Jamie Winborn showing too much effort? (FOX-TV)

More complaints in Denver about officiating are surfacing, PFT is citing a source, “With knowledge of the situation.” They should just admit that they watch ESPN too. New Orleans Saints‘ head coach Sean Payton has officially complained to the NFL that Denver linebacker Jamie Winborn lined up offsides on a crucial Saints’ 3rd and 1 play.

The ball was snapped, with no flag thrown, Drew Brees handed the ball off to running back Pierre Thomas was then stuffed- D.J. Williams was credited with the tackle. That D.J. Williams, the one who plays opposite the strong-side (where Winborn lines up). The Saints then lined up for a 43 yard field goal attempt, which eventually kicker Martin Gramatica shanked. 

What’s not known is why Coach Payton did not simply take the ball and go home, following what he believed to be a missed call. He obviously knows how it goes in Denver.

Following Monday’s practice, coach Mike Shanahan made himself available to the media. Below is the transcript from the press conference:

On a Jay Cutler throw that split four defenders during the Saints game

“That kind of surprised me to be honest with you. That was a great catch and great concentration. (Saints DB Mike) McKenzie had him covered. His hand was right in there, but somehow he got it in there. He was looking to the left because that is where his primary receiver was, but he was covered so he came back to the other side. It was on a third down and he fortunately made a play for us.”

On the offense slowing down after a quick start against the Saints

“We sputtered a couple times. It doesn’t take much. You are either here or there. We had some big possessions. We got three touchdowns and a couple field goals. We were not perfect by any means. We left some points on the field. That is why you work, and that is why you practice—to try and eliminate those mistakes. We will go back to the drawing board and try to get better this week.”

On the defense

“We have talked about it from day one. You have to be able to stop the run to have a chance to have a good defense, and we did that holding them to 3.5 yards per rushing attempt. That is where you start. We will get better with our pass defense as time goes on. We are doing a number of things that are new in comparison to a year ago. It just takes some time. If we have the effort that we had overall, offense, defense and special teams, good things will happen for our football team.”

On if he is alarmed at the defense giving up so many points

“I am not alarmed at all because if you get that kind of effort overall, good things are going to happen. You have to be alarmed because you gave up so many passing yards but that is something you can work on and get better at. You have drops and different zones. You get different things that different offenses do that you have to adjust to. You get different scheming and different quarterbacks that can sometimes give you different opportunities to come up with big plays. We have to get better on third downs. They were 8-14 on third downs, and they had a third down and 12 and a third down and 7 when it was 21-3 and that game was almost over. You just have to be on with your zone drops and you have to make a tackle here and there. It is something we can work on, especially with that type of effort. That was as hard as we have played in a long time.”

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Broncos Defense Halts Saints March
(Photo Darin McGregor – The Rocky)

During the live blog it was hard to not notice that the Denver Broncos, while very aggressive in the first-quarter, backed off completely as they took a 21-3 lead. The tides and the blog readers turned quickly, as Denver started to give up more and more to Drew Brees and Reggie Bush. Earl and I went back and forth over why, with two of the best defensive backs in the league, are we not playing man-to-man coverage?

Typically zone coverage can be broken down into several different “Covers.”

• Cover 1: One safety is left to cover anything deep.
• Cover 2: Two safeties cover the back half of the field.
• Cover 3: Three players split the back half of the field into thirds.
• Cover 4: Four players split the back half of the field, into fourths.
• Cover 0: Everyone man up, someone is either getting beat deep or picking off a play.
• Tampa 2: A mixture of Cover 2 and Cover 3, usually a middle linebacker is employed to take care of anything that comes across the middle.

Against New Orleans, Denver employed a slight variation of the Tampa 2. Predominantly, leaving middle linebacker Nate Webster or D.J. Williams to protect the middle. In Denvers’ defense you will hardly ever see Champ Bailey in zone coverage, he will be man-on-man 98% of the time this season. The same can be said for Dre Bly, who will be normally covering the opposing team’s second wide receiver. By proxy, Bly will see more targets.

