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Published on 08/24/2009 at Mon Aug 24 14:44.
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Denver 13 – Seattle 27: Studs and Duds

Posted Mon Aug 24th by

Seattle Seahawks' Jordan Babineaux, bottom, and Brian Russell, right, tackle Denver Broncos' Peton Hillis (22) in the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Seattle Seahawks' Jordan Babineaux, bottom, and Brian Russell, right, tackle Denver Broncos' Peton Hillis (22) in the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

OFFENSIVE MVP
Ryan Clady – The big left tackle didn’t have his best game (at one point drawing a 15-yard penalty that eliminated a 20-yard Peyton Hillis run), but he was facing one of the league’s best DE’s, Patrick Kerney. At the end of the game, Kerney came up empty – no sacks, no tackles, not a single defensive statistic registered. ‘Nuff said.

DEFENSIVE MVP
D.J. Williams – After the Seahawks marched down the field on their first drive, D.J. simply wasn’t having it. On the first play of the second drive, Williams cut through the pile of blockers to tackle RB T.J. Duckett for only a two-yard gain. Two plays later, he sacked Matt Hasselbeck to force the three-and-out. D.J. led the team with six tackles.

Studs

Kyle Orton – Save for one misguided attempt at ambidexterity, Orton played really well Saturday. The entire offense came out lame in the second half, but overall, a good outing by our starting signal caller.

Kenny Peterson – Two sacks, his second and third of this preseason. During the BT camp reports, I said a few times that Peterson looked like the best defensive lineman in camp. He’s showing us why. Side note to keep an eye on: Peterson also saw a lot of time at Nose Tackle Saturday. A LOT.

Denver Broncos' Robert Ayers (56) walks off the field with teammates Correll Buckhalter (28) and Brandon Gorin, right, after the Seattle Seahawks beat the Broncos 27-13 in a NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Denver Broncos' Robert Ayers (56) walks off the field with teammates Correll Buckhalter (28) and Brandon Gorin, right, after the Seattle Seahawks beat the Broncos 27-13 in a NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Brandon Stokley – Besides the touchdown catch and a few other clutch grabs, Stokley was repeatedly called to block on screen plays – and he did it extremely well. Watch again: Eddie Royal‘s 26-yard run and Correll Buckhalter‘s 8-yarder in the first drive never happen if Stokley isn’t executing huge blocks downfield.

Duds

Robert Ayers – The guy is invisible in the worst way. Except when he gets flagged for defensive holding or whiffs on an open field tackle on QB Seneca Wallace. The rookie finished with one tackle for the night. Big deal? No, not yet – he’s learning a new position at a new level of play. But I’m not about to ignore it either.

Kenny McKinley – Lost a fumble and had a few bad plays.

Tony Scheffler – Lost a fumble. Let’s just say that if a Bronco loses a fumble, he’ll find himself on this list.

Backup o-line – Just awful, and made Seattle’s 7th round rookie Nick Reed look like Dwight Freeney.

Roll Call

Everyone who made the trip played this week, unlike the week before where six guys dressed but never saw the field.

Who’d we miss? Who were some of your studs and duds from Saturday’s game? Dish it out in the comments.

  • roshon2411

    Kyle,

    Think your mostly right on especially with D-Will and Peterson.

    Though I think Orton had a better game don’t necessarily think he was a stud.(Red Zone has me a little worried)

    Clady I believe had a good game. He is the best in the league at pass protection, still has a lot to learn with run blocking, but that will come in time.

    Others of note for me were both kickers…Prater for hitting a 53 yarder(with ease), now, hopefully he can be consistent. Kern, 61 yard punt, avg. 48+ on his three kicks. And of course Royal, nothing big but the bubble screen looks like the play was built for him.

    Duds, I know he’s a rook but Ayers for sure. I’m hopin’ we didn’t miss by passing on Orakpo. His named seemed to be called non-stop in the Skins game.

    Other’s who just haven’t seem to show up yet…Andra Davis, Broncos TE’s, and Ronnie Fields. They weren’t exactly horrible but through two games they seem to be invisible.

    The big dud…

    No turnovers in first two games. With it being preseason and playing two teams from last year who weren’t steller, you’d think we’d come up with a loose ball or something.

  • Pat

    Great Job Kyle. I hope u will be doing this after every game. Awesome!!!

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Thanks, I’ve done these in past preseasons and was just a tad too busy last week. Might extend to the regular season, but I don’t want to step on Jordan’s toes either with his Stink List. :)

    I’m trying to finish up my thoughts and observations on the weekend that was before hitting this monstrous game Sunday night.

  • SivNiz

    Prater hitting FG from 50 and out historically haven’t been a problem, I would like to see him imporve from 40-49.

