Sunday’s game in Cincinnati had yet another miracle finish in the opener for the Denver Broncos.  Fans may recall the amazing finish the Broncos had in Buffalo in 2007 when Jason Elam and the kicking team had to run onto the field with time running out.

Elam made the kick as time expired and the Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills 15-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Sunday’s game in Cincinnati saw the 87-yard deflected pitch and catch to Brandon Stokley for the game-winning touchdown that won’t be forgotten in Denver anytime soon. It was an amazing finish to a game that really had the Denver Broncos searching for an identity on offense.

It’s not because they don’t have a viable scheme, because they do.  It’s not due to a lack of effort, because it’s there. It might be more about attention to detail, ironing out some more technical problem solving, and gelling as a team. 

Frankly, the Broncos’ coaching staff really needs to re-evaluate its play-calling from the preseason until now. There are some serious flaws being exposed in the offensive game plan and it takes momentum away from the team at crucial times in the game.

 

Offensive Film Summary

While Josh McDaniels has come from the New England Patriots and shaken things up in Broncos camp a great deal, he may be long remembered for what didn’t happen on offense. At least initially, he subtracted an arm that can hit any spot on the field in Jay Cutler and believed enough in Kyle Orton to help get his vision going in Denver.

Part of the way the Patriots do business offensively is that they spread the field and find ways to use the short pass game much in the way most teams use the run. Some may call it a dink-and-dunk philosophy, but it is about being a passing team first and a run team second.

This is at least contrary to the way coach Shanahan approached his system philosophy.  Much of the talent assembled offensively over the years was geared toward the zone run blocking scheme with a complementary pass game based on the quarterback’s abilities.

At this stage, given the renewed emphasis on defense, the Broncos have to find creative ways to make the run game matter. Currently, teams are more or less telling the Broncos to make Kyle Orton beat them while they cheat up to stop the run. 

This is sort of a complex, puzzled solution and one which requires a balanced attack.

 

What Actually Happened on the Field

The Broncos decided to start the game with two runs to Correll Buckhalter for which he gained eight and 14 yards, respectively. Not a bad start. What followed was a one-yard gain vs. seven defenders in the box. The Broncos then predictably went to their screen bubble package with a drop from Brandon Marshall. 

Regardless of the drop, the Bengal defense correctly read the play setup and rallied to shutdown the play. Had Marshall caught the ball, it would have been for a minimal gain.

On third down, Kyle Orton forced the ball into Brandon Stokley on a play that should have had illegal contact called against the Bengals. The ball wound up falling incomplete without a penalty against Cincinnati. 

The point here is that the Broncos cannot rely on the referees to give them the call and Orton therefore must find the open man. 

This is a primary criticism of the current offensive system. It requires the quarterback to be a supreme game manager and have a solid ability to keep from turning the ball over. 

To date, Kyle Orton has not proven that he is going to supremely protect the ball.  Moreover, he is not making good reads at this juncture. There were more than a few glaring miscues in this area on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On the second series, Knowshon Moreno entered the game but lined up in the I-formation nine yards deep on the first play then eight yards deep on the second play from scrimmage. 

On the first play, he gained four yards but could have hit the hole sooner. On the second play, he was shut down near the line of scrimmage.

Conversely, when Buckhalter got his first two carries, he lined up seven-and-a-half yards deep and seven yards deep, respectively. This allowed Buckhalter, the veteran, to hit the hole faster and find his way up field.

While it will be nice at some point to see what Knowshon Moreno can do, immediately alternating series before seeing what the veteran can do is a bad idea. The results are immediate and the Broncos’ run game starts to fall by the wayside.  

This eventually sets the Broncos up in another third and long where yet again Kyle Orton telegraphs his pass to Brandon Stokley in double coverage. The ball gets deflected at the line of scrimmage; two more Bengals converge as the ball falls incomplete with Stokley surrounded by four Bengals.

The third drive finds the Broncos in another third and long situation where Kyle Orton gets sacked with a chop block called against the Broncos, adding salt to the wound.

The fourth series saw a well thrown deep ball to Brandon Marshall go right through his hands. This set up another third and long that saw Orton connect with Jabar Gaffney after his second deflected pass for a minimal gain.

