Pass-first Panthers frustrate Broncos' defense
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published December 14, 2008 at 7:10 p.m.
Photo by Joe Mahoney / The The Rocky
Carolina's Steve Smith tries to elude Denver's Dre' Bly during the Broncos' loss. Smith haunted Denver, finishing with nine catches for 165 yards and a touchdown.
How disappointing was the Broncos' loss Sunday?
It was a sellout in Charlotte on Sunday.
Not just the crowd of 73,690 at Bank of America Stadium; instead, in approach, too.
The Broncos came to town intent on slowing down the most prolific running back tandem in the NFL in the Panthers' DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. They did that for the most part, save for a 56-yard Williams' scoring run.
To try to slow the rush, the team would need to augment an eight-man front with a mix of zone and man coverages aimed at limiting Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith.
Smith foiled the strategy. If he wasn't quite a one-man show, it appeared that way at times in a 30-10 victory that put a temporary halt to the Broncos' playoff pursuit.
Smith beat Broncos cornerback Dre Bly when he shadowed him. He shook the tight coverage of Josh Bell at times, too. He found holes in the zone schemes. He wiggled free on screens. And when Smith was finished, his nine catches for 165 yards and one touchdown were the key to keeping Carolina on track for possible home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
"It's kind of frustrating because it really didn't feel like we had a bead on them all game," said Broncos safety Josh Barrett, who made his first NFL start, playing the deep middle extensively as the last line of defense. "But they're dynamic. And they can get it either way."
The Panthers, coming off a 299-yard performance on the ground against Tampa Bay, knew the Broncos would be intent on taking away that strength.
For starters, quarterback Jake Delhomme came out passing on eight of Carolina's first 10 plays for 100 yards, mainly out of a no-huddle attack.
Linebacker Wesley Woodyard was playing strong safety from the first series. He was inserted mostly for run support but was exposed to throw after throw.
"It kind of caught us off guard and Steve was able to make consecutive plays," Bly said. "But he didn't really hurt us until he got tight to the formation. When he was out wide, he really didn't do much. They started moving him around and they were able to find creases in the zone."
Smith had three receptions on the first drive for 66 yards and a 15-yard touchdown on a play in which Bly was picked off his pursuit. Smith had six catches for 126 yards by halftime.
"We talked about it," Broncos defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban said. "Just like Atlanta came out passing the ball early, just trying to open up those zones to later accomplish what they wanted to do with the run."
Carolina achieved its goal right from the get-go to start the second half.
Williams, part of a Panthers' running attack that managed only 12 carries for 24 yards in the first half, took a first-down handoff to the left, found no room and cut back to the middle. He found a lane and went unimpeded 56 yards for a back-breaking touchdown and a 17-point advantage.
"It's the toughest matchup in football," Ekuban said of keeping Williams and Stewart contained. "Because usually when you have a two-back system, you have one guy that's going to be a north- south power guy. The second guy's going to be your outside speed guy.
"But with those two backs, you're going to get the same thing. And if they have the lead, they're going to just keep pounding and pounding. It makes it challenging. There's no change in tempo with those backs."
And the numbers creep up on you. Carolina finished with 30 carries for 147 rushing yards. Williams (12 carries, 88 yards) and Stewart (16 for 52), as Ekuban feared, kept racing toward the Broncos line of scrimmage, getting just enough to keep moving the chains.
But Smith and Delhomme, who rarely was pressured and put the ball in spots for receivers to make plays, carried the day.
"It's a tough matchup, but we had a good scheme for it," Bell said. "We just didn't execute. And when you don't execute the defense perfectly, you have a good receiver who'll take advantage of the mistakes that you make."
The Broncos gave up 400 yards for the first time in seven games. They also allowed 30 points or more for the seventh time this season after giving up only 17 each during the previous two weeks.
"We knew what the weakness was. We just didn't hold up," Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams said, alluding to Delhomme's 17-of-26 performance for 253 yards. "It's not the DBs' fault, either. It's everybody's fault. You've got to get the pass rush and the linebackers have to get depth on their drops. If one area fails, everyone fails."
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Broncos cheerleaders
December 14, 2008
8:01 p.m.
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Panthersfan writes:
Awww now that felt good didn't it.
You expected the run but we aired it out.
Undefeated at home we now are.
A clean sweep of the AFC west.
But that's not much to brag about.
Now is it !
December 14, 2008
9:13 p.m.
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rhsalas writes:
Welcome back DJ and WEBSTER, nice game.... Sad how Sad..
December 14, 2008
10:25 p.m.
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LooseCannon writes:
If I had any size 10s I'd throw them at the Broncos.
December 14, 2008
11:07 p.m.
