The Denver Broncos were an offensive juggernaut during the first 6 games of the season defeating reigning Super Bowl champions, Baltimore Ravens, on the opening night of the season and then winning 51-48 in Cowboys Stadium in one of the great NFL regular season games.
Yet oddly signs of failing started to appear during the sixth consecutive victory of the season over the worst team in football, Jacksonsville Jaguars in a 35-19 victory at home, in a game that they were favoured to win by 28 points, a spread that initially dropped to 26.5 points.
This is the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team so bad that even Tim Tebow cannot get into the squad. The Broncos decided to play their worst game of the season against the worst team. It happens in team sports, a sure fire winner is prone to drop to their opponents weaker level. This is a mental issue in terms of complacency and treating it like a practice or pre-season encounter.
However, would-be MVP Peyton Manning threw for his 2nd interception of the season and was at fault for one of the two fumbles the team suffered on the day. The other was due to the running back core of Ronnie Hillman and Knowshon Moreno. On the day Moreno had 3 rushing touchdowns off 42 total yards and 15 carries. In the second half, Manning threw for no touchdown and threw for 295 yards. Chad Henne out-gunned Manning by eight yards in the game including 190 yards to newly reinstated Justin Blackmon, whose ability earmarked the future problems for the Broncos secondary.
After the Cowboys and Jaguars victories, the stat that started doing the rounds was that the Broncos secondary and defence overall was allowing a huge amount of passing yards and after Sunday's defeat in Indianapolis they rank 32nd and last with 319.9 passing yards per game.
Initially, the stat was inflated because opponents being two touchdowns or more down in the game would be required to throw more frequently to score more quickly, hence the 500 plus yards afforded to Tony Romo in Dallas. Yet any Super Bowl contending team to be considered a contender over a pretender needs to make plays on defence - they have 9 interceptions but none for touchdowns; three forced fumbles two recovered for no touchdowns.
Unlike say the Kansas City Chiefs who have had 10 interceptions for three return TDs and seven forced fumbles for one touchdown; the Chiefs' limited offence is getting overshadowed by a high scoring defence - does that remind you of the Baltimore Ravens first Super Bowl winning team with Trent Dilfer at quarterback.
Then we come back to the main man, Peyton Manning, a man who is on an agenda to win one more Super Bowl title before his eventual retirement. Manning chose Denver over Miami due to the receiving core and the decent defence, however that defence lost Elvis Dumervil due to fax issues. They lost Von Miller for the first six games of the season due to misconduct suspension, Champ Bailey to a foot injury that made him miss the first four games of the season and lost Ryan Clady to a season-ending injury. This means Manning protection on the offensive line is not great and his old body is having to pick itself up off the turf more often; yet also he is having to throw more to keep the team ahead due to the defence not getting many stops or turnovers.
Yet Manning when he is under centre is starting to show some weakness in his arm. The flight of the ball is going very high and appears to have less zip on the ball; the Colts defence played brilliantly in wrapping up his downfield options with Demaryius Thomas having an awful day and Julius Thomas having his first non-existent game of his career. Only when the Broncos were down 21 points in the fourth quarter did Manning start throwing to the ever-reliable Wes Welker who made some astounding reaction catches to keep drives alive on third downs. Manning also showed a lack of composure and was visibly shaken by the blind side hit by Robert Mathis which led to a safety, prompting him to throw quicker to avoid being hit and asking his receivers to get separation swifter.
Yet Manning was then let down by some odd play calling. Manning was throwing it all over the place and a tiring Colts defence did not have many answers to him in that form in a hurry up offense. They had 1st and Goal at the Colts two yard line to make it a one point game if they convert a two-point conversion, yet they handed it off to Ronnie 'Fumble' Hillman who promptly fumbled handing the ball back to the Colts with 2:38 left in the fourth quarter. The unfortunate part was that the Broncos had three timeouts before Hillman's blunder, the fumble meant they had to burn those timeouts either side of the two minute warning. Matt Prater converted a field goal with 10 seconds remaining, prompting an onside kick that the Colts recovered leaving Andrew Luck to take a knee and the win.
This week the Broncos host the Washington Native Americans at Mile High, a game on paper they should win, yet the Redskins showed they are getting back to some sort of form from last season beating Chicago 48-44 at home. RG3 looks back to his old self, leading by example and is being helped by rookie tight end Jordan Reed who had nine catches and 134 yards. This is indicative of the Broncos woes versus opposing tight ends allowing 43 catches for 568 yards but only two touchdowns. That is 13.2 yards per catch, although they might not allow red zone scores for tight ends, Coby Fleener did have one last week and the field position will open up the read option play calling for Washington who got three rushing touchdowns off of Roy Helu last week.
