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Published on 08/15/2010 at Sun Aug 15 20:33.
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Starters shine, backups blunder in Broncos’ preseason debut

Posted Sun Aug 15th by

Bengals running back James Johnson is upended near the goaline by Joe Mays (96) and Chris Baker (75). (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

Bengals running back James Johnson is upended near the goaline by Joe Mays (96) and Chris Baker (75). (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

Cincinnati Bengals 33, Denver Broncos 24.

Kyle Orton and the first-team offense lit it up, while the second and third-teamers didn’t leave fans quite as encouraged.

After starting with an impressive 14-0 lead on three offensive possessions, Orton proved that while he may not win gassers during training camp he still runs the Broncos. Orton finished the day 8 of 13 for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

Behind a very unproductive second team offense and defense the Broncos quickly lost their strong lead and allowed the Bengals to take over; leaving the third team to make up for a score of 33-17 in the Bengals favor. Broncos backup quarterback Brady Quinn contributed to that score throwing the team’s lone interception which lead to a David Jones interception and a fumble (which Quinn was able to recover).  Quinn on the day looked very much like most backup quarterbacks in Denver history.

As poor tackling and special teams mounted the Broncos team looked finished; you could hear the cries for rookie Tim Tebow from a mile away.

Tebow started strong, a spectacular pass to Matthew Willis would have been an early seven and could have created an actual controversy in Denver (at least for the backup role) had Willis been able to pull it in.

In the fourth quarter amidst more poor tackling and what appeared to be a severe lack of protection Tebow orchestrated a drive with less than a minute remaining that was nearly topped off by a pass to Marquez Branson (who started the game at tight end and even lined up in the backfield once or twice) in the end zone. After review it was ruled that Branson had dropped the pass which lead to a fantastic Tebow scramble for a touchdown on the following play.

The play of the second and third teams ultimately leaves more questions that answers:

What do the Broncos do about Brady Quinn? How can the Broncos address their already thin depth? Can the defense and special teams remember what a tackle feels like by the season opener?

We’ll have much more on the game later tonight and tomorrow; for now, dish it out in the comments.

  • anthony33

    The first team offense looked pretty good although they didn't run the ball much. Orton looked very good. Firstt team defense looked average at best.

    Beyond that the second and third teamers stunk it up. Sorry guys, but this does not look like a well coached football team. Remember the 2nd and 3rd stingers were up against Cincy's 2nd and 3rd stringers and we got man handled.

    Quinn is Simms reincarnated. Love Tebow's grit, but it is very apparent that long release is not going to cut it. Didn't notice it that much in college, but it looked like it took forever to get the ball out of there. Hope I'm wrong because I have a feeling he will end up the number two QB as soon as Monday or Tuesday.

  • Roy

    My only hope with the defense is that we are not trying to giver away our more advanced defensive schemes before thte regular season. That soes not, however, explain the abysmal tackling by our defence and special teams. I see a sharp increase in the number of tackling drills in the next couple of weeks.

    Also, what about Quinn? I could almost smell the stink comming from his play all the way in Washington.

  • anthony33

    Just saw the rushing stats… Cincy had 191 on the ground… I see we're picking up right where we left off.

    And don't give me this crap that it's only preseason, `191 is 191 and preseason is where you start to form habits as a team. Shanahan's teams always did well in preseason and it carried over.

    Hate to so negative right out of the gate, but that was awful.

  • MeOMy

    Cut Quinn

  • Roy

    My only hope with the defense is that we are not trying to giver away our more advanced defensive schemes before thte regular season. That soes not, however, explain the abysmal tackling by our defence and special teams. I see a sharp increase in the number of tackling drills in the next couple of weeks.

    Also, what about Quinn? I could almost smell the stink comming from his play all the way in Washington.

  • Crwolff

    Wow the “power running” game sure didn't look very powerful. That really worries me. The special teams and D stunk it up too.