Here’s where bringing in Boss Bailey looked like the best off-season move Denver made, he’s one of the best cover linebackers in the league. Yet, he tends to get injured. Due to lingering injuries, he has to take plays off, usually one or two on a long drive. His replacement thus far has been Jamie Winborn, who is very good against the run, but can’t hold a candle to Bailey, pass coverage wise. Opposing offenses know this and this is when you will see a pass to a tight end or a dump off to a running back go for big yardage.

The other major weakness, did not affect Denver much against the Saints, but killed Denver when they played against the Chargers- their lack of strength at nickel back. Though Karl Paymah may have stepped up a bit, he nearly gave up a play that would have gone for six, prior to the Broncos successful defensive goal-line stand. Paymah was beat for three-yards on an inside slant, but Marlon McCree and Marquand Manuel pounced on Paymah’s receiver immediately stopping him at the three yard-line.

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Look around folks, Denver sits atop the AFC at 3-0 with Buffalo and the Titans as the only other undefeated teams in the conference.  That’s right, I said conference, not Division as in AFC West.  We all know things could change in a hurry and we’re also counting out the Ravens having an early bye week thanks to Ike.  But lets face it, the AFC definitely is not what it was last year and certainly not what it was expected to be this year.

First off, the obvious factoids.  Pats lose Tom Brady, you’d have to be dead not to know this one, but it puts the automatic favorites as a team struggling to make the playoffs in a blink of an eye.  Second, the Colts have something wrong.  What’s wrong with them?  Their offensive line.  I’m surprised they haven’t snatched back Gandy to help out.  With the Indy O-line not being themselves it’s left Manning and Addai discombobulated to say the least.

Pittsburgh looks tough, but not unbeatable.  They lost a close one to a very good Eagles team today and now Big Ben is out with an injured hand and an already beat up shoulder.  As for the other undefeated teams, we know we can take it to the Titans and Buffalo just sqeaked by Oakland today, not really a concern.  So where am I going with this?

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Jay Cutler (AP Photo)

On a hot summer afternoon, the Denver Broncos hosted the New Orleans Saints, and as many predicted, it was a high scoring affair for both sides. Denver started the game well, quickly taking the game to 21-3 and looking to have a comfortable lead. But sudden poor play from Cutler and the Saints finding weaknesses in the Denver defense led to that lead evaporating. And though Denver never trailed, with the defense suddenly suspect, there was a strong sense that the game was really on the line if the offense couldn’t keep it together.

Cutler threw a few extraordinarily bad passes today, and didn’t quite look himself after the first quarter. He threw a few misses that just didn’t make a lot of sense, and camera closeups showed the frustration on his face. Even so, Cutler ended the game 21 for 34 with 2 TDs and an int, and the Broncos scored 34 points (albeit 7 of them on defense) to make 3 straight games with 30+ points. This is a sharp contrast to the offense of the previous few seasons which figured to have a high scoring game if the offense got above 20 points. After watching this offense for 3 games, scoring 24 points would be disappointing.
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vs.
Broncos (3-0) vs. Saints (1-2)
Denver 34 – New Orleans 32
LIVE BLOG
INVESCO Field at Mile High
Attendance: 75,713
Sun, Sep 21, 2008

3-0 START

* – NFL FACT: Since 1978 when the 16-game schedule was instituted, 78 percent of NFL teams that started at least 3-0 have made the playoffs, including all five teams who started at least 3-0 in 2007.

* – The Broncos are 3-0 for the 10th time in franchise history and for the first time since 2003. In only two instances have the Broncos started 3-0 and failed to make the postseason (1970, 2002).

3-0 Starts in Broncos History

* – With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-2 (.778) all-time against the Saints, including 4-1 (.800) at home.

