Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9944778)

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.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9944778)

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.

Originally Posted by Mavericks Ace (Post 9944793)

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.

Originally Posted by jspchief (Post 9944823)

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.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9944852)

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.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9944852)

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.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9944852)

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.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9944193)

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.

<b>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).</b>

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.

Originally Posted by vailpass (Post 9944707)

Losing Boldin screwed Flacco pretty bad.

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy (Post 9944982)

Pitta as well. Dixon can't catch shit.

Originally Posted by jspchief (Post 9944861)

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.

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy (Post 9944979)

The Donks did a great job with Tebow using that.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut (Post 9945010)

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.