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angryman1n writes:
Static.... Where you at???
December 15, 2008
12:08 a.m.
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LooseCannon writes:
Holy cow! This is all the interest there is in the Broncos? Wow. The world really IS at a standstill.
December 15, 2008
4:26 a.m.
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Bcra4u writes:
C'mon Broncos!! You really could have had the division today, but lets go get it next week against the Bills. Lets not take this thing down to the wire and give the Dolts any glimmer of hope. I think it was funny that the Chiefs had the game in the bag and then decided that losing would actually be better than winning. Thus screwing the Broncos. Makes me really mad the blue and orange couldnt just beat the Raiders three weeks ago.
December 15, 2008
6:20 a.m.
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dilligaf writes:
Big Bronco fan here. But this team has no business in the playoffs. It will be another one and done deal. Bly needs to go. This years draft needs to be all defence. But the offence has to stop the turnovers.
December 15, 2008
6:48 a.m.
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cdmdenver writes:
FIRE SHANAHAN!
December 15, 2008
7:11 a.m.
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The_KIMN_Chicken writes:
Selvyn 'I never found a tackle I could break' Young needs to just turn in his equipment... he's so soft he makes Gerald Wilhite look like John Riggins.
December 15, 2008
7:17 a.m.
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dilligaf writes:
Is it me or does this offence do better with the big running backs that run through people? ( Hillis, Pope )
December 15, 2008
8:24 a.m.
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coachk writes:
Pope looks great to me. Give him the ball 15-20 times either on the ground or through the air and see what he can do. He looks to be fast and powerful.
Also Barret is a hitter. I loved the way he laid the wood on Smith a couple times. We have missed that more than most things I think on the Defense. Smith didnt do much after that big hit.
December 15, 2008
9:10 a.m.
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maverick7 writes:
What was disturbing is that the Broncs O looked like it gave up in the 2nd half. No sense of urgency. They looked defeated before they took the field.
Cutler, check down, you have other guys open!! You had all day to look at other receivers and didn't. Yes, two sacks but those were coverage sacks, if only you would look at other receivers.
You can pretty much kiss Selvin Young good bye, fumbling leading to points, dog house for you. Pope and Boyd, take us into the playoffs?!?!?
Send Bly back to Detriot, he can't cover anyone, shut down corner my a$$. Granted some of the catches Smith made were in a zone D. But why?, I ask you, if you have Bly and he is so good, why not just paste him on Smith and follow him around the whole game.
I am not crying about the game, the panthers played to win and beat the Broncs soundly.
Broncos, mental note, beat the bills and don't make the last game of the season mean anything.
December 15, 2008
9:16 a.m.
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MRBONG writes:
are field goal kicker offically STINKS nate webster offically STINKS DJ williams offically is an idiot ,alot of talent but always in the wrong postion, shouldnt he have been in postion to make the tackle on that 58 yard run. are we gonna ever use a fullback again or are we gonna run out of the single back set for the rest of the year, because are running game offically STINKS, put woodyard back at outside linebacker move DJ to the middle and get webster out of there. and to PANTHERSFAN do you really think youre going anywhere with that quarterback lol youre franchise is still a joke ,youve been to 1 superbowl and lost lol, the broncos, i think there one of seven teams to win back to back superbowls right? and one of four teams to play in six, so you beat a young bannged up broncos team at home, have fun getting youre butts kicked at N.Y next week, you classless piece of garbage .............we had better beat the bills
December 15, 2008
9:51 a.m.
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philvysor writes:
Ok, I am usually the first to say bad things about the Broncos and how bad they played. But I think the Broncos were under the impression they already won the title when they left the locker room. Everyone keeps saying that the Broncos are a better team but I am afraid to say the team that played yesterday is the real Broncos. This AFC Worst Division will go down to the wire because the Broncos will lose next week to the Bills.
December 15, 2008
9:51 a.m.
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xxx writes:
Cutler should just throw out of bounds if first option is covered..
or in this case triple covered.
December 15, 2008
10:01 a.m.
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baylinorcrush writes:
xxx, or maybe look at the second option, or third. After all, each play is designed with multiple options. I can see why he should throw it away if his first option is covered AND he is being pressured, but yesterday, at times, he was standing tall all alone in the pocket with great protection, and he STILL wouldn't look at the second option.
Cutler is very good but he has a stubborn streak which hopefuly he can outgrow. He is barely a grown man, a young 25 and it shows but I believe a great future lies ahead of him. Same comment goes for Marshall.
December 15, 2008
10:51 a.m.
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SteveC writes:
"MRBONG writes:
are field goal kicker offically STINKS"
Are field goal kicker? Are? How about "Our"? "offically"? While I agree that Prater is a joke it seems to me that you are "officially" living up to your screen name.