  • anthony33

    Quinn got here when… in March? Five months of working out and supposedly learning the system and this is what we have? To me he either completely sucks as a QB and has no business being in the NFL or Josh's bother cannot coach worth a lick. Wow.

  • Crwolff

    no doubt. And some might argue that he needs to learn the “complex” offense…. What would that be? The draw and the bubble screen?

  • Adrenaline27

    WOW Could our backups have sucked any worse? All I can really say is they better get Tebow some help. Allow him to get some reps with some of the better offense of line or he is going to get killed. WR didnt help him at all. Its as if Cincy knew our WR couldnt catch passes so they blitz every time.

    Also a shout out to Quinn, Thanks. Now Tebow can possibly get more reps with better players due to your sucking it up.

  • Doh

    brandstater is in INDY now.

  • Crwolff

    I guess we have to remember that Sims looked amazing last year in the preseason….he must have been out of weed.

  • SB bronco fan

    well the team was awesome at the beginning, including the defence… and at the end tebow really showed his capabilities by playing rather well for a third string qb. i say move tebow up to 2nd string and possibly give him a chance to start

  • steeplebomb

    I'm a little surprised at the negativity here. It wasn't the greatest football I have ever seen but I think it could have been way worse. IMHO people read way too much into the outcome/stats of these games. Coaches don't call plays to win, they call plays to examine the fundamental skills of the players. Our running game was disappointing but did anyone honestly expect much else given the top 3 on the depth chart are out, not to mention the best member of our offensive line? Orton played as advertised and looked in control and certainly is the #1 QB. Brady Quinn stunk it up and was probably the most disappointing performance. However, I was impressed with Tebow's grit, but am more excited about his mental performance. He made quick decisions and was accurate with the football. This game raised his stock in my view. IMHO, Tebow looked a lot better in this game than brandstater ever did in the preseason with more accurate passing and excellent pocket awareness in avoiding sacks.

    The Defense could have been better but again, Cincy's offensive stats are inflated by the fact that their first team offense stayed out longer. I liked the coverage for the most part and we had some good short yardage stops. The problem was, surprise surprise, the total lack of a pass rush. Both Ayers and Cox could have been better but I am excited to see this team take shape over the next few weeks

  • areferee

    There were many things worthy of pungent criticism tonight, but none more deserving than most of these comments.

  • areferee

    Kyle…thanks for the insightful comments. You got right to the point. It's all about depth.

    Thanks for pointing out that, although our glass may be merely half full at best, there was a little rum and ice, not just strychnine and kool-aid.

  • Mike

    Cincy had a game advantage by the time the Broncos played them. The Cincy team left the starters in longer. The coaching staff did well, they called plays to get a better view of the players. Man…so many people reading so much into the very first preseason game. What a bunch of whiners!

  • Adrenaline27

    Orton 2 – Touchdowns

    Quinn 1- Touchdown

    Tebow 3- Touchdowns

    Quinn one to the other team, Tebow really had three if you think about it. The one long ball that the WR dropped that Kyle mentioned, another dropped in the end zone which should have been caught and his last one he ran in for. Not bad I say.

    In all to go with my first comments, I think Denver show up and did well first team wise, especially with us having so many key injuries. Cincy is a good team this year and they all ready had a game under there belt not to mentioned we were at there place. Lots to be proud of. I think the negativity is with the back ups mainly. Although it would have been nice to see us pressure the QB more. I think our back ups were bad. They showed that we have alot to improve on.

    I was overall impressed and happy. Would like to see Tebow play with some better protection, I would hate for him to go down with an injury because we cannot block. Also give him some better targets to throw too. I would like to see him 2nd in a few games this preseason to see how he does.

  • Roy

    I have a sneaking suspicion that he (Tebow) will be taking second string snaps next game. After the way Quinn played I don't think McD would be justified keeping him #2.