After the Washington game there comes a much needed bye week for the Broncos and Manning to rest his arm. They come back in Week 10 at San Diego, then comes the key two match-ups versus the Kansas City Chiefs sandwiching a trip to New England. You could not ask for a tougher four game stretch. The Chiefs who are being helped out by a weak schedule (they play Cleveland and Buffalo) before they face the Broncos, meaning they could be 9-0 when they face the Broncos for the first time; they also face Denver off a bye which is a huge advantage.
If Kansas split the series with Denver and are the No.1 seeds in the AFC then Kansas will have a huge advantage due to the loud Arrowhead crowd. Denver require home field due to the altitude of Mile High, of course that did not come to fruition due to the Ravens' play off bandwagon. Manning has a history of not winning huge road play-off games (did he ever win at New England in the postseason?) and there is a theory that Manning plays better when ahead in the game when he can maintain his coolness and dictate the tempo, however, when he is behind in the game he struggles and panics which goes against his better nature.
Denver's remaining schedule is v Washington, v Kansas, @ New England, @ Kansas, v Tennessee, v San Diego, @ Houston and @ Oakland. Conceivably they could finish that stretch with a 6-2 record meaning a 13-3 record. That is usually good enough for #1 seed in the AFC.
However, the Chiefs still have v Cleveland, @ Buffalo, @Denver, v San Diego, v Denver, @ Washington, @ Oakland, v Indianapolis, @ San Diego. For the Chiefs they could finish 7-2 which would mean a 14-2 record for them, although the two series against Denver and San Diego will dictate the path their postseason goes to, and San Diego could sneak a wild card due to the fallowness of the AFC this year.
The Broncos so touted as the AFC Super Bowl favourite may have the offensive weapons to compete with anyone, yet they have questions of their defence to answer and Manning's health needs to be monitored. The Chiefs and Chargers will have a say in the course of the AFC West let alone the AFC representative in New York at the Super Bowl.
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Showing posts with label Wes Welker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wes Welker. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Monday, 6 February 2012
Superbowl XLVI review
The New York Giants won the Superbowl for their second title in four years, defeating the New England Patriots for the second time in four years, for the bragging rights as they ran out 21-17 winners at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
History will show that Ahmad Bradshaw scored the winning touchdown with 65 seconds remaining - but that only tells half the story.
History will not show that New England let Bradshaw score the TD, in essence losing the lead so that the quarterback Tom Brady could get the ball back and attempt to win the game for the Patriots. Unfortunately, errors came back to haunt the Patriots at the wrong time as they could not make the catches to extend the drive and at least give Brady a chance to throw for the endzone. The last play of the game with 5 seconds left, was a 51 yard Hail Mary attempt that evaded the hands of Rob Gronkowski after being batted down. When the ball hit the turf, time expired and confetti fell.
The old adage is that defence wins championships. The Giants had the better defense, the Patriots defense is one of the most inexperienced groups in years. The Giants forced the only turnover of the game, an interception by Chase Blackburn outjumping Gronkowski, a play that a fit Gronk may well have grabbed.
Twice the Patriots had forced fumbles, yet they could not recover the loose ball. And when they did recover the ball on a fumble, the recovery was nullified by having too many men on the field. A costly error as Eli Manning connected with Victor Cruz from 5 yards for the first touchdown of the game, to make it 9-0.
At that point Brady and his vaunted offense had only had the ball for one play, which resulted in inside pressure from Justin Tuck forcing Brady to throw the ball way downfield to no recognisable or near receiver. The officials correctly judged that to be intentional grounding resulting in a safety due to Brady's position in the endzone. Had Brady moved five yards outside of the tackle box or thrown to the sidelines, it would have been second down and everyone would have shrugged their shoulders.
To me Brady seemed a little anxious throughout the match - there was a vacant look in his eyes especially after the interception. The constant battle of evading the insistent pressure from the Giants front four led to Brady being out of his comfort zone - forcing some mistakes. But credit to him for making some good throws such as to Branch on 4th and 16 in the last minute to keep a hopeful drive alive.
People may well say the Welker drop was vital, yes a pick up of a first down at the Giants 20 yard line meant the Patriots could control the clock down to the two minute warning score a field goal for a five point lead at least, forcing Manning to go 80 yards minimum with less than two minutes and only one timeout - owing to some odd time management by Eli.
