Against the San Francisco 49’ers in last Friday’s preseason opener, the Broncos started four wide receivers and came out, lining up in the shotgun formation for their first possession.  The New England offense has now officially arrived in Denver. 

 

First Series

The Broncos abruptly hit Eddie Royal in the slot for a seven-yard hitch, and then Correll Buckhalter ran for the Broncos’ first down.  A short hook up with Brandon Stokley and two more short runs from Buckhalter, and the Broncos had another first down.

Following a penalty, Kyle Orton hooked up on an outside hitch with Lamont Jordan.  Herein lies some of the genius of the New England attack implemented in Denver.  Jordan being in the game forces a linebacker to remain in the game; this forced Takeo Spikes to lineup outside like a cornerback playing off the receiver, and forcing a cushion of space to exist for Jordan to run a hook route and run for the first down. 

The goal is all about creating mismatches on the field through creative play calling. On the field, the players create and find the mismatches they want given the play and situation. The offensive advantage here is two-fold: One, the players beat the players across the line of scrimmage.  Two, the offense cracks the defensive scheme they are running against. 

What this does is force a myriad of zone defenses in an effort to minimize the damage being done by the offense. Meanwhile, the offense continues to move the ball down the field. Barring turnovers, it’s the perfect offensive philosophy to have on every play.

Regardless of what the defense does, they are wrong.

The very next play the Broncos stay in step. The play is originally called as a double tight end set on the left with two receivers to the right.  Eddie Royal is in the slot as Orton signals for Tony Scheffler to go in motion (waggle) to the other side of the line. As Scheffler reaches the end of the line, Orton calls the signal and the ball is snapped.

The tight end Scheffler now runs a quick out route forcing a change up in the coverage, which frees up Eddie Royal to gash the defense for a larger piece of real estate down the field. Royal being in the slot with all of his speed is in the middle of the pass coverage now as he runs a deep option hitch in space for about a 13-yard gain and a first down.

The first real error from quarterback Kyle Orton follows when the Broncos line up with split backs and one receiver wide on each side.  San Francisco, by this point, is catching onto the Broncos, and starts to force Orton to make the right read.

The 49’ers line up in a base 4-3 but quickly morph out of it at the snap of the ball on the right side to take away the short flat with three defenders covering one receiver as the ball is knocked down by Takeo Spikes 

The problem here is on the left side, though he was a little slow in getting open, Lamont Jordan is able to creep out of the backfield into open space on an out route.  Kyle Orton chose to force the ball instead of checking down due to the coverage.

The next play Orton hits Chad Jackson for a nine-yard gain on an out route.  On 3rd-and-1, Orton finds Eddie Royal on a seven-yard hitch that he turns up field to the four-yard line for a 1st-and-goal.

Lamont Jordan then takes the ball down to the three-yard line on a middle run.

On 2nd-and-goal from the three, the straw that broke the Broncos’ back.  The 49’ers correctly anticipate another short throw to the right side of the field.  The Broncos have two receivers on that side pre-snap with TE Daniel Graham and Eddie Royal on the outside.  At the snap, Royal starts back towards the line in motion as the snap occurs.  Peyton Hills slips out to the flat from the fullback position and Dan Graham is running a TE option in space in the middle of the end zone. 

Kyle Orton gets locked on Dan Graham, but fails to see the cornerback drifting over.  This is an error that really falls on both Orton and Dan Graham.  As the tight end runs the option route, he has to recognize the outside presence enough to stay tighter to the middle of the field, away from coverage.  Orton, however, leads Graham, and that is the fatal error as the interception is thrown.  Orton needs to be smart and throw the ball to the opposite shoulder, away from coverage to give his tight end a chance at the ball.

All three receivers are open briefly, Orton could have made a better throw to give Graham a chance and not throw the interception.

The net result is a minus seven points off the scoreboard and a turnover to the 49’ers.

 

Second Series

The Broncos decided to initially setup the left side as the strong side with one receiver wide.  Peyton Hillis came from the power position left to catch a play-fake pass as he ran across the line of scrimmage. The result was a 14-yard gain down the right side for a first down near midfield.

Orton misses the connection with Brandon Stokley, who lined up in the slot, then ran a three-yard out.  Stokley dropped the ball that was slightly behind him.

Then Broncos’ Country got the first glimpses of Knowshon Moreno.

The Broncos lined up with three receivers, sending the tight end Graham in motion into the power position as Orton handed the ball to Moreno out of the gun.   The play worked for a gain of eight as he cut up the middle of the defense.

The Broncos had a two-tight end set, then Moreno slashed again over the right side for a gain of five and a first down.  This may have been the play where Moreno was injured, as he got up limping.

The next play was similar to Moreno’s first with two receivers on the left, Dan Graham in motion from the left to right.  Knowshon gained four while churning his legs against a stiff defensive surge.

On the next play, Orton tried to force the ball into Brandon Stokley on a middle cross route as it was knocked down with a strip by the DB.

The very next play Orton was intercepted by Dre Bly, as he was on Stokley in man coverage.  Another forced ball by Kyle Orton.

The net result is yet another turnover after moving the ball well on offense.

 

Third Series

With 7:12 remaining in the first half, the score was still only 3-0 in favor of the 49’ers as the Broncos started from their own 10, the Broncos started on offense.

Lamont Jordan bashed on first and second down to put the Broncos into a 3rd-and-4 situation.  A penalty made it 3rd-and-9.

Out of trips left, the middle receiver waggles to a stack behind the nearest receiver.  Orton again tries to force the ball, this time into middle zone coverage; his eyes gave him away from the snap of the ball.

San Francisco now has a short field to work with to put the first touchdown on the board.

The net result is interception number three that sets up the first touchdown of the game, and a 9-0 San Francisco lead, after the failed PAT.

 

Chris Simms Showed Promise

In the second half, Chris Simms threw two touchdown passes and set up a field goal.  The first TD was a short out route to Jeb Putzier, after a long drive fueled primarily by the ground game. 

Simms later hit Brandon Lloyd on a flag route to setup a field goal.

Late in the game Chris Simms connected on a third down 52-yard bomb with Kenny McKinley the rookie sensation out of South Carolina.  This made the score 16-17 in favor of San Francisco.  The Broncos decided to go for two, since it’s preseason, and Simms threw a pick in the back of the end zone.

 

The Conclusion of the Matter

The Broncos’ offense can move the ball, that’s both first and second-teamers. The unsung heroes (again) were the offensive line.  Pass protection was not an issue.  Running the ball well was not an issue.  Passing the ball became an issue only due to the four interceptions on the night. 

Kyle Orton showed he can be a good game manager; however, he threw three forced interception balls as well.  Chris Simms showed a great deal of promise with a valiant effort to put the Broncos back in the game.  He could have synched a quarterback controversy with a completed two-pointer instead of the interception.

 

Overall grade on the night:  F = Four Costly Turnovers

 

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