Tuesday morning QB: All that matters for Broncos is winning

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 6, 2008 at 11:16 p.m.

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Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley, going around a block by Brandon Marshall to score, gave the Buccaneers defense something to think about earlier by lining up outside of Marshall.

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The Broncos are not a dome team.

First reaction to that? Well, it's likely, duh.

And the calendar hasn't changed in quite some time. November still follows October, and December still brings it down the homestretch.

Again, this doesn't merit a text message or anything, but it's something to consider when picking through what the Broncos accomplished Sunday.

A 16-13 win against the Buccaneers did look a little like pinstripes on a road grader at times, but it also still looks like 4-1 in the standings.

The oft-repeated line by Bill Parcells has always been "you are what you are."

As in, you are what your record says you are - blemishes, warts, complaints, confetti and all.

The Broncos do certainly have some football questions swirling around them. Things like run defense and a pass rush, even their running game. But after their first three games, they were in the pole position of the league's offenses. They were the fast guys, the ones putting up the points, leading the league in scoring.

So much so that, even after their past two games with outputs of 19 and 16 points, respectively, they still are second in the NFL in scoring with 149 - only two points behind Dallas and one ahead of San Diego.

Worth noting, however, in the quirky numbers department is that the Chargers have scored 148 points, surrendered 129 and happen to be 2-3 this morning, and the Broncos, with their 149, have surrendered 130 points and happen to be 4-1.

And they have shown they can win a warp-speed game, where possessions and touchdowns are exchanged along with the ball.

But Sunday they won in winter fashion. While that can be a belabored point, argued vigorously at times by people who have spent their vocational lives in the league, it says here it always will matter.

No team in recent memory looked as dominant as the New England Patriots did last season. In fact, no team in the modern era ever had been 16-0 after a regular season had concluded.

But they played the summer way, they played the fall way - spread it out and throw it.

They bring a field goal, you bring a touchdown; they send one of their guys to the end zone, you send three of yours on the next three possessions.

But the biggest games come in winter. And winter ball is a different deal, and the big silver trophy from last season is in somebody else's lobby and not New England's.

Winter ball isn't always pretty, doesn't always entertain and doesn't always feel like, for lack of a better word, fun.

Winter ball is dirty. It's muscle-up time.

And if the Broncos would really like to build on a 4-1 start that includes a two-game lead on the Chargers after five weeks and a victory over San Diego in hand, they will have to win a game or two or five that look like Sunday's.

Where first downs, at the right time, are almost as important as touchdowns, where taking yet another punt in a day filled with them, instead of an interception, can mean the difference.

Where winning is about winning, instead of what it looks like in the mirror.

Because, while it might not always be a good thing to be the Lions of Detroit, the lions of winter always play for the big prize.

GET IT DONE

The Broncos have turned fast starts into victories this season, but the importance of doing so this weekend was magnified by the Jaguars' efforts in a Sunday night loss to the Steelers.

Despite the Steelers winning first-half time of possession 21:15-8:45, running 48 plays to the Jaguars' 17 and compiling 300 yards to Jacksonville's 49, the Steelers led only 20-14 at the half.

And with their grinding style, the Jaguars even were able to take a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter, a deficit the Steelers didn't overcome until Ben Roethlisberger threw an 8-yard scoring pass to Hines Ward with 1:53 left in the game.

The Jaguars limited the Steelers to zero net yards in the third quarter, 105 in the second half overall.

This is not a team the Broncos want to let stay in the game on the road, especially with the Jaguars' ability to run the ball with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew.

And for all of the Broncos' production on offense this season, they have been outscored by their first five opponents 75-61 combined in the second half.

BREAK IT DOWN

The Broncos offense ran 60 or so plays Sunday, but one snap - one that was negated by not one but two Denver penalties - will give upcoming opponents at least some pause when they see it pop up on the video.

In Denver's three-receiver formation, Brandon Stokley usually is the slot receiver, tucked in the space between the offensive tackle and the receiver lined up along the sideline.