I would not blame Welker, the blame lies with Brady conceding that safety and the defence nullifying their own turnover. Take away those 9 points and the Giants are struggling to keep up.
The Giants have played their last 6 games on a wave of momentum since beating the New York Jets, then beating Dallas, then destroying a weak Atlanta helped. They then became the road warriors with wins at Green Bay and San Francisco to get to the SuperBowl.
The momentum and confidence was with the Giants before the game, the Patriots were worried about how to deal with Victor Cruz and the health of Gronkowski. So in giving them a 9-0 lead in essence was something you did not need to do.
Yet Gronkowski was not fit, and Hernandez did his best yet he is not Gronk. And yet the Patriots who successfully kept Cruz quiet in cover 2 all day, they forgot to go man to man on Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. Brandon Spikes did not help by being unable to intercept or bat down passes by Manning.
The Patriots were guilty of having history in their hands yet silly basic errors - Ninkovich jumping offside on 3rd and 7, making it 3 and 2 instead late in 3rd quarter - coupled with a fine composed performance by Manning in the pocket who again did not blink when the game was on the line; means that the questions of legacy and dynasty are now being asked in New York and not Boston. As for that front four of Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka are as good a front four I have seen in the NFL.
Whilst the legacy of Brady and Belichick is assured thanks to this amazing 11 year stretch of three Super Bowl wins out of five appearances, the record would sure look better if they just sorted out that defence. Hopefully, a good draft can rectify matters as offensively they remain impeccable.
As a big fan, this defeat hurts more than XLII in Phoenix as in that game the Giants defense beat up Brady and deservedly won. On this occasion, it feels like the Lombardi trophy was there for the taking and much like the two dropped passes in the last drive, the Patriots hurt themselves more than the Giants did.
History will show that Ahmad Bradshaw scored the winning touchdown with 65 seconds remaining - but that only tells half the story.
History will not show that New England let Bradshaw score the TD, in essence losing the lead so that the quarterback Tom Brady could get the ball back and attempt to win the game for the Patriots. Unfortunately, errors came back to haunt the Patriots at the wrong time as they could not make the catches to extend the drive and at least give Brady a chance to throw for the endzone. The last play of the game with 5 seconds left, was a 51 yard Hail Mary attempt that evaded the hands of Rob Gronkowski after being batted down. When the ball hit the turf, time expired and confetti fell.
The old adage is that defence wins championships. The Giants had the better defense, the Patriots defense is one of the most inexperienced groups in years. The Giants forced the only turnover of the game, an interception by Chase Blackburn outjumping Gronkowski, a play that a fit Gronk may well have grabbed.
Twice the Patriots had forced fumbles, yet they could not recover the loose ball. And when they did recover the ball on a fumble, the recovery was nullified by having too many men on the field. A costly error as Eli Manning connected with Victor Cruz from 5 yards for the first touchdown of the game, to make it 9-0.
At that point Brady and his vaunted offense had only had the ball for one play, which resulted in inside pressure from Justin Tuck forcing Brady to throw the ball way downfield to no recognisable or near receiver. The officials correctly judged that to be intentional grounding resulting in a safety due to Brady's position in the endzone. Had Brady moved five yards outside of the tackle box or thrown to the sidelines, it would have been second down and everyone would have shrugged their shoulders.
To me Brady seemed a little anxious throughout the match - there was a vacant look in his eyes especially after the interception. The constant battle of evading the insistent pressure from the Giants front four led to Brady being out of his comfort zone - forcing some mistakes. But credit to him for making some good throws such as to Branch on 4th and 16 in the last minute to keep a hopeful drive alive.
People may well say the Welker drop was vital, yes a pick up of a first down at the Giants 20 yard line meant the Patriots could control the clock down to the two minute warning score a field goal for a five point lead at least, forcing Manning to go 80 yards minimum with less than two minutes and only one timeout - owing to some odd time management by Eli.
I would not blame Welker, the blame lies with Brady conceding that safety and the defence nullifying their own turnover. Take away those 9 points and the Giants are struggling to keep up.
The Giants have played their last 6 games on a wave of momentum since beating the New York Jets, then beating Dallas, then destroying a weak Atlanta helped. They then became the road warriors with wins at Green Bay and San Francisco to get to the SuperBowl.
The momentum and confidence was with the Giants before the game, the Patriots were worried about how to deal with Victor Cruz and the health of Gronkowski. So in giving them a 9-0 lead in essence was something you did not need to do.