December 15, 2008
12:11 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
SteveC, yeah, MrBong needs to put the bong down. Sounds like the weed has rattled his thinking? Panthersfan is a bandwagon fan. Never heard of him until after the Panthers won, then he went to each and every article to gloat. No courage to defend his team before the game. He didn't want to be proven an idiot. Oops, sorry, too late. What a joke.
philvysor, naw, I truly believe that Denver will beat Buffalo in Denver. Shanahan mentioned he will make some "changes" at RB. I have a feeling we will see Pinnock (FB) and maybe even Boyd. You know me, faith in the Broncos to the end. Never say die. Plus, I don't think SD will beat Tampa. I guess we'll see what we'll see, soon enough.
December 15, 2008
12:27 p.m.
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Squatch writes:
Dre Bly continues to show his isn’t even an average CB in the NFL but this loss doesn’t fall on his shoulders alone the Defense so how forgot about Steve "I’m little but better than all of you" Smith. The Panther came out and did the same exact thing they have done to teams since 04 and the Broncos seem to only game plan for Stewart & Williams.
The lack of a running game has never been more obvious than yesterday and if that is the sort of performance we can expect from the RB's then Cutler is in a word of hurt. I will give the Broncos a lot of credit for what they have done this season with the amount of injuries they have had this year but they are facing a huge mountain to get out of the 1st round at this rate. I love how these clowns are all over the AFC west for being bad this year but last year the Patriots were the greatest team beating on the jets, bills, dolphins.
December 15, 2008
12:58 p.m.
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SteveC writes:
Dre Bly is just plain BAD, he can't cover anybody and his tackling is pathetic! I hope Shanahan sends him and Prater packing at the end of the year.
A lot is being made of how bad the running game is, well duh. They're on their what, sixth running back this year and the only fullback they have was converted to a running back and now he's out too. Young is still not 100% and Tatum Bell was out of football for a reason.
I don't ever remember a Bronco team being hit this bad by injuries. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the worst year ever as far as players lost for games goes. I hate to say it but wait till next year. I think we have a core group of young players who, if they can stay healthy, can be something special next year. Shanahan needs to keep the Defensive Coordinator and let the players use a system they have had time to get comfortable with. Keep Hillis as an everydown RB, he has the size and the mentality to be a force.
With the group he will have next year, Bowlen needs to give Shanahan an ultimatum, AFC champs or new coach. Too many times this year have the Broncos come out flat or have been outcoached. We scored early yesterday and then everything fell apart. He needs to be able to adjust to what the other team is doing and not rely on scripted plays or plays that obviously aren't working.
December 15, 2008
1:09 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
SteveC, if I'm correct, I believe the 1st 15 plays are scripted. hence, the TD. After that, he plays it by the flow of the game with Cutler calling audibles when needed. Obviously, both of them were off their game, yesterday. D needs to step up and the offense needs to quit falling apart after a turnover. They played with no "heart" or intensity. Time for some payback. Lets hope they take it out on Buffalo. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 15, 2008
1:18 p.m.
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SteveC writes:
Dave, sorry I realized after I posted that only the first 15-20 plays are scripted. It seems to me that the last few years the Broncos have had a very hard time adjusting to other teams adjustments. The scripted plays work very well but after that, especially in the second half, the play calling leaves a lot to be desired.
December 15, 2008
1:44 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
SteveC, yeah, Shanahan is giving a little too much free rein to Cutler. He tries to force the ball, too much. Also, it didn't help, losing Hillis. My question, though, was why they didn't use Pinnock, at least some? Tatum was overshooting his run lane. Selvin played poorly. Pope looked good. But they need the big back running the rock. Pinnock. Heck, he's 5'10" and 250. Big guy. Use him already. Didn't Hillis teach Shanahan anything? Size matters, ha, ha. And what about Boyd? Inactive? Give him, Pope and Pinnock a shot. Make Tatum and Selvin inactive. Something, anything. It's just got to happen NOW.
December 15, 2008
1:44 p.m.
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Nick_Shadow writes:
Shanahan isn't calling the plays, hasn't all year. That is the official word, anyway. They were just plain out gunned, but it won't always be that way, there is a lot of young talent on this team, if they get the finishing touches and hold it together, they could someday be the best Denver has ever had (top to bottom)
December 15, 2008
2:08 p.m.
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Dynamicdave writes:
Nick_Shadow, Shanahan still runs the show. He decides the gameplan. The 1st 15 are his. After that he relinquishes control (to a degree), to the offensive cordinator. He needs to take full control of the offense. Rick Dennison doesn't have full say on the calls being played. Shanahan has the power to nix a play if it's not to his liking.