"So, you know that's how (the Buccaneers) practiced all week," said Stokley, who has been called the best at the job in the NFL by coach Mike Shanahan. "With me in the slot."

So, on a third-and-4 from the Buccaneers' 34-yard line in the first quarter Sunday, the Broncos lined up in their three-wide look, with Brandon Marshall in the slot on the right side of the formation and Stokley lined up outside of Marshall on the right sideline.

That left the Buccaneers with their best cover cornerback, Ronde Barber, deciding whether to take Stokley or Marshall, Denver's leading receiver and usually the one most defenses want to find when the Broncos break the huddle.

"So there was a little hesitation right there and there's always a chance for a play when you get some hesitation," Stokley said. "Ronde Barber, he was the one always covering me in the slot, wanted to go outside right there, but he couldn't get there, so he stayed inside. It is a difference, and you do get that 1-second hesitation."

Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler ran for 8 yards on the play, which was erased because of holding penalties against Ben Hamilton and Ryan Clady, the Buccaneers accepting the penalty on Hamilton and declining the other.

"But, yes," Stokley said, "it gives them something to look at."

MATCH GAME: Broncos TEs vs. Jaguars LBs

Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler has the team's longest reception this season, 72 yards, and is fourth on the team with 16 catches despite the fact Nate Jackson played more earlier in the season.

Daniel Graham and Scheffler lately have lined up in the team's two-tight-end formation, and the Broncos traditionally have used the formation more against teams with physical front fours.

Scheffler might be limited by what the team is calling a left groin strain, so that would put Jackson on the field more.

Jaguars opponents this season have found some room for their tight ends to work: They have caught 25 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns.

HOT SPOT

Some running backs already have made some plays in the passing game against the Broncos this season, most notably the Chargers' Darren Sproles.

The Jaguars' passing attack can offer some problems in that regard.

Maurice Jones-Drew, who is quick in tight quarters, is second on the team with 19 catches and tied for second with 161 receiving yards.

Because he is such an accomplished runner in the middle of the field and has experience as a kick returner, Jones-Drew knows how to work his way through inside traffic.

Such players are difficult to deal with because they can adjust their pass routes to find an open spot and are comfortable doing so. Jones-Drew, because of his lower-body strength, also can break tackles and turn short plays into long ones against a team that doesn't tackle well.

• October 7, 2008

  8:34 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Rutabaga writes:

  Summer games, fall games and winter games, that's a lot of seasons for guys to play football. I once went to a Bronco game in the winter and it was snowing. You could hardly see the players running around in all the white stuff. But one time I went to a Bronco game in the fall and guess what? It was snowing. That was a fall game but it was like winter. So sometimes fall is like winter, I guess. And then I went to a game in the winter and it was about 80 degrees outside. It was summer in the winter. I got dressed for snow but I should have worn my summer stuff. Confusing... I think the Bronco players have got to play summer in the winter sometimes, but never winter in the summer, unless they move to Australia. But what if they are playing in a dome? That's like playing in your living room without the furniture. I suppose if they keep winning all this summer, winter and fall stuff won't matter much. You know what Popeye says, "I am what am." Maybe Bill Parcells is a big Popeye fan.

• October 7, 2008

  9:27 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  barryvictor writes:

  The advantage to having the "seasons" in Denver is that the team acclimates to the climate changes...domers find it extremely difficult to practice for an element that is non-existent in their home area...couple that with the altitude, and Denver has a distinct advantage for half of their annual regular season schedule. This has to be part of Shanny's prediliction to run the ball, knowing full well that late season games will require his team to be able to do so...as well as to be able to stop the run. Shifting to the 3-4 is a new wrinkle that teams will have to prepare for in their week prior to a Denver game...changing out receiver norms is another nice wrinkle to Denver's game. Let's hope we are seeing the gradual improvement on the defensive side of the game that we will need late into the season, as injuries begin to take their tolls on not only our team, but our opponents as well. What's that Bob Dylan song refrain...The times, they are a changin'!

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