  • CJ

    Yea i really would like to see something more out of Robert Ayers? I agree with this whole list except i think Lamont Jordan deserves to be on there. I really disliked him untill i went and watched there practice and he looked great and he has done a good job catching the ball on screens and as a wide out

    He has really impressed me.

  • dustfan

    I am a little less worried about the red zone at least in the Seattle game. First, I believe it was 2nd & goal from the 1 or 2 and we passed the next three plays (and not even a play fake if I remember correctly). You would think w/Hillis or Jordan we should be able to punch it in from there. Secondly, if Gaffney doesn’t drop the TD on 3rd down Orton’s #’s are looking a lot better. Thirdly, In a real game hopefully McD kicks the FG in that situation. Lastly, McD better have told Orton to never try the lefty pass again or lose your starting job.

    Some of the same problems though with the offense moving the ball very well between the 20’s but leaving points on the field. Hillis looked good, he had the 20 yarder called back but broke several tackles on the play. When if BM gets back and When Moreno get back this should be a pretty productive offense. Turnovers are the big key though. We need to hold on to the ball and force more on defense. Even Graham on a TE screen was palming the ball with his arm away from his body. Wrap it up big guy. I’m also starting to worry about Scheffler, as he fumbled several times last year also.

    Obviously this team needs to win the turnover battle if it has any chance this year.

  • http://www.dbaumgartner.com daveb

    How about Goodman? Seemed to get burned twice pretty bad, but I’m not sure if that was all on him or missed assignements?

  • Vince_Marine

    I’m also agree with the list, especially with Orton.
    Roshon, don’t worry about the red zone, we’ll be fine. I think once we get down that far you’ll see a lot more Payton Hillis running plays!

    Go Broncos!

  • dustfan

    As for the defense, we are still not very good against the run and Seattle’s No 1 RB didn’t even play. The good news is our secondary is a lot better tackling group so hopefully that will cut down on some long runs. We are also getting better pressure on the QB in passing situations. Both b/c of the pressure and the coverage (several of the sacks were b/c the QB didn’t have anywhere to throw). So even if we still need work against the run I think this defense will be better at getting off the field on 3rd down more often. Again we need turnovers also that will help get the D of the field. If the offense also holds on to the ball that will keep the D fresher.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Seattle’s not exactly a run machine (they just added Edgerrin James), but they only had 20 yards rushing in the first half, 72 overall. 3.1 avg. Not bad, I say, not bad.

  • marv

    i no this don’t mean nothing but we ranked 4th in preseason defense and 15th in offense

  • Bronco D

    Dawkins, Moreno, and Marshall are game changers. Right now I don’t see any one else except maybe Royal. Champ needs Dawk back there scaring the hell out of receivers. Receivers do not like the thought of getting hit by him. Moreno is the ‘only’ running back with a burst for the Broncos and Marshall is the only WR who needs to be double teamed.
    Get these guys on the field and they change the face of a game!

  • http://www.search-this.com mark

    Good post, I would add Spencer Larsen and once again Peyton Hillis to the stud list. I know stat wise Andre’ Goodman didn’t come out well, but he was right there on those plays. You can’t get any closer without drawing pass interference. That’s just one hard position to play.

    Would love to find a pass rush.

  • roshon2411

    daveb,

    Good point about Goodman, seemed to have a bad game. Hopefully that’s all it was, I think corners can have off and on games.

    Dustfan, Vince,

    I’m worried about the red zone. Orton’s hasn’t scored what 2 out 3 times? I know Gaffney dropped the one TD but Ken Lucas also dropped an easy pick the play before Stockley TD. I know it was also 4th down and we probably would have kicked the FG, but Ibelieve McD wanted to see how Orton would react and he didn’t react well. I know he wanted to make a play but if he takes the sack instead of throwing it left handed, Seattle would have gotten the ball at the 5 instead of the 20. Thats a big difference, and Seattle went on to score before the half. That was a 14 point swing. Can’t do that when the season starts.

    I also do think once were down there during the regular season you’ll see different play calling and more running, hopefully Hillis. I just don’t understand why McD doesn’t see how they run in the red zone?

    I think our running game/blocking has been real weak the last couple years in the red zone. Loved to see if our Goal Line can beat their Goal Line. So to me there are many questions with Orton and the rest of the team when it comes to the red zone. It’s been the weakest part of our offense for awhile. Still looks to be.

  • anthony33

    I like what McD is doing with Orton, which is thorw the ball on damn near every down and learn this passing offense . I think he alreeady knows the running game will be fine and having Orton hand off is not going to help us down the road.

    So, all the picks, the left handed pass and passing on three downs inside the 5 does not bother me. We’ll be better off two weeks from now.

  • anthony33

    Kyle
    Can you add spell check to this site? lol

  • http://www.search-this.com mark

    Use Firefox and spell check is built into the browser…