[B_Ambuehl]

The bad thing is this game illustrated in a very dramatic way some of the things I had noticed in the earlier games and was concerned about and the way it looks right now there are bigger problems then anticipated.

First, going back and reviewing tape and looking at the drive charts of all the games thus far, the defense really hasn't stopped anybody yet this season. Yes, they have had stops but most of those were from the opposition stopping themselves through unforced errors....pennington fumbling a gazillion times....raiders backs and receivers dropping balls that would've been first downs and penalties.....long runs getting called back on bullshit calls. Tonight they didn't stop anybody, gave up the mandatory 50 yard running play, and 200 yards on the ground....and that's despite an outmanned d-line doing a pretty decent job holding their ground upfront the majority of the time. The linebackers were simply over-running plays and Denver wasn't shooting themselves in the foot with unforced fumbles, penalties, and dropped balls like the previous 2 opponents.

Having said that, going into the game tonight I wasn't convinced this defense was a whole lot better then last years defense and now that is abundantly clear.

It appears just like last year that the D-line will be overmatched week in and week out and this team will have to live and die with the blitz same as last year. They will have their moments but overall it appears the offense will have to outscore teams same as last year.

Offensively, neither of the right tackles can get a block, Johny Morton's replacement has dropped more balls then he's caught, and Roaf is probably gonna struggle with that hamstring all year once we get him back and his replacement can't get a block either. (those hamstrings can take a lonnnnngg time to heal completely). Other then that, everything looks fine, but the offense is gonna have to be somewhere around last year's production for this team to meet expectations/hopes and that's gonna be difficult.