Are you ready for some Football?!?!?!!
By Darin H Posted in Football — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Monday Night Football is upon us. My beloved Denver Broncos face the Tennessee Titans. I think this will be a good matchup. Some news and notes for tonight below the fold.
Coaches Mike Shanahan and Jeff Fisher coached together in the early 90s under George Seifert at San Francisco and remain good friends. Fisher brought Cutler in to work out before deciding to draft Young, and then answered Shanahan when he asked if Jay Cutler was everything he could want in a QB. Vince Young and Jay Cutler were selected 3rd and 11th overall in the 2006 draft class, this is the first time they meet in the NFL. It appears that Albert Haynesworth will be out for the game:
I was just told that it's unlikely Titans DT Albert Haynesworth will play tonight because of his hamstring injury. Tennessee is worried that Haynesworth might play four snaps and then be out for the rest of the game.
That is huge, as Haynesworth has been the key to the Titans defense in stopping the run. He was out the last game and Jacksonville took advantage of it - rushing for 166 yards which is 100 more than the Titans defense league leading 66 yards allowed per game previously - the Titans not being able to make Quinn Gray beat them. John Lynch will play in running situations, but not in passing.
Will ex-Titan Travis Henry play or will his injuries keep him out? Will former Texas Longhorn (and Vince Young teammate there) Selvin Young have a big game after getting his first 100 yard game last weekend at Kansas City? Will Vince Young get 300 yards rushing against the woeful Broncos rushing defense? Will Kornheiser annoy me? (YES) Will ESPN have a stupid celebrity that no one cares about in the booth? (High probability).
Kick off is in an hour or so.
And Go Broncos!
UPDATE Looks like Travis Henry isn't going to play tonight.
It was an entertaining game.
by Darin H
My thoughts are mostly on the Broncos, but I'll say up front that Vince Young wasn't the reason they lost. His first 300 yard game (could have had near 400 had his receivers not played dropsie) against one of the best pass defenses, and he had another 75 or so yards rushing. I'm happy with Cutler as our QB, but almost any team would be happy with VY at the helm.
As for the Broncos, they are still a young team, but are finally gelling. 4 starters on offense have been out (Javon Walker, Travis Henry and a couple of lineman) and you still have new guys that weren't playing last year, played limited time, or were on another team. Cutler is still learning, but the fans following the team have noticed his progression. He has looked better almost every week (highest passer rating last night). All 4 touchdowns were over 40 yards, first time in the NFL since 2003 Vikings did that, and first in Broncos history (Elway/Davis/Sharpe never did that, wow!). TOP was 35/25 Tennessee because of us scoring a bit too fast each time, putting a bit of pressure on the defense.
The offense is now starting to execute. Turning those massive yardage gains at the beginning of the season into 7 points instead of 3 - less up & down and more consistent play. The red zone rushing still needs to improve. We saw Shanahan gameplan more rollouts and playaction to play to Jay's strength, plus Cutler looks like he's more confident in his ability to scramble and look past the pass rush. Brandon Marshall is going to be as good as TO.
Special teams was Short Bus special last year and at the beginning of this year, one of the worst in the league. But thankfully, we brought in Scott O'Brien as ST coach and brought back Sauerbrun and it seems to have turned around this unit. The punt and kick return units can now actually block and the returners find the lanes. Still needs some work, but going from last to middle of the pack is quite an improvement.
On defense, we knew at the start of the season we'd have some time to adjust to the new scheme, well we dropped that mid year and went back to last year's scheme since we didn't have the players to run it. The 2 rookies making an impact on the line have been Tim Crowder (big sack on VY last night), and Marcus Thomas (forced fumble) as both have been making gains almost every week. It'll still take probably some time to get them playing consistently. Elvis Dumervil is a sack machine, he's 5'11 (but with an arm span of someone who is 6'6), and despite his size, he just makes plays. He will only get better as the rest of the line improves. Champ still doesn't look 100%, Bly is a gambler that will win just about as much as he loses, but we knew that :)
___________________________________
Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.
VY, not there yet.
I didn't see much of the game between watching Duke (my second favorite team) take on Princeton (my third) and taking part in the mess on the main site, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the game, Darin.
“I think we are the team to beat in the NL East -- finally.” - Jimmy "MVP" Rollins, 1/23/07