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Quick-strike attack paying dividends for Broncos

Winning formula: score early, hold on

By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 22, 2008 at 7:18 p.m.

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<p><strong>First blood</strong></p> <p><strong>The key to the Broncos' success</strong><strong> this season has been getting a jump on the opposition. Denver's first scores this season:</strong></p> <p><strong>BRONCOS 41, RAIDERS 14</strong></p> <p>9:59<strong> </strong><strong>Eddie Royal</strong>, above, caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler 5:01 into the first quarter.</p>

Photo by Paul Sakuma / Associated Press

First blood

The key to the Broncos' success this season has been getting a jump on the opposition. Denver's first scores this season:

BRONCOS 41, RAIDERS 14

9:59 Eddie Royal, above, caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler 5:01 into the first quarter.

<p><strong>BRONCOS 39, CHARGERS 38</strong></p> <p>8:41<strong> </strong><strong>Michael Pittman</strong>, above, ran 1 yard for a touchdown 6:19 into the first quarter.</p>

Photo by Chris Schneider / The Rocky

BRONCOS 39, CHARGERS 38

8:41 Michael Pittman, above, ran 1 yard for a touchdown 6:19 into the first quarter.

<p><strong>BRONCOS 34, SAINTS 32</strong></p> <p>9:01<strong> </strong><strong>Nate Jackson</strong> caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Cutler 5:59 into the first quarter.</p>

Photo by Darin McGregor / The Rocky

BRONCOS 34, SAINTS 32

9:01 Nate Jackson caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Cutler 5:59 into the first quarter.

CLICK TO ENLARGE: A look at the best and worst teams in first-half scoring this season.

CLICK TO ENLARGE: A look at the best and worst teams in first-half scoring this season.

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Start fast, finish teams.

In the NFL this season, there has been no simpler equation.

And the Broncos are at the forefront.

Four of the league's five remaining undefeated teams, including Denver, are among the league's best in first-half scoring margin, led by the Broncos' plus-36 differential. All but one division leader is in the top 10, and the exception, the pace-setting Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, have played only two games because of Hurricane Ike, compared with the three that 30 other clubs have logged.

The combined record of the 10 most-efficient teams before halftime is a robust 23-7, and the list includes only one losing team, the Seattle Seahawks.

Conversely, all six teams with winless records are in the bottom 10 in points scored/points against before halftime.

Their combined mark: 5-27, without a single winning team.

The bottom line is this: Getting ahead in 2008 ultimately means staying ahead when the clock strikes zero, even if end-game drama becomes necessary.

"When teams come in thinking you have that capability and, all of a sudden, they're down 21 points, it's their worst nightmare coming true. And it puts them in a bind to play better and with more pressure," Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris said. "It gives us confidence at the same time that we can do things that allow us to win games."

The Broncos' 72 first-half points are more than 20clubs have scored total. They've led 21-3 in consecutive weeks. So, as much consternation as there has been publicly about their penchant to make games close at the end, there are no complaints about how those contests began.

It all begins with the play- calling script used during the week designed to exploit the way coaches expect to be defended.

So far, Mike Shanahan, Jeremy Bates and the rest of the offensive staff have been able to pin down the tendencies of the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints strikingly well.

And when things have varied, quarterback Jay Cutler has done a good job adjusting to the looks he has been presented and choosing the right options in pass- heavy game plans.

"It goes perfect - definitely in the first half," running back Andre Hall said. "In the meetings, it's called out, 'This is how it's going to be. This is what's going to happen.' And it works right on time. The first game, I was shocked. But I can kind of see now how they're setting things up in practice."

That play-calling is nothing without corresponding execution, and having top-tier offensive players has helped the Broncos get off quickly.

But the time the players have spent within the offense also has allowed the coaches to be able to expand the playbook to come into games with plans that put opponents back on their heels early.

"We really had some efficiency in our offseason and were able to get very used to our offense, everything we would do. We threw it all in," tight end Nate Jackson said. "So that, when it comes around to game time, the language of the offense that was foreign to a lot of people is second nature now.

"We can digest anything that's put in. And we can do it on the run and not think about it. It's had a lot to do with the success we've had."

Denver's early offensive onslaught has been a staple of the best Shanahan-coached teams.

The Broncos' 2005 squad that went 13-3 and made it to the AFC Championship Game did it largely by gutting teams early - 224-105 before halftime. Then it was hang onto your hats in the fourth quarter as opponents often staged furious rallies.

Denver's back-to-back Super Bowl champions in 1997 and 1998 put up scoring margins of 247-134 and 300-141. Second halves were reduced to heavy doses of Terrell Davis and, many times, rest for the starters down the stretch.

Hall explained the early leads can be a blessing and curse. It reduces opponents' margin for error but, despite pleas from coaches, "the offense can get kind of relaxed and easily say, 'We've got his thing won.' "

To date, the third and fourth quarters have been the Broncos' lowest-scoring periods, contributing, along with the defense, to whistles and field-goal misses determining outcomes that could have remained blowouts.

"Everybody in this locker room understands in this league you've got to keep going for four quarters, and when you've got a team down, you've got to keep pouring it on until the game's over," receiver Brandon Stokley said. "We've had that mind-set. We just haven't been able to execute it."

But the Broncos could be the Detroit Lions or St. Louis Rams. Those teams have been outscored by a combined 92 points in first halves, sending fans to the exits instead of clinging to their seats.

"It's really important to get our offense clicking right off the bat," Jackson said. "But we have to bury these teams when we have a chance."

Comments

  • September 22, 2008

    8:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    incognitoboy writes:

    Jackson said:

    "But we have to bury these teams when we have a chance."

    yes, nate. please do. don't underestimate k.c., either. they're down, and they need to be kicked hard, or they could decide to play really good ball for maybe the only time this season, just because it's the broncos.

    this is the classic trap scenario.

  • September 22, 2008

    9:09 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    dealer writes:

    i don,t see kc giving denver much of a problem.
    unless!
    denver plays down to there level,or looks past.