Big Ben was 24/36 and 339 yards, which doesn't include some big DPI yardage. He averaged 9.2 yards per pass, the highest Denver allowed in any game all season. This was without their star wide receiver and without having any semblance of a running game. Denver kept them to only 16 points by coming up with key plays in big moments (holding them to field goals, stopping them on 4th-and-1, forcing a game changing turnover) but when you look at the stats, I think it's hard to say that their strategy greatly slowed down the Pittsburgh passing attack.The last two games show that Phillips is perfectly willing to change things up and move outside of his preferred standard looks. Against Pitt they primarily employed a zone coverage to keep the speedy Pitt WRs from getting behind the secondary. That was not a strong suit of Denver's D all season and not an approach used often at all. It worked. Then last Sunday he threw a completely new look at NE. They now have 2 weeks to scheme to stop the Panthers. I expect to see something unexpected. Denver's D is pushing all the right buttons of late.
Good, quick read.Stylistically, the Broncos defense was a perfect matchup for the Patriots offense. In the Super Bowl, that won't be the case. Not only are the Panthers a tougher matchup for the best defense in the NFL, they run a polar opposite offense in terms of style. There aren't two offenses in the NFL who are less alike than the Patriots and Panthers.
J-Man, I love you, but your tune switches by the week. Just four weeks ago you were predicting one and done for your Broncos, and now, after barely beating two opponents at home, one of which was the only team in NFL history to be without its leading rusher and receiver, you predict Denver will beat the best team in the NFL?this game will be car 10-14 p win or den 1-7 p win my View
2 years ago denver layed a egg and other than manning DT and a few role players the team quit after the harvin KR denver would had lost anyway but it should had been 27-17 sea
if Den plays like the Pitt game they will lose
but the longer the game goes the more likely Denver wins denver plays well in the 4th q they have all year with 3 ex @ indy Oak @ pitt
the Key to this game is denver DL vs car OL winer of that wins the game i have a feeling denver will get a pick 6 form tailb or roby
Dream for Denver Newton playes nev for first 20 min denver playes at AFCGC level on def its 17-3 Den at haif Car scored 10 in the 3rd to make it 17-13 den after 3 but manning plays like 2013 for his last Q as he hits J Norwood for a 18 yard TD with 4 05 left denver has 2 goal line shops as car leaves 17 pts on board as Denver wins 24-13 manning 25-34 205 1 td 1 int
Newton 20-29 243 0 td 2 int
Nightmare for den first Q is 0-0 but car OL dom denver DL its 20--3 car at the haif and the car OL wears denver Down as its 27-3 but car goes soft on its last drive 27-10 Car
Car Peak 27 worse case 10
Den peak 24 Worse Case 13
i think denver will win 26-20 in ot as denver comes back form a 20-13 4th q defect
I'd rather be in your shoes than mine. They are setting up Super Bowl City right outside my office in SF, I'm going to have to go through bag checks and metal detectors and deal with huge crowds just to go to work next week.Well... there goes my ability to try to ignore the game as much as possible. They are coming to where I work.
Denver is using Stanford facilities to practice leading up to the game.
There was a story about this in the news Weds PM. Apparently the guy who owns the house and his buddy play pranks on each other. In this case, the buddy got the last laugh.
Ouch. That is worse.I'd rather be in your shoes than mine. They are setting up Super Bowl City right outside my office in SF, I'm going to have to go through bag checks and metal detectors and deal with huge crowds just to go to work next week.
Oh, and Carolina, but it will be a one score game until late.
thanks for the love it means a lotJ-Man, I love you, but your tune switches by the week. Just four weeks ago you were predicting one and done for your Broncos, and now, after barely beating two opponents at home, one of which was the only team in NFL history to be without its leading rusher and receiver, you predict Denver will beat the best team in the NFL?
The funny thing is you could be right, too.
This is a great post. Almost ruined my keyboard.Carolina, 47-9
Kuechly has more turnover return yards than yards from scrimmage by Denver. Peyton goes out on a stretcher in the 3rd.
I think you meant Ernie "Pink Stripes" Adams...They had a really interesting report for the NFL Network by somebody standing around in Santa Clara with a mic. He said he had talked to coaches for several other teams and asked them what's so particularly difficult about playing Carolina. He said that the single most common answer was Kuechly. According to the NFL Network guy, Kuechly is known for, not just occasionally but, frequently calling out the other team's plays as soon as they line up. As in, "bubble screen left to #84" etc and also calling out what's coming the instant that they audible to another call. Made it sound like he's Eddie Adams playing linebacker.
Yes, that is exactly what he was implying.As in you think John Madden and EA Sports rigged the Super Bowl?
Why wouldn't you give Wade Phillips credit? He's a great defensive coach and had a great plan in the AFCCG.Not sure if I am ready to give Wade fucking Phillips credit for drawing up a great defensive game plan in the AFCCG or blame the Patriots coaching staff for piss poor offensive preparation for playing in Denver and all the crowd noise.
I will eventually die.Bob Glauber @BobGlauber 26s26 seconds ago
Peyton Manning said he was recently told he will eventually need hip replacement surgery.
Is there any reason to believe the Panthers OL will be as inept as the Pats OL in a neutral stadium with a QB who is a huge running threat?I'll stick with Carolina big, but I think our cumulative results are overdone. I'd say at least 7 times out of 20 Denver wins this game. There is a plausible path -- the way they beat the Pats.
No, I believe their OL will be much better than the Pats'.Is there any reason to believe the Panthers OL will be as inept as the Pats OL in a neutral stadium with a QB who is a huge running threat?
Maybe Cam totally blows it or there are fumbles and Denver manages to punch the ball in and gets ahead, and then the DL goes off and prevents a comeback. I think the chances of that are way less than 35% though.
Better start switching injection sites.Bob Glauber @BobGlauber 26s26 seconds ago
Peyton Manning said he was recently told he will eventually need hip replacement surgery.
I don't really give credit to coaches when they get pressure rushing 3 and 4. I could draw up a great defense against a team that can not run the ball and can't block my Dline.Why wouldn't you give Wade Phillips credit? He's a great defensive coach and had a great plan in the AFCCG.
This is exactly right, IMO. Success for Denver's D will come if they can slow down the Panthers' run game.I'm far from an X's and O's guy, but I think a Denver win is predicated on the following from their defense: they will need to shut down the Carolina run game on early downs and force them into 3rd-and-long situations. If they can do that, then I think you'll see some exotic overload blitzes to try and counteract Carolina's max protect blocking schemes, combined with mixing up their coverages with various combinations of zone and man. But it all centers around stopping the run. If Denver can't do that, it's going to be a long day for them.
Not surprising - with all the nerve issues he's had he has probably had enough oral prednisone to kill a horse - his AVN probably makes Napoli's look like child's playBob Glauber @BobGlauber 26s26 seconds ago
Peyton Manning said he was recently told he will eventually need hip replacement surgery.