Yet Gronkowski was not fit, and Hernandez did his best yet he is not Gronk. And yet the Patriots who successfully kept Cruz quiet in cover 2 all day, they forgot to go man to man on Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. Brandon Spikes did not help by being unable to intercept or bat down passes by Manning.
The Patriots were guilty of having history in their hands yet silly basic errors - Ninkovich jumping offside on 3rd and 7, making it 3 and 2 instead late in 3rd quarter - coupled with a fine composed performance by Manning in the pocket who again did not blink when the game was on the line; means that the questions of legacy and dynasty are now being asked in New York and not Boston. As for that front four of Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka are as good a front four I have seen in the NFL.
Whilst the legacy of Brady and Belichick is assured thanks to this amazing 11 year stretch of three Super Bowl wins out of five appearances, the record would sure look better if they just sorted out that defence. Hopefully, a good draft can rectify matters as offensively they remain impeccable.
As a big fan, this defeat hurts more than XLII in Phoenix as in that game the Giants defense beat up Brady and deservedly won. On this occasion, it feels like the Lombardi trophy was there for the taking and much like the two dropped passes in the last drive, the Patriots hurt themselves more than the Giants did.
Monday, 3 October 2011
The Pats make a comeback
Following the unfortunate road loss to the vibrant Buffalo Bills last week, the Patriots on the road again this week had to respond with a big performance in the hostile environment against not just the Oakland Raiders teams, and their loyal fanbase.
Not just performances from Tom Brady, who threw for a career-worst four interceptions but also the ranked last defense that could not stop Ryan Fitzpatrick in the last drive of the game, as he easily went 74 yards allowing the easy chip shot of a field goal to win the game 34-31 and avoid overtime.
Who is to know that the Patriots might have won in OT but the chance was gone. Gone was the chance to make a 3-0 start, instead they were 2-1 reliniquishing AFC East supremacy to the Bills who own a tiebreaker already.
But the Patriots needed a performance from their defense and in spite of giving up 504 total yards this was an improved showing. It is no coincidence that the return of Patrick Chung helped matters. Chung is in his second year with the organisation but already he looks like a leader on the field when having to win the ball back.
Chung had his moment in the second quarter when the Raiders were knocking on the door trailing 14-10, the chance was there to go in at the half ahead. Alas, Jason Campbell threw straight at Chung with no receiver near him allowing an easy pick. The Patriots marched down the pitch and kicked a field goal to take a 17-10 lead, and then on the first possession of the second half scored on a Steven Ridley rushing TD. So following his mistake, Campbell went from four points down to 14 by which point the game was up and even a faltering defence like the Patriots could not give such a lead away again.
Brady meanwhile was faultless, throwing for at least 2 TD's in a game for the 12th consecutive game (tying a record with Peyton Manning), but he again relied totally on the work of Wes Welker who had 9 catches for 156 yards and 1 TD, the over-reliance on Welker may come to haunt the Patriots as the other catches from other receivers were 7 combined, Ochocinco had 2 catches.
There was a nice balance between the run and the aerial route as the two punch of Ridley and Green-Ellis led to two TDs; but the lack of Aaron Hernandez for another week meant that Welker had to be seeked out and the run game was necessary to kill the clock and keep McFadden out of the game for the Raiders. So long as they had to chase the game, Campbell would have to throw (25-39, 344 yards but 2 picks).
Next for the Patriots are the Jets in a big divisional clash. The Jets lost again to the Ravens in a defensive match-up but one in which Mark Sanchez had no protection from his O-line, hopefully the Patriots will be able to call upon Albert Haynesworth to do more of the same, but with the loss of Jared Mayo the injury curse hits the Patriots again.
The defense may be the worse in the league and having Tom Brady may cloud those numbers but one day they will have to step up and make a good account of themselves, but the lack of cohesion and constant injuries may mean the identity may be lost in the shuffle.
Other notes and thoughts:
The Lions are for damn real, coming back from 24 points to win at Cowboys Stadium, where Tony Romo threw two interceptions run back for touchdowns. A huge momentum change in the third quarter led to Matthew Stafford throwing to Calvin Johnson in the fourth for the winner.
The Eagles lost again (1-3) to the 49ers at home, more questions even without Michael Vick to blame.
The Carolina Panthers punted to Devin Hester, why kick to a man who can return and did so for the 12th time in his career setting an NFL record.
