A Different Opinion Than You All Are Used to From A Broncofan

and when I mentioned that debate I wasn’t saying that it was questionable, I was referring to the many different discussions I have seen since the trade on the subject of Cutler VS. Orton. In my opinion, Cutler is the more talented QB, however we didn’t trade them straight up, that is why I think both sides could come out winners here. I repeat, the point of my post was not to debate who is the better QB as I agree with you on who is more physically gifted. I am simply saying that this deal might turn out good for both sides. Part of my motivation is to rebutt the fans from both camps who suddenly hate Orton/Cutler because they are on different teams now. Especially since draft picks were involved, it will take time to see if both sides come out winners or if one wins and one loses.

Time will tell, but I think there is a good chance both teams come out better off for having done this trade. It could be I’m wrong but my point is that it would be stupid to say Denver will suck or the Bears will suck when the draft picks haven’t even all been used yet, not to mention the fact that no games that really count have been played yet.

As far as the qb, we by far got the better end. That may seem obvious, but there’s been a hell of a lot of your brethren insisting that Orton is just as good as Cutler. Considering what we usually do with our draft picks, I’m quite happy with what we got.

As an Average Quarterback as opposed to below average Quarterbacks like Brady Quinn. Or Henry Burris. Or Peter Tom Willis.

I couldn’t have said it better.

by bronco fans who have no clue what they are talking about. Our Oline gave up 27 sacks last year and was far from terrible. They finished above average in the league in sacks allowed. Our line was very average last year with a tackle in the twilight of his career (Tait) and a below average one on the other side (St Clair). They also threw in a young guard in Beekman who had not played before. They faced constant 8 man fronts because their QB was not accurate beyond 10 yards but still managed to produce a nearly 1,300 yard rusher last year. Were they a great line line? no, very average due to their skill sets. Now fast forward to this year. We pick up Pace, our no 1 from last year Williams, sign Omilaye to give us more size inside and we have a much more dominant line. Not to mention we have more depth than ever before. Our pass blocking in the preseason has been excellent and our run game has continued to improve. With Cutler’s ability to stretch the field we will see less of the 8 man fronts and a more consistent running attack which will vault Forte’s YPC from 3.9 into the mid 4’s. Are we as good as the Bronco Oline? No, but we are head and shoulders above last year and we are at least in the upper half of the league in that ranking.

I don’t know a whole lot about Chicago’s current state at this point in preseason, but it’s safe to say your guys are assessing and evaluating just as much as our guys are.

I know people are trashing us (not saying you are) for throwing the ball most of the time in preseason, but as anyone with football knowledge can attest to, the passing game takes much longer to get right than the running game does (especially in McD’s complex offense). It’s just the nature of the beast. With that in mind, I try and look at what happened last week in Seattle (3 straight passing plays on 2, 3, and 4th down) with a grain of salt. Of course if it were regular season we would run the ball in. When you’ve got first and goal on the 1 yard line, it’s pretty stupid NOT to run it in. However, there will come a time in the season where you may NEED to throw the ball at that point. They were just practicing that drill, in my opinion.

As for Denver’s defense, I know there’s quite a few question marks there. It’s clear after the 08 season that our entire defense and the scheme just needed to go. The only starters between 08 and 09 are Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil, and DJ Williams if I remember right. Bob Slowik’s defensive scheme was non-existent. he didn’t have one. It was a murky plan to begin with, and the defense obviously had no structure at all. It didn’t help that Mike Shanahan viewed the defense as “second class citizens” to the offense. If you’re curious who said that, it was Champ Bailey. I think the problems on our defense started at the top, and worked their way all the way down to every last detail.

No one knows how Mike Nolan’s defense will work this year, but given what we’ve seen so far, it will be much MUCH better than last years atrocity. We’ve done a pretty good job at pressuring the quarterback (nabbing 7 sacks so far), but our secondary needs some work. Hopefully Brian Dawkins’ presence will be a huge factor there. Everyone in Denver is eagerly awaiting the “Weapon X Effect”. Luckily, he’ll be starting tonight, and I’m very interested in how our secondary will perform now that all 4 starters are together on the field.

is still out. There is an addition to the run block scheme. McD kept the zone block coaches from last year (the only coaches he kept, really) and there is still some zone blocking. But McD has brought the standard blocking scheme back as well. So, we’re using both. The OL is the same personnel as last year and adding another layer of complexity hasn’t seemed to affect them. It’s going to be more difficult for defenses because they can’t plan just for ZB anymore. We are starting Correll Buckhalter – he was Westbrook’s backup. Behind him is Lamont Jordan, another career backup. Also running will be Peyton Hillis. Of the 3, Hillis is the real power runner. He’s a converted FB and weighs in at 250#.

Ayers knows he’s supposed to be on the football field. He just isn’t quite sure where. I hear that Football Follies is going to dedicate an entire episode to him. Kidding aside, he’s playing rookie ball. He shows flashes, but he’s just lost. Until the light comes on, I can’t really say whether he’s going to be a good player or not. On defense, the backup NT Chris Baker is making some noise. Joe Paterno kicked him off the team for getting in a publicized fight and he ended up playing at Hampton. A smaller school, but he did dominate. At the time he got kicked off Penn, he was projected as a 2nd-3rd rounder pick. We picked him up as a CFA.

Another part of “THE TRADE” is your first round pick for 2010 that we still have. Would the Bears consider going 0-16 so we can have the first overall?

once this preseason game is over.

What most of know who understand what the Broncos are doing is that Orton would get benched or worse should he try to become Cutler. Cutler wasn’t comfortable with the idea of what McDaniels would require, and Orton is. You have by far the more talented and athletic of the two, but we are not asking Orton to be that. If you think about it, Brady isn’t asked to be that either, and the scheme works fine there as well.
(no, Orton isn’t Brady, but they have similar responsibilities in game management, where Cutler will be needed and required to do more based on his athleticism)