Denver Broncos Are Misguided and Not Sharp Early In the 2010 Season

The Overview

It's been over 18 months since Mike Shanahan was let go from the Denver Broncos franchise as the head coach and President of Football Operations. Since then the office in Dove Valley has been under attack. 

Realistically those missiles started hitting shortly after Brian Griese replaced Bubby Brister on coach Shanahan's intuition or whim, however you slice it.

Since that time the war for righting the ship has been on like Donkey Kong.

Once coach Shanahan departed it was expected that the peppering controversies would be there. But the all out assault could not be predicted by Nostradamus himself. 

Who would have thought the offensive talent Shanahan worked on cultivating would  follow his departure so quickly?  It was like World War II meets The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner.

One after one by the star dogged moon

Too quick for groan or sigh

Each turned his face with a ghastly pang

And cursed me with his eye

Four times fifty living men

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)

With heavy thump a lifeless lump

They dropped down one by one

You could call all this accursedness a slew of misguided missiles on the direction the Broncos franchise could be going.  It’s more than just one or two pointed missiles.  It’s far more than the young new head coach Josh McDaniel's numerous controversies.  And his personnel moves that have placed this ancient football ship in a place of possible ruin. 

The team and Josh McDaniels's fate hangs in the balance. But it’s the management that has shown itself to be anything but sharp.

One could draw parallels between the University of Colorado's football controversies with the Broncos, but that would be a misguided missile.  Like comparing an apple to an orange.

What’s the Point?

The Denver Broncos kicked off the 2010 NFL campaign in Jacksonville. The home of Gator Nation and NCAA Football prominence of the last decade.  It’s a land that won’t soon forget Tim Tebow. 

Somehow that set the tone just right as Tebow returned to Jacksonville. Tebow was supposed to be drafted by the hometown Jacksonville Jaguars. Yet they had him pegged around the fourth round. 

Enter Josh McDaniels and his controversial set of draft moves.

It would seem that McDaniels, who had gone the extra mile to get Tebow, would find a better way to use him.  After all, it was the most important game of Tebow’s short NFL career and one the Broncos should have won. 

Instead, Broncos and Jaguars fans alike had to settle for a moot set of play calls that mitigated the Tebow nation into the realization of, “What’s the point?”

So what is the point in giving the son of Gatorville Nation his chance to shine only to not support him in that role?  This is where the rubber meets the road. When Tebow was in the game he suffered a poor set of play calls that helped no one but the Jaguars. 

Perhaps Josh McDaniels felt obligated to get Tebow in the game. Three ineffective plays and out.  It was the definition of a strikeout and brought about the same disgrace to the Broncos and Tebow nation.

Incoming!

Broncos fans are supposed to believe McDaniels has more football genius than the average fan.  That is where the message coming from Dove Valley is deserving of more pointed missiles, however misguided.

Between the attacks on the coach and his regime is a misguided defense system of Broncos nation coming out of Dove Valley. 

The Broncos have a tradition of winning that was built over 30-plus seasons of team football. The 2010 team is currently missing the mark. 

One might think a coach who emphasizes team play and being smarter than the average bear would in fact be sharp on opening day.  This is now officially Josh’s team with his numerous roster moves the last year and a half. 

The Broncos Are Not Sharp Right Now

Against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguar franchise the Broncos were hardly sharp at the point of attack. This does count for players and coaches alike, but the greatest responsibility is Josh’s. Don’t misinterpret the Broncos effort or abilit. They are a strong football team in a number of areas.  The Denver Broncos football players gave a full effort in Jacksonville, the tape clearly reflects that.  

Keep in mind good and not great.The 2010 Denver Broncos are not living up to expectations.  Not at the player level, the coaching level, and in the front office. 

We saw hints of what this team could become in the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  What is a clear miss here is the Jaguars are not the Steelers. They tried to give the game to Denver but the Broncos found a way to come up short again.

The Hard Evidence

So here are the cold hard facts listed to reinforce the point.

• Defensively the Broncos had a hard time keeping contain on the corners. High school teams hold edges better than the Broncos did in Jacksonville.

• When the Broncos needed defense, Ryan McBean was flagged for, not one, but two facemask penalties on the Jags' winning drive. 

• The Broncos seldom put good pressure on Jags QB David Garrard. He tore the Broncos apart when he needed too.  So what’s going to happen against better offensive lines and better quarterbacks?

• Brian Dawkins tied with Champ Bailey as fan favorites to watch.  Dawkins had good position on Kassim Osgood but not enough to break up the 24-yard touchdown pass fGarrard. The Broncs are close but not there yet.

• Offensively Kyle Orton, Eddie Royal, and Brandon Lloyd also saw mental lapses in the game

• The improved offensive line struggled in the run and the screen game. They also gave up three sacks and numerous pressures. Their effort was better than expected. But they must find ways to produce over 100 yards rushing on a regular basis.

• The team has now lost five in a row dating back to last season.

• Saying coaching has been poor since McDaniels took over is not saying a lot. Think about last years special team’s blunders against New England and on the road in Washington.  The Jaguars destroyed the Broncos kick-return coverage to set up short scoring drives.  This is poor coverage and poor coaching.

• Coach McDaniels blew up on his tight end Richard Quinn and his coaches when Quinn lined up wrong and failed to cover the tackle on his side of the field and became very animated about the mental lapse.  That sort of calling out of a player is not something that will sit well in the long run if the Broncos don’t win.

• Finally as mentioned previously the play calls on Sunday were not reflective of a confident coach or a confident football team.  The Broncos have awesome plays and even excellent execution within their scheme.  What seems to be lacking is a cohesive method of attack.  Numerous times on Sunday the Broncos had to settle for a couple of short, virtually useless plays, only to be bailed out by the big play.  Outside of two big runs from Knowshon Moreno the Broncos big plays all came out of the passing game.  That doesn’t cut it and it doesn’t get the job done as evident on Sunday.

• The last point leads to this one, the offensive scheme still needs tweaking and improvements.  By no stretch of the imagination could the Broncos coaches assume that their offensive and defensive schemes have arrived.

This is an outline of where this team is at right now.  Poor calls and substitutions  worked against the Broncos.But the Broncos  have a tradition to live up to.

Not being sharp at this juncture is misguided and that message starts at the top.

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