing as ATS picks can get.

That’s Good Broncos

If you’re not eagerly awaiting these each week, you’re doing it wrong: