Top 10 Notes from Preseason

Two preseason games in the books, two more to go, and then it’s real football time. Are the Broncos ready? I need to see more from this team before I can be confident we’re a Championship team, and after the two preseason games I’ve watched I’m not ready to say that yet. Today I list the 10 most important things I’ve noted from our two preseason games thus far (good or bad).

Dre Bly intercepts a Tony Romo pass in the first half. Photo Courtesy (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

10. Safeties need fine-tuning

Against San Francisco, John Lynch and Nick Ferguson left a hole in the middle of the field that left a bad taste in my mouth. They’ve been asked to do more in run support with our leaky front seven, but as good as our CBs are they still rely on the coverage of our safeties to shore up the secondary. Meanwhile, I’m excited about the prospects of Curome Cox and Hamza Abdullah and the games they have played.

9. Cutler’s Accuracy

I’m not insanely worried about this one – but I am a little bit. Did anyone else notice Cutler throwing some weird balls this past week? In Week 1 against San Fran, he threw two passes – one was a dead-on bullet to Walker, the other was a pass that just awkwardly fell short. Then, in Dallas, I didn’t see the same dead-on accuracy I was hoping to see from last year. Whether it was overthrowing a long pass or just being off-target, Cutler didn’t consistently get the ball to his man. I saw the tight ends drop a few catchable balls as well, but a few of Cutler’s passes aren’t finding their mark. I’ll chalk it up to rust for now… hope to see better stuff against the Browns.

8. Cornerbacks good as advertised

Dre Bly getting an interception was great… did you see Champ Bailey slam into Julius Jones in mid-air at the goal line? Man, I love that guy. And while I’m here – that pass interference call againt Bly was the biggest load of crap I’ve ever seen. Anyway… If our front seven can do a better job, these corners are simply unstoppable.

7. O-Line Inconsistencies

In Week 1, I came out of the game completely pumped about our offensive line. It looked like the best front offensive unit we had put out on the field in a long time. Tom Nalen looked as dominant and fast as ever. Montrae Holland, RG, was my game MVP. But in Week 2, it wasn’t the same story – I still thought Holland, Nalen and LT Matt Lepsis (who returned from injury) played well, but not at the same level the first two did in week 1. And backup LG Chris Myers struggled in both games. I want to see the O-Line blow people up the way they did against the Niners again.

6. Standout receivers

I said it during training camp, when our entire unit was decimated with injuries – we may be deeper at WR than we have been in YEARS. I think I was right – Walker and Brandon Marshall look like total studs – who wasn’t impressed by Brian Clark‘s big catch last week? Hixon looks good too – and we haven’t even seen Brandon Stokley hit the field yet! I’m really excited about the wide receiver position this year, and everyone looks like they may be healthy when the time comes.

5. O-Line has great depth

I just bagged on the offensive line for inconsistencies, but at least we’re as deep as we’ve ever been. Sometimes, as a fan, I think the entire future of this offensive line is on the roster right now… Erik Pears, Chris Kuper, Greg Eslinger, Mark Fenton… it’s exciting to know our youth is growing as our veterans show ’em how it’s done. In the second half of our games, I’ve been impressed by the offensive line playing against the second and third team defenses. The future looks bright on the Broncos O-Line.

4. Travis Henry looks pretty damn good

Too bad I won’t get to see him do his thing again until the Bills in Week 1… he struggled a bit against Dallas, but he was simply a beast against San Francisco… the whole team struggled vs. the Cowboys. I think we’ll see a lot more of Week 1 Henry than Week 2 Henry this year. Just get healthy.

Marion Barber breaks two linebacker tackles to score in the first half. Photo Courtesy (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

3. Linebacker struggles

A lot of people have been drinking the Nate Webster kool-aid – yeah, he had a great play on the second down of the game, but did people watch him closely the rest of the game? I just don’t see what everyone else is. He got in the position to make plays, but then ALWAYS needed help making them. I saw him awkwardly watch Champ wrap up Marion Barber two feet next to him in one play… he just ran along side the play rather than getting his helmet in the mix. On Barber’s touchdown midway through the second quarter (where he cut to the left, outside), the entire linebacker unit failed to make the stop – first, Webster cut inside and missed his tackle for loss. Another guy broke containment (it wasn’t Ian Gold, but I couldn’t get a good look at the jersey number) and would have been in the perfect position to stop the touchdown. Then D.J. Williams was a step too late. This had nothing to do with the defensive line not eating up blockers – the guys just missed their freakin’ assignments and blew the play! Let’s fix it up, guys!

2. D-Line getting pushed around

Nothing looks more pathetic than seeing a nearly-400 lbs. defensive tackle getting pushed around like a rag doll. Sam Adams isn’t taking space from our runners… I literally shudder when I think of what Ladainian Tomlinson could do to this team the way they’re playing right now. I think the one bright spot has been Engelberger – he hasn’t been consistently good, but at least he’s shown us a few flashes. I think Jarvis Moss has the chance to be really good too. But this whole line needs to stop getting pushed around and work a little harder.

1. Injuries suck

And we’ve had more than our fair share so far. Enough said.

I really want us to kick some ass against the Browns this weekend. Seriously. I’ve been feeling optimistic all offseason and these past two preseason games have been a bit of a killjoy. Let’s get it together, defense, and become the team so many fans, experts, players and coaches think we can be.