National Football Post Tavern Talk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we do our team draft analysis on Thursdays in the Tavern, we are going to spend today breaking down tomorrow night’s game between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns.

DENVER BRONCOS AT CLEVELAND BROWNS

1.     The Browns have no consistency in the passing game because Anderson has been very inaccurate.  Even when he did throw the ball well, the wide receivers couldn’t catch it.

 

2.     The Browns running game is limited to the inside.  Very rarely can Lewis run the ball to the corner and get to the edge with his feet.  When Jason Wright is in the game, they like to run screens and outside plays. 

 

3.     The Broncos have to commit eight men to the run game and have to stem their line because they have no power or girth to play the run.    

 

4.     Denver won’t be able to handle Joshua Cribbs.  When he has the ball in his hands, his speed and power are very impressive.  The kickoff return last week was one of the best runs of the season. 

 

5.     Denver defensive back Dre Bly can’t run anymore.  He is a great person, but he lacks burst and speed to make plays–and the sad thing is that HE knows it. 

 

6.     Karl Paymah is at his best when he can play press at the line.  But with all the off coverage, he lacks the change of direction to make plays. 

 

7.     #58 Nate Webster cannot read run or pass.  He is the king of guessing.  He will make a few plays, but only because he guessed right. 

 

8.     Expect the Broncos to double Edwards on every snap.  The Browns will need to work the ball away from him. 

 

9.     Cleveland will need to complete some outs and have some easy throws in this game.  Even though Quinn is inaccurate, this will be a good game for his first NFL start.

 

10.  The Broncos are small and slow on defense and that is not a good combination. 

 

11.  Denver’s best defensive lineman is Kenny Petersen.  They get nothing out of Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder, two of last year’s high draft picks.   

 

12.  Cleveland has won 3 of their last 5 games.  The Browns are 1-3 at home this season (they were 7-1 at home in 2007).

 

13.  Denver is not the running Broncos we remember, they are now the passing Broncos. 

 

14.  The Browns need to be in nickel and cover the Broncos two guards.  They struggle handling power. 

 

15.  Last year Shaun Rogers killed the Broncos when he was playing with the Lions.  He had too much power and too much quickness.  And this year with Casey Wiegman as the center, he will dominate him in the 3-4, forcing the Broncos will to slide towards Rogers in the nickel front. 

 

16.  Denver will run the outside zone IF they can cut off Rogers.  The outside backers are too physical for the Broncos.  Miami killed Denver on the edges. 

 

17.  You have to be able to penetrate the line of scrimmage to handle the zone.  If you run down the line, someone will get cut off. 

 

18.  No team can be one dimensional and survive.  The Broncos can really only throw the ball right now. 

 

19.  Look for more play action and boot legs from Denver this week.  And look for the Browns to play more 2-man like New England played against them.  Teams have to encourage Denver to run the ball. 

 

20.  Turnovers have killed the Broncos recently and they are only in first place because of the Ed Hochuli game. 

 

21.  The Broncos have a drop back passer and a boot leg line.  They still struggle when they play a power front, like Miami, New England and the Browns, who all have power on their defensive line. 

 

22.  The Browns don’t have man to man corners, but if they play two man, they will have help on top and this is when the Broncos will have to be able to run the ball. 

 

23.  The script will change only if the Browns are doing something different in the game.  The Broncos are pretty religious in sticking to the script.