  • http://nation.theorangepage.com/blog Ian Henson

    In Orton's first preseason game last year he threw three interceptions on his first three possessions. Anyone remember that? Give Brady Quinn a break, I'm never the guy to say it's just preseason. I am one to point out when a first string team is playing against a second string team and vice versa.

    The Broncos first string offense was without Ryan Clady and Chris Kuper. It also featured Lance Ball, whom I hope the Broncos have a place on their 53 man roster for, but it's possible they won't. Also for what it's worth Spencer Larsen and Richard Quinn were both out.

    That being said, Quinn was left with even less, he had the backup to Clady's backup and the backup to Kuper's backup. In all fairness he went an awful lot of throws without a completion.

    Orton got some calls his way on that third drive that led to them scoring quicker as well…

    Now all-in-all, I love Tebow; the guy makes it fun to watch a fourth quarter of a preseason game.

  • BroncoJason

    I was at the game last night and there were a lot of positives. Our 1st team pitched a 14-0 shutout and we really only had 75% of our starters even playing (DJ, BDawk, all our RBs, Clady, DT, Doom, etc). The biggest positve to me was that Cincy has a good defense and they only got to Orton once. Other than that one play Orton had all day back there. I think we may have hit the jackpot with our rookie picks on the OLine. Once Clady is back in there we should have Ft Knox for an OLine. Our special teams, particularly kick and put coverage looked horrible. Champ Bailey was a stud once again. Perrish Cox was picked on a lot. I didnt really see any passes completed on him other than few to TE's when he had them in coverage. I also thought Matthew Willis looked good. He was interfered with on nearly every catch he had and still came down with the grab on a few. I know he dropped a great ball from Tebow and thats what he will be remembered for tonight, but he will be a great surprise for us this year. On the darker side, i didnt see any pass rush from us whatsoever. NONE…someone needs to step up. All in all, its preseason…but i was satisfied with what our 1st string (quasi-1st string) brought to the table.

    On a side not: Im coming out to Denver for the Colts game. It will be my first ever game in the Mile High City. I need a place to tailgate. Any suggestions?

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    As they said on the CBS broadcast, the Broncos can't wait to get Fields and J. Williams next to each other on the line, over 600lbs of meat to clog the middle.

  • Djinks2002

    We always tailgate near the Pepsi Center and then walk over to the stadium. Pepsi center parking is ~$10 and Mile High parking in around ~$40.

  • Roy

    Parking is pretty rediculas. I went to the Seahawks/Titans game on Sat. and stadium parking was $50. I wouldn't be surprised if it was more during the regular sdeason.

  • BroncosJason

    Maybe we will just get a cheap cooler and grab a cab from our hotel. In any case, my wife is a bengals fan and i want to show her how it is done ;)

  • Big_Pete

    Buy stadium parking pass for your game on the lowest/closest lot to the stadium (C and Z are best lots, then lot J, but J always has lots of visitor team people in it for whatever reason, so keep that in mind. Lastly, D and G are 3rd best, and if all else fails, I is a close 4th place IMHO)

  • Big_Pete

    Buy stadium parking pass for your game on the lowest/closest lot to the stadium (C and Z are best lots, then lot J, but J always has lots of visitor team people in it for whatever reason, so keep that in mind. Lastly, D and G are 3rd best, and if all else fails, I is a close 4th place IMHO)

  • Rcsodak

    Wow. A couple things.
    How can you call the 1st team defense “average at best”? They held the bungles to 0pts! And other than a couple blown tackles, held up quite well against one of the better running teams in the league. Crazy.
    Secondly…maybe you didn't notice it, but the 2nd team defense was playing against cinci's 1st team offense. They hadn't done anything so Marvin kept them in til they scored. Not to mention, look how many starters weren't playing. And I'm just guessing now, but with the extra time on that hot/humid field, I'd say they got gassed before cinci's backups did. Excuse? Maybe. But it's a good one. :-)

    As for TT, Elway said a windup isn't as bad as a slow delivery, and from what I hear (didn't see the game) he gets rid of it quickly.

