Two Stats Worth a Thousand Words

Two numbers stand out as I look at the Denver Broncos stats through week 2. 17, and 911.

The first – 17 – is the number of points the Broncos defense has given up in 2 weeks. (Oh, by the way, that’s lower than the 24 points the defense gave up through two weeks last year). It is also the number of points Broncos opponents have scored through other means.

Marshawn Lynch marched through the Broncos defense in the third quarter of the Bills game for 7 points. Against the Raiders, Sebastian Janikowski kicked in a field goal in the first half after an interception gave the Raiders a short field. Later, Dre Bly bit while looking at the Raiders backfield, leaving Jerry Porter wide open for 7 points in the third quarter. 7+3+7 = 17.

But the Broncos opponents have scored a total of 34, twice that. What gives?

First, it was Roscoe Parrish returning a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown. Then, the Raiders scored 10 defensive points through a Gerard Warren safety and a Thomas Howard interception (and resulting 2-point conversion). 7+2+8 = 17.

It’s remarkable that both games saw these scores split – the Bills had 7 points from offense, 7 from special teams. The Raiders found 10 on offense and relied on their defense for the other 10.

Both games came down to the wire, and required a Jason Elam kick to seal the teams’ fates.

The second number – 911 – is the league-leading yardage total of the Broncos offense. Through Week 3 last year, the Broncos had 935. That’s right – it took the 2006 Broncos offense 3 weeks to (barely) surpass what the 2007 Broncos accomplished in 2.

Quarterback Jay Cutler has more passing yardage by himself (573) through two weeks than the entire offense did last year (535)!

We have great talent on both sides of the ball – Super Bowl talent in my eyes. A young stud of a quarterback who is showing he knows how to march down the field. A running back who reminds everyone who sees him of future Hall of Famer Terrell Davis. One of the best receiving corps in the league, complemented by a ferocious secondary and, in my opinion, the best offensive line we’ve had in years. The front seven is full of an infusion of both young guns and veterans. This is a stacked team.

So why have we only scored 38 points? If we’re only allowing an average of 218.5 yards per game, and we’re tallying 455.5 yards per game, why are these such nailbiters? Why do we need Elam to deliver the game winner every week?

The answer is simple – sloppy football.

The difference is in the details. They talk about how a team with a lot of new pieces needs time to “gel.” That’s exactly what I see happening to the Broncos – they just aren’t fully gelling yet.

As much as this team has struggled to put it all together, they’re still finding ways to win games. The NFL season is not a long one – we’re 15 weeks from the playoffs already, which seems unfathomable compared to other professional sports’ seasons. This is still long enough for the Broncos to work the kinks out, shake the rust off in some cases, and completely gel as they should.

As the talent on this team learn to depend more on each other, and learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, this team will grow and thrive. The sky really is the limit. There won’t be as many boneheaded mistakes – like an illegal formation that costs us 6 points against the Raiders by Mike Bell. The holder and kicker will begin to gel more, and Elam won’t miss a field goal every game. The offensive line will get better, particularly when Ben Hamilton returns, and the defensive front seven will learn each other’s intricacies as they do better to stop the run.

We’ll stop giving our opponents as many fluke points as we do as a defense.

And we’ll go deep into the playoffs, and if healthy, make a serious run at the Super Bowl.

In other words, what I’ve spent the past thousand words trying to explain to you, I’ll do so in about 10: We’re a few sloppy mistakes from being the best team in football.