Pass Protection is going to stop us from making the playoffs

[Hadez]

Center got destroyed by Pitt. Gave up a easy safety to TB.

RT still looks ugly

C RT and QB competing for worse play on offense week to week to week

[beastlyskronk]

Risner is the bright spot on the o-line, for sure. Like his attitude and he's played well for the most part.

Except on the play where Lock got hurt, he didn’t pass the DT off to Bolles and forced Bolles to try and win a foot race with Bud Dupree. It’s strange considering that was our best way of generating pressure last season so I would assume he’s seen a ton of stunts and twists in practice. He’s going to be good, but he’s still inconsistent especially in pass protection.

[RocketArm006]

Something may be missed in the typed version but essentially...

He said he was angry....he was angry the OL allowed that much pressure

Think it was the first time someone broke down those numbers to him as he said just saying those numbers made him angry

Risner is the bright spot on the o-line, for sure. Like his attitude and he's played well for the most part.

[Hadez]

Can you breakdown what he said I missed it Thank You.

Something may be missed in the typed version but essentially...

He said he was angry....he was angry the OL allowed that much pressure

Think it was the first time someone broke down those numbers to him as he said just saying those numbers made him angry

[DENVERSB50CHAMP]

Not sure if anyone saw the Risner presser

Someone asked him about the 17 hits, 7 sacks and injured QB.

Hope everyone involved in Pass Protection shares Risner's feelings.

Can you breakdown what he said I missed it Thank You.

[Hadez]

Not sure if anyone saw the Risner presser

Someone asked him about the 17 hits, 7 sacks and injured QB.

Hope everyone involved in Pass Protection shares Risner's feelings.

[samparnell]

Based on what exactly? A biased fan opinion? We have recorded 3 back to back losing seasons which is the worst run the organization has had in that regard since the 70's, where has this depth or quality on the front line been? I think you are imagining things and overrating the roster which has produced exactly nothing of substance or success over the last however many years. Obviously it isn't over this year, but again the problem areas are the same problems areas we had in 2017, offensive line, cornerback depth, interior linebacker, that is on the talent evaluators and personnel side. What you have said here is nothing more than excuse which ignores the fact that many have been saying consistently,Elway might not be that good at his job.

Except for going 7-7 in 1962, from 1960 through 1972, Denver had losing seasons. From 1973 through 2016 Denver had no consecutive losing seasons. Mile High Stadium has been sold out since 1970, three years before the first winning season. In the ten years between Frank Tripucka and Charley Johnson, twelve different QBs started for the Broncos including Marlin Briscoe, the first African-American QB. None of the QBs in Denver's ROF (i.e., Tripucka, Johnson, Morton, Elway) were drafted by the Broncos. Manning will continue that trend. Lock still has a chance to buck it. Or, could bring Chad Kelly back for another Halloween party.

[Hadez]

Yeah it isn’t like that’s uncommon. Pretty much every 5 wide set will see a 6 man blitz and the QB is responsible for the free rusher. Screen passes invite free rushers. Sometimes the QB has to be responsible for the extra guy.

The issue was that Driskell didn’t recognize the blitz soon enough. If he did then he probably goes to the decoy route which was Patrick who was wide open. But he didn’t see it quick enough or he thought Gordon would be able to cut quick enough for him to get the pass off. It would’ve been a tough angle either way but it’s probably a TD if he can complete the pass.

I wish there was a camera view that showed his eyes. I am pretty sure the only thing he saw that play was the free rusher coming at him even though if he shifted his view slightly to his left he would have seen a wide open guy for a first down just 2-3 yards away from the LoS.

He may be 27 but he is still young in NFL qb experience having started 8 games. Still I would expect him to be able to make the play as a back up qb.

IMO one of the reasons defenses will to terrorize QBs is because they know...sooner or later normal humans will start to hear footsteps. I think Driskel is a normal human and was a deer in the headlights at that point in the game. The combination of bad pass protection and relentless pass rush finally got to him mentally.

There is probably something wrong with the guys like Brady and Wilson who will take a beating and still hang in there trying to make a play the next down.

[Taos_Broncomaniac]

To be fair, Cousins, nor any other QB would survive behind this oline.....

Guys like Mahomes and Wilson make bank when the protection breaks down. Moot point 'cause they don't play for us, but throwing the ball away should be a survival instinct in any non-mobile QB. The running back's feet should be the second read.

Drew looked flat from the start yesterday...

[johnlimburg]

I mean the roster was constructed with depth, injuries forced the depth guys to play.