    And on top of all this, Cincy was playing their 2nd game. And plenty of ex-players say there's usually a considerable step-up, if not from the reps from actually playing game speed, but from watching tape from the 1st game and seeing what they did wrong.

    I'll expect marked improvement from the backups. Besides, Fargas will hopefully get in there, and maybe some of the wr's that are hurt.

    Conclusion: no chicken-little prognosticating here.

  • Rcsodak

    Tom B II? lmao. He was stinking it up even worse in Indy. 36yds I think I heard…with a pick.

  • anthony33

    Yeah, first team D is missing a lot of folks… definitely contributed to being average.

    Don't care which week Cincy was in or if it was first team against second team. Fact is they were manhandled after the first quarter. Go ahead and make all the excuses you want. I don't like my team getting throttled.

    Tebow should be fine, but it's going to take a while for his new throwing mechanics to be there under fire.

    BTW… maybe you ought to WATCH the game before criticizing my comments.

  • anthony33

    When healthy I do think this will be a very good defense, but was not impressed with the back ups.

    I do expect things to improve quickly.

  • anthony33

    It's called being facetious.

  • LevonZevon

    If the pass-rush continues to sputter, we will have no choice but to actually fulfill the annually over-rated promises of added aggression in attacking the QB (that go back nearly a decade).

    To wit: Martindale will have to conjure up some Bears 4-6 Mojo and leave the CB's on an island to do so. In that case, either Perrish Cox or Nate Jones will have to step up to consistently deal with all the passes coming their way when the opponent goes 3-wide.

    We also need to try having Tebow backpedal five steps after receiving the shot-gun snap against heavy-pressure (like Elway did during the 1988 season particularly). Its just against Tebow's nature to stand in the pocket like an immobile QB for that long. And it takes away his greatest intangible: the ability to to have his legs think for themselves while buying himself time.

    If they don't have him sometimes drop-back five steps AFTER the shotgun snap is received, he'll be risking either stepping into an unformed pocket or being tempted to take off and run once he's too close to the line-of-scrimmage (which will go against what they are trying to teach him).

    I say this because J.D. Walton still looks unsure of his responsibilities on blitz pickups and Zane Beadles can be caught leaning and out-of-balance to his left. But if Tebow adds five steps and does the traditional set and bounce-back on the final one, his vision will be less obscured and his momentum will facilitate stepping into a deeper pocket that he can wade through if any defenders have broken past the still-embryonic line.

    Finally, I agree with Ian's caution regarding Brady Quinn (who looked bad but deserves another chance or two with a better line in front of him).

    We all want to see Tebow play in the pre-season– and Orton already looks ready for the season– so why not rest him after one series and basically start Quinn with the first-team'ers (while giving Tebow second-unit reps against a mostly second-string defense)? I'm still for waiving or trading Quinn before week-one, but he deserves more than one failed opportunity to show if he's improved.

    Finally, although I'm just as excited to see Tebow show off his athletic gifts, giving him credit for basically 3 TD's– by counting the Branson and Willis mis-catches– is an amusingly-positive bar-setter for all the future glass half-full-to-overflowing gradings.

    If you count the Branson catch, you gotta take away the near Elway-like helicopter spin on the appropriately 7-yard-TD run (that never went airborne, due to Tim's decidedly non-37-year-old body being the one that delivered the irresistable force against two not-quite-immovable bodies).

    Oh, and the envisioned pairing of the nearly 650-lb combination of Fields and Jamal Williams only has one snag: we play a 3-4 defense (and neither of these guys will be playing DE anytime soon).

    I also heard that we will experiment with some 4-3 looks, but I can't see how Denver will ever play an entire series in that formation considering how bad our pass-rush is looking (and how needed the 5-2 tactic will become.. whether or not its Ayers and Haggan or Moss or Reid providing the push).

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