Problems are fermenting in Minnesota who are 0-4 and lost to the equally terrible Chiefs (1-3) and now lead the Andrew Luck sweepstakes although the Colts look likely to lose on the road to the Buccaneers.
Aaron Rodgers continues his impressive form as he tore up an awful Denver Broncos team throwing for 4 TDs and running for 2 personally in an allround effort.
Is it just me or is there just a handful of good teams this year - Patriots, Packers, Saints, Lions,
Some good sides still with question marks - Ravens, Texans, Bills,
The fair to middling - Steelers, Bucs, Jets
And then the rest with no level of consistency or form what so ever.
Three weeks to the game at Wembley, cannot wait. Should be a good win with two explosive running backs - Forte v Blount. A sharpshooter with Cutler and a growing pedigree of Freeman.
Not just performances from Tom Brady, who threw for a career-worst four interceptions but also the ranked last defense that could not stop Ryan Fitzpatrick in the last drive of the game, as he easily went 74 yards allowing the easy chip shot of a field goal to win the game 34-31 and avoid overtime.
Who is to know that the Patriots might have won in OT but the chance was gone. Gone was the chance to make a 3-0 start, instead they were 2-1 reliniquishing AFC East supremacy to the Bills who own a tiebreaker already.
But the Patriots needed a performance from their defense and in spite of giving up 504 total yards this was an improved showing. It is no coincidence that the return of Patrick Chung helped matters. Chung is in his second year with the organisation but already he looks like a leader on the field when having to win the ball back.
Chung had his moment in the second quarter when the Raiders were knocking on the door trailing 14-10, the chance was there to go in at the half ahead. Alas, Jason Campbell threw straight at Chung with no receiver near him allowing an easy pick. The Patriots marched down the pitch and kicked a field goal to take a 17-10 lead, and then on the first possession of the second half scored on a Steven Ridley rushing TD. So following his mistake, Campbell went from four points down to 14 by which point the game was up and even a faltering defence like the Patriots could not give such a lead away again.
Brady meanwhile was faultless, throwing for at least 2 TD's in a game for the 12th consecutive game (tying a record with Peyton Manning), but he again relied totally on the work of Wes Welker who had 9 catches for 156 yards and 1 TD, the over-reliance on Welker may come to haunt the Patriots as the other catches from other receivers were 7 combined, Ochocinco had 2 catches.
There was a nice balance between the run and the aerial route as the two punch of Ridley and Green-Ellis led to two TDs; but the lack of Aaron Hernandez for another week meant that Welker had to be seeked out and the run game was necessary to kill the clock and keep McFadden out of the game for the Raiders. So long as they had to chase the game, Campbell would have to throw (25-39, 344 yards but 2 picks).
Next for the Patriots are the Jets in a big divisional clash. The Jets lost again to the Ravens in a defensive match-up but one in which Mark Sanchez had no protection from his O-line, hopefully the Patriots will be able to call upon Albert Haynesworth to do more of the same, but with the loss of Jared Mayo the injury curse hits the Patriots again.
The defense may be the worse in the league and having Tom Brady may cloud those numbers but one day they will have to step up and make a good account of themselves, but the lack of cohesion and constant injuries may mean the identity may be lost in the shuffle.
Other notes and thoughts:
The Lions are for damn real, coming back from 24 points to win at Cowboys Stadium, where Tony Romo threw two interceptions run back for touchdowns. A huge momentum change in the third quarter led to Matthew Stafford throwing to Calvin Johnson in the fourth for the winner.
The Eagles lost again (1-3) to the 49ers at home, more questions even without Michael Vick to blame.
The Carolina Panthers punted to Devin Hester, why kick to a man who can return and did so for the 12th time in his career setting an NFL record.
Problems are fermenting in Minnesota who are 0-4 and lost to the equally terrible Chiefs (1-3) and now lead the Andrew Luck sweepstakes although the Colts look likely to lose on the road to the Buccaneers.
Aaron Rodgers continues his impressive form as he tore up an awful Denver Broncos team throwing for 4 TDs and running for 2 personally in an allround effort.
Is it just me or is there just a handful of good teams this year - Patriots, Packers, Saints, Lions,
Some good sides still with question marks - Ravens, Texans, Bills,
The fair to middling - Steelers, Bucs, Jets
And then the rest with no level of consistency or form what so ever.
Three weeks to the game at Wembley, cannot wait. Should be a good win with two explosive running backs - Forte v Blount. A sharpshooter with Cutler and a growing pedigree of Freeman.
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