Is Flacco really worth that much?

[luv]

Highest paid player in the league?

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Julius Thomas has been a Bronco since 2011 - he just couldn't get on the field.

Now I'm not saying that he hasn't turned a corner; he looked pretty good last night. That said, I'd be a little wary to call the guy the next Gates just yet.

Dude was a hoops player, he had to develop. Looks like he has. But you're right, it's only one game.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Julius Thomas has been a Bronco since 2011 - he just couldn't get on the field.

Now I'm not saying that he hasn't turned a corner; he looked pretty good last night. That said, I'd be a little wary to call the guy the next Gates just yet.

Hmmm. I dunno. It seems to be a theme in the league though.

Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates, Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron.

I don't think you can say that anything you saw last night would tell you that hes a flash in the pan. Huff sure wont.

He shook the shit out of huff.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by Mavericks Ace

Hmmm. I dunno. It seems to be a theme in the league though.

Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates, Julius Thomas, Jordan Cameron.

I don't think you can say that anything you saw last night would tell you that hes a flash in the pan. Huff sure wont.

He shook the shit out of huff.

Huff sucks. And I'm not putting Thomas in the HOF just yet.

Welker no doubt makes the team better. But their defense is still a fraud. Good offenses are going to be able to shoot it out with Denver. And their lack of a running game will catch up to them. It always catches up to Manning.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Huff sucks. And I'm not putting Thomas in the HOF just yet.

Welker no doubt makes the team better. But their defense is still a fraud. Good offenses are going to be able to shoot it out with Denver. And their lack of a running game will catch up to them. It always catches up to Manning.

May I ask what makes their defense a fraud?

When Miller comes back, they'll have the best pass-rushing LB in the league and Woodyard is an excellent coverage linebacker.

DRC is a great cover corner and Harris is probably the best NCB in the league. Moore, despite his idiocy in the playoffs, is still a good safety and is young enough that he will continue to improve.

They have a hole or two for sure, but so does everyone else. In a shootout situation, the Broncos are equipped as well or better than any other team in the NFL on defense. The defense is built to play from ahead.

The Broncos are a very good team, provided Manning stays healthy. If he gets hurt and they have to rely on a crap running game, then the defenses problems on the interior will get exposed. With a healthy Manning, however, that defense is pretty outstanding for them.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

May I ask what makes their defense a fraud?

When Miller comes back, they'll have the best pass-rushing LB in the league and Woodyard is an excellent coverage linebacker.

DRC is a great cover corner and Harris is probably the best NCB in the league. Moore, despite his idiocy in the playoffs, is still a good safety and is young enough that he will continue to improve.

They have a hole or two for sure, but so does everyone else. In a shootout situation, the Broncos are equipped as well or better than any other team in the NFL on defense. The defense is built to play from ahead.

The Broncos are a very good team, provided Manning stays healthy. If he gets hurt and they have to rely on a crap running game, then the defenses problems on the interior will get exposed. With a healthy Manning, however, that defense is pretty outstanding for them.

Their statistical ranking from last year was largely a product of playing a boatload of bad offenses. And there's about 3 players on the entire D that I would take over a KC player.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

May I ask what makes their defense a fraud?

When Miller comes back, they'll have the best pass-rushing LB in the league and Woodyard is an excellent coverage linebacker.

DRC is a great cover corner and Harris is probably the best NCB in the league. Moore, despite his idiocy in the playoffs, is still a good safety and is young enough that he will continue to improve.

They have a hole or two for sure, but so does everyone else. In a shootout situation, the Broncos are equipped as well or better than any other team in the NFL on defense. The defense is built to play from ahead.

The Broncos are a very good team, provided Manning stays healthy. If he gets hurt and they have to rely on a crap running game, then the defenses problems on the interior will get exposed. With a healthy Manning, however, that defense is pretty outstanding for them.

Nailed it.

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

May I ask what makes their defense a fraud?

When Miller comes back, they'll have the best pass-rushing LB in the league and Woodyard is an excellent coverage linebacker.

