Broncos @ 49ers In-Depth Review

The win wasn’t all that important, although I must admit I feel a bit better that our defense was able to hold them off until the very end.

But not that much better. I’m still watching the game film, or at least whatever ESPN decided they wanted to let me watch between their horrible interviews (Michelle Tafoya actually asked Rod Smith about the death of Darrent Smith… if you’re going to screw something that big up, don’t bother with the interview at all. Just let me watch my game). Here’s what I liked and what I didn’t like.

What I Liked

Montrae Holland – #70 – First on my list for a reason. The first play of the game was an 11-yard run by Travis Henry that would have gotten nowhere without Holland’s precise block to the linebacker. This big guy got to the second level and opened up the lane, really as Henry’s lead blocker. In the touchdown play (which may or may not have been a score, by the look of it – probably would have been challenged in a real game) he did similar, and I didn’t see him giving into 49er pass rushers like some of the other guys on the line. If you watch the right guard through the first few series, you’ll see consistent blocking in both the running and passing game. When the pocket collapsed and Jay Cutler had to make his 16-yard scramble, it was the right guard that kept the hole open for him to run – he plain LEVELED his man, knocking his ass to the floor. If he performs like that year round, we’re talking sure-fire Pro Bowl for Holland. I can see why the Broncos extended his contract last week. Man, I feel like going out and buying a Holland jersey today!… My Offensive MVP of the game, BY FAR.

Travis Henry – #20 – Several times it looked like the play was broken, but Henry broke through tackle after tackle to keep the drive alive. Not only that, but if you watch ESPN’s replay of Cutler’s completion, you’ll see that the Niners blitzed two linebackers. One of them got through the left side and hit Cutler as he threw, but the other, who came from the right side, got blown up by #20 with a great block. I’m more excited than ever to see Henry in action in real games now.

D.D. Lewis – #54 – I think he separated himself a bit from the other linebackers yesterday. Jim Bates said he wanted someone to be really calling for the starting job by Week 3 of the preseason, and Lewis did that last night in my book. In limited action he led the team in tackles in the first half and was around several other stops.

Tim Crowder – #96 – As the right defensive end you really had the best view of #96, and I took advantage. If the blocker found him head on, he had trouble disengaging, but he didn’t let runs past him that often (none that I can remember) and he had several break-ups in the backfield, including a sack and a great tackle for loss (I believe it was even on a 3rd down) against the running back. Statistically, Crowder was barely more than a no-show, but I saw him around several plays and am really excited to see if he can challenge Engelberger for the starting job. Before every snap you could see 3 defensive linemen waiting there, sitting still – and one guy whose legs wouldn’t stop shaking. That guy was Crowder, and his energy was infectious through the dredges of the poorly performed second half. The second team defense held the Niner second team offense to 3 points – T-Crow was the biggest bright spot on that defensive line, which played poorly as a whole.

Elvis Dumervil – #92 – As he was moved into the nickel package in the first quarter, he was the reason the 49ers offense was stopped on third down, getting his hand on quarterback Alex Smith‘s arm and breaking up the throw. He would tally a sack later in the game, but we still need to see more of him in run defense for him to move up the depth chart from situational guy to a starter. The sack was his only tackle of the game.

The Backups RBs – Mike Bell (#30), Cecil Sapp (#37) and – SURPRISE! – Selvin Young each looked amazing in their own right, with Bell averaging 5.1 ypc, Sapp 4.5 yards per carry, and Young adding a very healthy 6.8 yards per carry on 4 carries. It really was eerie seeing a Broncos running back wearing #30… but Mike Bell did well and was the engine behind our second team offense. I don’t know if Andre Hall got injured or what, but Young looked mighty impressive against that third team Niner defense.

The Backups Safeties – How about fan-favorite Hamza Abdullah (#21) getting that interception? And Steve Cargile (#38) added one too, and nearly got another. All of these were somewhat hand-fed to the guys, but they didn’t let us down and were able to grab the easy pass (and let’s be honest – we can’t always rely on John Lynch to do the same – love ya Lynch, but sometimes you just drop those balls that hit you right in the numbers). I’m convinced our depth at safety is more than adequate – even Curome Cox (#40) did very well, ending the night second in tackles. But Cargile’s end zone pick and end zone near-pick before gives him Defensive MVP honors this game – he was close to having a brutal tackle for less as he broke into the backfield, had he just wrapped up his man instead of trying to knock him out cold.

What I Didn’t Like

In a word, the answer would be the defense. I was hoping we’d be over this “bend but don’t break” philosophy by now… I’ll start with some offensive gripes first, though.

