Raiders vs. Broncos: New-Look Broncos Defensive Line Not Ready for Primetime

When the Denver Broncos drafted Von Miller with the second overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft to play alongside Elvis Dumervil, consensus was that things would finally start to get better for the worst defensive line in the league. But as the Raiders proved last night by rushing for 190 yards, that defensive line is still not ready to help this team win.

Darren McFadden, in particular, picked apart the Broncos' defense to the tune of 150 yards on 22 carries. He picked up right where he left off last season when he finally reached the potential that everyone knew he had when he was drafted with the fourth pick in the 2008 draft.

To be fair, Dumervil played sparingly for three quarters after aggravating his shoulder and Champ Bailey got hurt stopping McFadden from scoring a touchdown.

As for the Broncos, this game was a microcosm of the kind of game that they played last season. They had no run defense, which put more pressure on the linebackers and secondary to help stop the run and the pass coverage suffered as a result.

New Broncos head coach John Fox was obviously unhappy after the game with the way that his team defended the run after they spent the entire offseason building a defensive line that was supposed to be improved. But he was also finding positive things to say about his team, even though they looked bad defensively.

"There's no consolation for close but we're still optimistic," Fox said. "We just happen to be 0-1 like half the teams in our football league."

It is good that Fox is upbeat after a game like that, but the defensive line looked terrible and things are not likely to get better if Dumervil is unable to start against the Bengals next week.

The selection of Miller with the second pick in the draft was somewhat controversial at the time because he is a pass rushing specialist and the Broncos biggest need was a run-stopper in the middle.

Now Miller could one day turn into the best sack artist in the NFL, he has that kind of talent, but if this team continues to struggle against the run and Marcell Dareus, who was taken immediately after Miller with the third pick, turns into a star this season, that pick will haunt this team for years.

It is only one game but it is clear that Denver's rebuilt defensive line is not much better than the one that finished last in the league against the run last season.