DRC is a great cover corner and Harris is probably the best NCB in the league. Moore, despite his idiocy in the playoffs, is still a good safety and is young enough that he will continue to improve.

They have a hole or two for sure, but so does everyone else. In a shootout situation, the Broncos are equipped as well or better than any other team in the NFL on defense. The defense is built to play from ahead.

The Broncos are a very good team, provided Manning stays healthy. If he gets hurt and they have to rely on a crap running game, then the defenses problems on the interior will get exposed. With a healthy Manning, however, that defense is pretty outstanding for them.

They've got 2 ILBs that can play man.

I'm a jealous Janice.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I've said it several times - Joe Flacco isn't better than Alex Smith, he's just different.

Flacco is a bomber. He's going to challenge downfield a lot and miss a lot. He's equally inaccurate at pretty much all levels. There's nothing accurate or consistent about Joe Flacco as a passer - the guy just flat misses passes at a pretty alarming rate, as we saw last night.

But the Ravens have made him the perfect example of how an erratic passer should be used. If you can't be counted on to throw a 10 yard slant accurately (where it could easily be picked), might as well chuck it downfield where you can pick up a PI or a high reward play. Worst case scenario is a pick that operates as a punt. That's exactly how you utilize QBs like Flacco and Manning it's how you should utilize guys that are even worse than that (Sanchez is my favorite example).

Smith is the opposite - he's exceptionally accurate and consistent on the short passes so that's how best to utilize him.

If you were to grade their overall effectiveness, they're both B- quarterbacks. Flacco just does it in an entirely different way than Smith does.

The Donks did a great job with Tebow using that.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by vailpass

Losing Boldin screwed Flacco pretty bad.

Pitta as well. Dixon can't catch shit.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Pitta as well. Dixon can't catch shit.

So it appears. Good point.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Their statistical ranking from last year was largely a product of playing a boatload of bad offenses. And there's about 3 players on the entire D that I would take over a KC player.

Defenses can't be viewed in a vacuum, though.

Maybe their defense wouldn't work well for our offensive personnel, but it works perfectly for theirs.

It's built to stop teams from passing when they get behind. The only question was whether or not DRC could hold fast against top-tier #2 WRs. Well that's about what Smith qualifies as and DRC absolutely owned Smith last night.

That defense, while not 'traditionally' dominant, is absolutely perfect for their team. It's most certainly not a fraud.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

The Donks did a great job with Tebow using that.

Exactly.

If you have an inconsistent QB, go get a burner or two, maybe a jump ball guy, and get to chucking downfield.

Tebow throwing short made no sense - the guy was as likely to miss a 10 yard pass as he was to miss a 30 yarder. So increase the reward so that it's commensurate with the risk and suddenly your offense actually makes sense.

The Ravens have the running game to keep secondaries honest, as did the Broncos when Tebow/McGahee were making noise. When the Giants are at their best, they have guys like Jacobs/Bradshaw forcing the safeties to respect the run.

Inconsistent QBs need to fire downfield. It's the opposite of how things are historically done and I think the common wisdom here is just wrong.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Exactly.

If you have an inconsistent QB, go get a burner or two, maybe a jump ball guy, and get to chucking downfield.

Tebow throwing short made no sense - the guy was as likely to miss a 10 yard pass as he was to miss a 30 yarder. So increase the reward so that it's commensurate with the risk and suddenly your offense actually makes sense.

The Ravens have the running game to keep secondaries honest, as did the Broncos when Tebow/McGahee were making noise. When the Giants are at their best, they have guys like Jacobs/Bradshaw forcing the safeties to respect the run.

Inconsistent QBs need to fire downfield. It's the opposite of how things are historically done and I think the common wisdom here is just wrong.

Totally. The last thing a puncher wants to do is get involved in a boxing match.


Conversely, Jamaal and Bowe can take a ten yard pass to the house about as easily as a forty yarder. So with Smith you have an offense where the reward is the same but you greatly reduce the risk.