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Boss Bailey congratulates Nate Webster after Webster scores on a fumble return. AP Photo.

The manner in which the Denver Broncos (3-0) defeated the New Orleans Saints (1-2) will seem very familiar to anyone who watched Week Two’s nail-biter against San Diego. A lot of points. A little luck. And another wild, wild win.

The Broncos started with an early 21-3 lead; a few big plays allowed their opponent to close the gap; by the fourth quarter, the game was clearly in question, and by the final whistle, the Broncos came out victorious.

The difference in the end, surprisingly enough, was the defense. The Saints accrued a lot of yards, and a lot of points, but the Broncos’ defensive squad stepped up when needed. A forced fumble returned for a touchdown, big stops to end both the first and second halves, and a final stand as the Saints took their shots down the field helped seal a Broncos victory, even as the Broncos offense stuttered.

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vs.
Broncos (2-0) vs. Saints (1-1)
INVESCO Field at Mile High
Sun, Sep 21, 2008
2:05 PM MDT FOX

Preview | Predictions
Injury Report | Weather | Tickets

INACTIVES

The live blog kicks off half an hour before kickoff. Join me at the Rocky Mountain News chat until then!

This Denver Broncos offense is firing on all cylinders. If the offensive line continues to dominate… if Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal continue to frustrate opposing secondaries… if Jay Cutler continues to light it up… can anyone stop these Broncos?

Today’s game is a perfect case in point. The Broncos wide receivers should destroy the Saints’ corner backs. The offensive line should have no trouble handling the Saints’ pass rush. With time in the pocket, Cutler should be poised and dangerous. The running backs should have a good game on the ground as well against an iffy run defense.

The Saints have that same ability, though. Give Drew Brees time in the pocket, and he will make you pay every time. He’s a Top Five quarterback in this league, and even without his preferred weapons he’ll make you pay if you don’t get after him early and often.

Points will be scored. Defenses will be humbled. In my mind, the difference between victory and defeat today is squarely on the shoulders of Jay Cutler and company to continue their dominant performances. If they have an “off-day,” it will be a long day in the office for Denver and its fans.

I see a final score of Broncos 35, Saints 31. I’m confident this crew will continue to get it done. On to 3-0!

  

courtesy: John Leyba – The Denver Post

This is not meant to offend the subject, nor fans of the player, but Karl Paymah and Domonique Foxworth have more in common than their draft class. The two came via a trio of corners from the 2005 draft class, of which Darrent Williams also belonged. Now of the three, only Paymah remains. 

With Foxworth it seemed there was hardly ever a time he actually prevented the ball from getting to the receiver. Once the ball got there, he was most likely to get the tackle, but the ball shouldn’t have gotten there in the first place. Now, I’ve never felt this way about Paymah, but last week I got nostalgia in his effort against the San Diego Chargers. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

“There’s always a weakness in every defense,” Champ Bailey said. “The thing about [Sunday] was Philip Rivers found every little weakness that we had and took advantage of it. He’s a great quarterback. He’s playing better than most quarterbacks in the league this year. My hat goes off to them because they exploited a lot of our weakness. We know what they are. We can improve on that, and we’ll play better than what we did.”

That cringe hasn’t left my body yet, you know the one where an opposing offense is in the redzone and the Broncos are in nickle or worse dime-coverage. It seems as if Paymah was always in the wrong position to make a play, whether it be behind the receiver or with his back turned to the play. Granted, this may be due to a lot of factors, not just his natural ability. He is very fast, a 4.32 40 at the combine, he was drafted specifically with the idea of coming in as the nickel back. Two-weeks into his new roll though, I’m not sure if this guy can hack it. 

Enter rookie Jack Williams, where has this guy been? He killed in preseason and throughout training camp, has he not put in the effort since to get a crack at nickle back? Williams has yet to log a single stat in the season thus far. It’s time for action, either Paymah steps up or we should see Williams in today.