Chris Myers – #62 – This guy has a lot of potential, but I really wasn’t impressed with him last night. His run blocking wasn’t as dominating as Holland’s (not nearly so), and I saw him get beat by his pass rusher more than once. In Cutler’s one completion, Myers got pushed around by his man all the way over to the other side of the line – he did a good job of moving his man aside and letting Cutler complete his pass, but it left a gaping hole for the linebacker to get to Cutler just the same. The next play, Henry runs left for 9 yards, but credit that run to Daniel Graham – Myers broke to the second level but struggled to make a hit that could have extended the run. Later, Cutler’s scramble was a direct result of Myers missing his man completely, barely getting a hand on the defender. The guy made Myers look plain foolish. Ben Hamilton is our starter, but it makes me nervous if Myers is the best backup we’ve got at left guard. Hopefully this was just a bad game and he can shake the rust off – I had heard good things, but I like to see things with my own eyes and came away very unimpressed. My Offensive Dud of the Game.

Jay Cutler – #6 – He looked good, sure. He was composed and he looked like a leader on the field. But he was 1 for 2, with one throw being a beautiful bullet to Javon Walker, and the other being a plain crappy throw that was well short of his open man. The 16 yard run showed his heart and his fire, BUT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! SLIDE! I’ve said it twice since yesterday, but no Broncos fan wants to see Cutler come out of a pile without a helmet in a preseason game!! They’ll play nice because it’s the preseason, Cutler, but get close to their endzone and they’re not going to show any mercy. I’m sure this was why he got pulled after only two pass attempts, and while I would give his performance a solid B+ overall in that action, that left a bad enough taste in my mouth to list him here.

The Starting D-Line – Yes, Sam Adams (#95) is a freaking mammoth. He dwarfed Amon Gordon (#93) – but honestly, both of them got pushed around. Jimmy Kennedy (#73) came in and played more than Adams, and I was left missing Gerard Warren. I can’t understand how the Broncos can look at this game tape and think that either Kennedy or Gordon can fill Warren’s shoes. Our DT play was barely watchable. Meanwhile, the starting ends fared just okay. Engelberger (#60) was active, around a lot of plays and getting a lot of pressure, but he only got the one sack… although there was a brutally obvious hold against him in the first quarter that should have been called. The running backs were able to run straight through the defensive line, and often times the 49er blockers were making their way to the second level. A linebacker unit is only as good as the D-Line that eats up the blocks ahead of them – and this group definitely left something to be desired.

Regarding the pass rush, or lack thereof – Alex Smith was free to make BIG throws to both Arnaz Battle and Darrell Jackson. Engelberger almost made a play against the former’s big pass, but he just didn’t get there soon enough. There was NO pressure up the middle, and the end pressure wasn’t great either. We can’t rely on only having our true pass rushers available on sure-fire third downs – both of these plays happened in the first two downs, and the ends we had in the game just weren’t able to get to the quarterback. The group as a whole is my Defensive Dud of the game.

Special Teams – Besides Quincy Morgan‘s great return to the 49er 38-yard line, the Broncos starting field position was abysmal. Elam missed his field goal… overall it was just pathetic. There were a few bright spots I guess, like the big return I mentioned, with my guy Kyle Johnson leading the path (give the ESPN crew credit sometimes – it really was a great couple of blocks by KJ on that return). But our coverage was poor, Sauerbrun was out-punting that coverage, and we were repeatedly around the 20 yard line or worse in the fourth quarter. Eck… let’s fix this, ASAP.

The Coverage – The more I think about it, I can’t remember worse coverage. And I’m not talking about the Secondary here, or anything on the football field. I’m talking about the broadcast – with the pointless interviews that hardly had anything to do with football, and the disruptive way they presented these interviews (about half the screen is pointless orange filler) – I’m sick to think that 3/5 of our prime time games will be covered by ESPN. Give me NBC or NFLN even – if the regular season broadcast and coverage is anything like this, I’ll be livid! And no Desperate Housewives interviews then, either.

Overall Review

I’d give the Broncos performance overall as an A offensively and a D defensively. We held the opponent to 13 points, sure, but we lost the time of possession battle and our defense won’t last like that for long in a real game. I didn’t want to see more of the same – maybe it’s just my disappointment shining through in that grade. But that’s what it was – lack of pressure (generally), very poor run support, and poor third down stops to keep our defense on the field.

But then I remember, it’s just preseason week 1, and a lot can change. We were playing with a vanilla defense, it’s true, but it was really vanilla vs. vanilla and we couldn’t stop their basic run-up-the-middle plays. There’s time to fix this, and I hope we can.

I’m looking forward to Saturday’s game at Dallas for many reasons. I want to see our offensive line starters return; I want to see Jarvis Moss healthy enough to make an impact; I want to see our starting offense as a whole on the field for more than 5 minutes! Looking forward to keeping you covered for more preseason coverage…