The fifth series finds the bubble screen make another appearance on second down as Eddie Royal gains eight yards. The very next play, however, Orton telegraphs and Eddie Royal is hit by two defenders on his short hook route as the ball falls incomplete.

The net result out of these two drives is that the Broncos’ defense is left out on the field for a very long period of time covering most of the first quarter. This has to be alarming to the Broncos on offense that they are leaving the defense out to dry. It was a theme that continued throughout much of the game.

Prior to the final drive of the first half for the Broncos, they had netted 39 total yards on offense. This is unacceptable for a high-flying offense to struggle as much as the Broncos did, even in the early going. Kyle Orton has to assume the responsibility through his future actions as quarterback.

Fortunately, the final drive of the half resulted in three points. The highlight of the drive was a 20-yard out to Jabar Gaffney which setup the first long Matt Prater field goal on the day before the half. Just prior to that, Correll Buckhalter was the featured back again for the first time since the team’s first series and he helped the Broncos to finally start moving the ball.

The first series of the second half really encapsulated where the Broncos are now as a team under Kyle Orton. Knowshon Moreno started the second half instead of Buckhalter. Moreno tripped out of the backfield on one down. 

Finally, on 3rd-and-13, Orton almost immediately locks onto Brandon Marshall running a short eight to 10 yard out after lining up tight left. Marshall winds up being double covered while Brandon Stokley is wide open running the seam route. Stokley has about a ten yard buffer of space on each side of him as he runs the route. To not find him on a 3rd-and-long is inexcusable.

Orton has shown he is a system quarterback, but appears to be timid in the pocket. Kyle starts by locking on his usual primary without recognizing the coverage. It’s almost as if he’s too afraid to sit in the pocket longer to find the right read. This is very dangerous for Orton and the Broncos. There really is no excuse for these sorts of shallow reads. 

These types of poor reads occur because the quarterback is too focused on the play-calling and not what the defensive scheme is currently in or rolling to. Kyle needs to really read the defense pre-snap and go from there.

On the second series of the second half, Knowshon Moreno lines up seven-and-a-half yards deep while having his best run of the day. He gained seven yards and was introduced to the NFL by former Dallas safety Roy Williams, who put a serious hit on him. Moreno was dinged on the play and did not return to the game.

The next drive really went nowhere, but thanks to Matt Prater the Broncos were now up 6-0 in a game their offense had no business being in.

The highlight offensively clashed with the low lights on the fourth drive of the second half. The Broncos started to move the ball, but penalized themselves on a number of downs. On 3rd-and-16, Kyle Orton was sacked, nullifying all the good the team did to get into winning position.

The final drive is now headline news, but the thing that stands clear is the telegraphing of Kyle Orton and predictability of the offensive scheme. Both are to blame for what followed next. 

On first down, Orton throws a 10-yard out to Brandon Marshall near the sidelines with less than 40 seconds left in the game. The ball is nearly picked off by one of two Bengal DBs in the area. 

On the next play, the Broncos benefited from the triple team on Brandon Marshall when the ball was deflected to Brandon Stokley, who raced 87 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

 

Offensive Scheme:  C-/D+

Any time your play-calling is predictable, your play-calling is average at best. Only because the Broncos won did this score not get worse.

 

Play-Calling:  C- 

There is a clear need for improvement, however some of the improvement can come by Kyle Orton making the right reads and pre-snap adjustments. The Broncos should line up under center; their strength is not in the spread offense. 

Moreover, they should limit the bubble screen packages or use them sparingly. One of Orton’s bubble screen passes was almost intercepted. That should tell the staff that teams are catching on.

 

Third Down Conversions:  D-

The Broncos were pitiful on third down, going 3-for-12 (25 percent), which is just unacceptable.

 

The Red Zone:  F—

There was one?

 

Kyle Orton’s Grade: C

Give Kyle credit for having a gritty game, but he could have made his team’s day a whole lot easier by reading the defense pre-snap. Instead, he chose the easy check downs and it cost the Broncos in the long run. Kyle telegraphed a majority of his big passes. This also is unacceptable.

 

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