Cardinals vs. Broncos: Breaking Down Denver's Game Plan

The Denver Broncos are back at it this week after a bye in Week 4. They lost in Week 3 on the road against the world champion Seattle Seahawks, and now they’re back home to face another NFC West team—this time the Arizona Cardinals are their opponent.

The Cardinals are a tough team to match up against on both sides of the ball. They are arguably the second-best team in their division—and their conference. The Cardinals can certainly be forecast as a playoff team, and they may be able to make a deep playoff run in 2014.

The Broncos want to get back on the winning track, but they need to improve some areas they’ve been struggling with this year.

The passing game is not as robust as it was in 2013 as the team wants better balance offensively. That emphasis on the ground game is not helping, and Denver struggles to move the ball on the ground consistently. This will be a tough defensive opponent to remedy those struggles against.

Let’s take a look at how the Denver Broncos will attack the Arizona Cardinals on both sides of the ball.

When the Broncos Run the Ball

Michael Zito/Associated Press

The Broncos want balance on offense, but they aren’t running the ball very well to start the season. Starting running back Montee Ball ranks 10th in yards after contact (104), but he ranks 53rd in yards before contact (61). This shows that he’s not getting much room to run from the blockers up front, but he is doing a good job of generating rushing yards on his own.

Tight end Julius Thomas went over the keys to improving the ground game. “The No. 1 key is being precise. You see three guys getting their blocks and doing a great job, but one guy misses or two guys have a miscommunication and that’s all it takes. It only takes one guy to tackle the ball-carrier and to keep a run from going as a touchdown.”

Thomas continued, “Every time you draw up a run it’s a touchdown. But I think that’s what we’re struggling with right now is having everybody on the same page and doing it right at the same time. I think we’re going to continue to get better at those things. We haven’t exactly been going up against a bunch of slouches up front, so it’s always going to be tough to execute and play at a high level in this league.” Thomas concluded, “The better the defense, the tougher the challenge, and we have a tough one this week, so we’ll look to come back and show that we’ve spent time trying to just iron out some of the creases that we’ve had.”

The Cardinals have worked through injuries and suspensions, but they have one of the toughest defensive fronts in the entire league. They are currently ranked fourth in the league, averaging only 71.7 yards rushing per game allowed—and they’ve only given up two rushing scores this year.

When the Broncos Pass the Ball

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Over the first three weeks last year, the Broncos were passing for an average around 375 yards per game. This year, Denver is passing for about 260 yards per game. That’s a huge difference that filters down to every aspect of the offense.

Peyton Manning is not concerned about the fact that both Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians and assistant head coach Tom Moore know him so well from previous working relationships with the Indianapolis Colts.

“You’re still about the players on the field that you’re real concerned with and Arizona has plenty of those to think about. There are always measures that you take when you’re playing against an ex-coach or ex-player that you try to protect yourself with. It’s still about football and kind of block-and-tackle and play pitch-and-catch.” Manning continued, “So you certainly take it into account but if you’re so worried about a play they might know and you don’t throw a good pass verses [CB] Patrick Peterson then I think you’re hurting yourself. I still think you got to be focused on the execution.”

The Cardinals are tough to run on, so their pass defense gets tested more often. Their pass defense is currently ranked 18th in the league, averaging 244.7 passing yards per game allowed. They’ve surrendered four passing touchdowns while only generating three interceptions and three sacks (31st in the NFL).

Demaryius Thomas needs to get his game back on track. After four weeks, Thomas ranks second in the league in dropped passes (4) even though he's only played in three games. It seems like the superstar receiver is trying to do too much, and that's where his concentration problems are coming from.

It will be a big boost for the passing game if Thomas can get back on track.

Emmanuel Sanders has been everything the Broncos have needed at wide receiver. After having no 100-yard games during his four-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sanders has had back-to-back 100-yards performances for the Broncos. He's not the red-zone threat that Eric Decker was, but Sanders has proved to be an upgrade because of his quickness and speed.

A healthy Wes Welker can make all the difference on Sunday. It will be difficult for the Cardinals to match up against Welker on "jerk" routes underneath.

It will also be tough to slow down star tight end Julius Thomas. So far this year, Thomas has been targeted 17 times, catching 14 passes for 160 yards and five touchdowns. He's too big for safeties to cover and he's too fast for linebackers to cover, which means Thomas is most always open.

Who is Manning's favorite receiver? The open guy.

When the Cardinals Run the Ball

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

The Cardinals have one of the best young running backs in the game today. Second-year pro Andre Ellington plays a lot like Cincinnati Bengals lead back Giovani Bernard. Like Bernard, Ellington is fast, quick and can make big plays in the open field.

Broncos linebacker Nate Irving knows they must be sound against the run on Sunday.

“We just watch them and see that we have to be technically sound in the run game. They have great running plays and some gadgets where we have to have our eyes right. But it’s all about us and our technique and how we execute.”

The Broncos rush defense is middle of the pack in the NFL with an average of 105.3 rushing yards allowed per game so far this year. They’ve given up four rushing touchdowns over the first three games of the season.

When the Cardinals Pass the Ball

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Arians’ system is nearly all vertical all the time. Starter Carson Palmer may miss the game on Sunday with a shoulder injury. That means veteran Drew Stanton could get his third start of the year. Stanton has the worst accuracy of any starting quarterback in the league this year as he’s only completing 51.6 percent of his passes.

Fox knows that regardless of who is under center, their system is going to stay the same.

“They don’t change their offense. They’re going to run the same plays. It looks very familiar to the old Steeler days. They call mash, or power, they’re going to get in three-by-one sets a lot and they’re going to establish the run.” Fox continued, “And they’re going to take shots down the field; they’re going to take seven or eight a game.”

The Broncos made a lot of moves to upgrade their defense this offseason, but those moves are not resulting in better play against the pass. They average 285.3 yards passing per game allowed, which ranks 31st in the NFL. In three games, they’ve given up four passing touchdowns, but they have three interceptions and eight sacks as well.

Arizona's receiving corps features two star players in Larry Fitzgerald and Michael Floyd. Fitzgerald is the seasoned veteran with soft hands and incredible route-running ability. Floyd is a big target with the speed and athleticism to be a quality downfield target.

The team also has a rookie wide receiver that deserves mentioning as he could be an X-factor for the offense on Sunday. John Brown was a third-round pick by the Cardinals this year coming out of Pittsburg State. He's incredibly fast and can take the top off the defense in the blink of an eye. The Broncos need to watch out for this speedy rookie so he doesn't make any momentum-changing plays in Week 5.

Summary

This is going to be a good game between two of the better teams in the NFL. The Cardinals may be shorthanded without Palmer under center, but the other playmakers on the offense will present quite the challenge on Sunday.

How good are the Broncos? They weren’t good enough to beat the Seahawks on the road, but they should be able to take care of a quality opponent in the Cardinals at home this week.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via email from the Denver Broncos unless otherwise noted. Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac.com. Transaction history provided by ProSportsTransactions.com.