What’s wrong?

It was really hard to watch a defense that performed well throughout the first half of the game just die in the fourth quarter. And this keeps happening!

All of a sudden any ol’ gramma could run for 8 yards on that line, and that was with Lynch up on the line. Their O-line mauled us, and they don’t even have a good O-line. Now, I know we have a lot of youth on our D, but I don’t get that mauling. Do we need to teach the kids how to pace themselves better? Are they in need of better conditioning? (Didn’t we sing that song last offseason?)

We had absolutely no rush. Dumervil was double-teamed almost every time, and Engelberger has no rush.

There is absolutely no doubt that we need to pick a DT and/or a DE high. I sincerely wish we hadn’t cut Warren, as he would’ve fit great once Bates’ scheme broke down and we switched more to older schemes.

But what really got me was that our offense continually sputtered on their side of the field. Partially it was the lack of running game; partially it was the inability of the O-line to keep the pressure off of Cutler. I thought he did some pretty amazing stuff under pressure, but he had guys in his face all game; and as the game wore on, it was our O-line that got tired, not their D-line, and it just got worse. Walker is not up to full speed, and Stokley was out; and that made a huge difference. It basically meant that the only guys out there to receive, once Graham went down, were Marshall and Scheffler; and Walker could be a distraction but after awhile it became clear they didn’t have to worry too much about Walker. In the second half they must’ve been blanketing Marshall.

What’s really wrong?

1. We are the most inconsistent team in the league.
2. This team makes far more penalties than Bronco teams historically make.
3. This team performs well when ahead, and poorly when behind.

This team does not handle adversity. When they get up early, they do well. When they get behind early, the frustration causes mistakes. This leads me to believe that we have a whole lot of guys that are simply trying too hard. They’re not relaxed out there; and they make mistakes. There’s a lot of pressure to perform; and when they’re winning, they relax and play to their full potential. And when not winning, they’re just a little too tense. You could see it in Cutler. In the beginning of the year, he was the kid that nothing phased, but he is upset that the team isn’t playing to its potential, and he gets mad and frustrated out there.

This is endemic to the entire team, on both sides of the ball. This can only be coming from the coaching staff. Shanahan, in the past, has been exemplary at creating relaxed teams that are disciplined and make few mistakes. How is it not happening this year? Likely it’s some amount of youth not responding as well as experienced veterans do; the experienced veterans we have are largely mediocre players who aren’t as talented as the younger players.

The thing is, I don’t think more change is going to fix things. I think replacing a few players here and there — mostly mediocre veterans — is important, but I think team cohesion is the answer. The team has to be comfortable with each other, and that comes through experience together.

Offhand, I’d say the most important draft targets are DT, OG, LB, S; roughly in that order, depending upon Lynch’s health. If he’s capable of playing next year, take a safety late. If they’re worried that he won’t be effective as a starter, take a safety in the second round or so (depending upon what the top of the draft looks like, of course).

I’m not sure I’m even right about needing anyone on O-line. Theoretically Hamilton will be back; Lepsis should be better next year. Remember he’s playing this year on a repaired knee and that first year is never 100%; it’s the second year that tells you the reality. Nalen might even be back, though I’m not as confident in that as everyone else. He’s getting up there in years, but the kind of injury he has is one of the easier ones to recover from, at least.

But it seems like we’re solid at tight end; if we retain Walker we are solid at receiver; we need another back but I wouldn’t put a top pick into it. Young, Hall and one other guy in their league ought to be good, whether or not Henry comes back. Fullback? Not so sure about that. I should look more at Sapp but it’s hard to watch the fullback the way games are filmed on TV. And obviously, Cutler is fine. Not so keen on Ramsey as his backup, but we could do much, much worse for backup.

But on defense? We’re ok on CB but every other position needs help still. The line should get better next year — Moss, Crowder and Dumervil at End, Thomas at DT. I don’t know that we really want more youth there next year. Ekuban should be back, though I don’t really recall him being what you’d call a stud there. Thomas will, I think, be a stud but he needs someone good standing next to him. It’s taking him a long time to really get up to NFL speed. LB? DJ Williams has come on as MLB, I am more satisfied with him than others. Gold and Webster…maybe they just need more competition. Webster goes out there and flies around, and Gold reads well and covers well but he misses too many tackles. Lynch is very good but he’s slowing down in his old age; it’s made up for by his amazing ability to read plays.

So that rearranges my order slightly, doesn’t it? S goes higher, even with Lynch able to play. At worst a 1st round S pick could start and Abdullah could revert to being a backup, and then the year after Abdullah can start again? I’m fairly impressed with Abdullah except for that awful miss where he didn’t try to wrap his arms.