Based on what exactly? A biased fan opinion? We have recorded 3 back to back losing seasons which is the worst run the organization has had in that regard since the 70's, where has this depth or quality on the front line been? I think you are imagining things and overrating the roster which has produced exactly nothing of substance or success over the last however many years. Obviously it isn't over this year, but again the problem areas are the same problems areas we had in 2017, offensive line, cornerback depth, interior linebacker, that is on the talent evaluators and personnel side. What you have said here is nothing more than excuse which ignores the fact that many have been saying consistently,Elway might not be that good at his job.

[darryn16]

Was pass protection downright horrendous against arguably the best front 7 in the NFL? Yes. Did our weakest link Wilkinson get destroyed by a DPOY candidate? Yes. Is Wilkinson ever going to be starter-worthy material? No. Is a 35-year-old Dotson who couldn’t even beat out Wilkinson in camp realistically going to fare much better? Optimistically, maybe. Is Lock/Driskel not throwing the ball away/holding onto the ball too long/missing open reads hurting our offense too? Yes.

But here’s a reality check— our chances for the playoffs are extremely slim bordering on nonexistent. Why? Injuries. As of right now, we are without Lock, Lindsay, Sutton, James, Miller, Jones, and Bouye. I don’t care if we have All-Pro offensive linemen at every starting spot, no team is making it to the playoffs with Driskel as the starting QB for a significant portion of the season. With our roster construction, the team is already asking a lot of young, inexperienced players to step up and make an impact— this aspect of our personnel is only exacerbated with the sheer amount of injuries to our key starters. As we start to see the hope of our season take a nosedive, this year will basically turn into a 14-game preseason to really evaluate our young players and see them battle week-in and week-out. Like Risner said, there are no “moral victories”. I just want to see the team stay resilient and play hard no matter how short-handed they become. BUT, as a fan and especially here on BCMB, our expectations need to be tempered— as much as we want our guys to dominate each game. I say this because the notion that our pass-protection alone will stop us from making the postseason is ignoring the much bigger (and quite frankly, grim) picture.

With all that being said, OT is 100% the biggest need going into the next offseason.

I couldn't have said this any better. The question remains though....why? Why are all of these players getting injured? Is it really just bad luck or is it the strength and conditioning coach? And don't give me the "this was an odd offseason with no preseason games." Other teams are playing just fine with minimal injuries.

[darryn16]

Let's talk playoffs in another 3 years. Elway blew it not bringing in Mike Shanahan and Cousins with Kubiak when the fire was hot.

To be fair, Cousins, nor any other QB would survive behind this oline.....

[beastlyskronk]

Driskel is a career backup coming cold off the bench, I think the dude has only ever won 1 start in his career. You can’t expect him to make a play with a free rusher. That’s why it was dumb in the first place to even pass, don’t put your backup QB in that position, just run the ball.

Well yeah we should have ran on 3rd and 2 and it’s probably a moot point or even 4th and 2. But we didn’t and the play call was actually a good one, it just didn’t get executed. It is what it is. That arrow route to the RB is probably going to be one of Shurmur’s money plays this season though. They did it against the Titans from the pistol with Gordon and Lindsay and it was wide open. With the game on the line they went back to another variation designed to beat zone coverage. The play was there, Driskell probably could’ve drifted back and lollipopped it up there off his back foot and completed it for a 1st.

Overall though, I don’t think we’re losing from a lack of talent. It’s just a lack of experience across the board to include the coaching staff. This team needed a normal offseason more than any other team and that’s showing up big time in these first few games. But Fant has looked great so far, Jeudy can’t be covered in man coverage, Hamler looked great yesterday, and Gordon has ran well and looked good as a receiver. None of the RBs are chipping when releasing for routes though and that seems to be more Shurmur falling into a coaching pitfall of relying on a mobile QB to beat free rushers, I have to think that’ll change pretty soon.

[DENVERSB50CHAMP]

That wasn’t my point, I wasn’t saying anything bad about Driskel, he’s what we have now and I hope he lights it up. I was saying Shurmur had no business putting him in a position to win the game when Gordon could’ve easily got the first. Your backup QB is in, don’t over complicate it, just hand the ball off.

I for sure have a problem with the OC what are these guys thinking when calling plays? The get paid Top Dollar to call plays like they did on 3rd and 2 and 4th and 2 and not even make it LOL. You are absolutely right all they had to was run MG that is all and they would of made it. Now I would of called a Toss Sweep Left on that play 1st and I would of guaranteed that MG would of picked it up Denver had the Momentum and the OC lost it .

[rst08tierney]

You still want the Kubiak/Cousins combo with the way they’ve looked this year??

Absolutely. We have the personal to run shanby /Kubiaks system.