ESPN.com - NFL - Take 2: Broncos vs. BengalsFriday, October 22, 2004
Tuesday, our scouts filed their advance advance scouting report on this
week's matchup between the Broncos and Bengals. Now they're back with a
second look.
The battle between the Broncos' offensive line and the Bengals' defensive
front seven will be one to watch. The Broncos use a heavy dose of zone
blocking schemes, while the Bengals have good quickness and penetrating
skills. If the Bengals are quick off the snap and can "shoot the gaps,"
they can disrupt the Broncos' power run game, but if they play the game on
their own side of the line of scrimmage Reuben Droughns will wear them
down.
The Bengals like to use three-receiver sets with a pass offense that
features layers, but defenses are blitzing QB Carson Palmer so much that
the Bengals are starting to rein in their offense. The Bengals may be
forced to leave backs and tight ends in to block and for blitz pickup.
This limits Palmer's weapons, which is not good, but neither is getting
hit on every play.
CB Champ Bailey is impacting this Broncos' defense in subtle ways.
His cover skills allow him to shutdown the opponent's top receiver and in
essence take away half of the field. That allows the safeties to help out
in coverage on the other half of the field or to help in run support and
blitz packages.
When you defend the Broncos' zone blocking running game, the Bengals'
defensive linemen must attack vertically, sustaining pressure upfield. You
cannot react laterally, or will allow the Broncos' offensive line to
execute cut blocks, and get to the second level of the defense. In
addition, if you attack upfield, you get in the backfield quickly and
eliminate options for Droughns.
When you play against the Broncos, you have to be very conscious of the
continuity between the Broncos' zone run game and the designed movement of
Jake Plummer in the bootleg passing game. The two work in tandem, and it
puts a tremendous mental and physical strain on the backside defenders.
They are caught in a conflict: Do you pursue hard down the line to play
the run, or do you stay at home and play your contain responsibility
versus Plummer?
The biggest problem facing the Bengals' offense right now is the
inconsistency of their OL play. The Bengals have been unable to generate a
consistent running game using their two staple running plays: "Power" to
the TE, or strong side of the formation, and "Iso lead", with the fullback
Jeremi Johnson leading into the hole.
The inability of the Bengals to run the ball consistently has forced
Palmer into too many second-and-long, and third-and-long situations.
Watching Palmer on tape, you see a QB who is searching, rather than
reading, the defense. The Broncos play a lot of man and zone combinations
in coverage, and it will difficult for Palmer to decipher where to throw
the football.
It is shocking to see on film how fundamentally unsound the Bengals are on
defense, considering head coach Marvin Lewis' defensive background. Their
gap control and discipline is shoddy, they overrun holes and leave big run
lanes. They struggle to get off blocks and even when they do, they are
lousy tacklers. They are not very talented to start with, but they could
be more effective if they were disciplined.
Cincinnati defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is taking some heat for
the poor performance of this defense. In fact, Marvin Lewis has taken over
some of the play-calling duties and some people think that Frazier is
simply in over his head, but in fairness to him the talent at his disposal
is not overwhelming.
The matchup for the Bengals' defense versus the passing game is a problem
because of the Broncos' run game. The Bengals' safeties will have to spend
so much time in run support that they will put their corners on an island
in man-to-man schemes. The Broncos do not usually throw much to their
backs, but RB Quentin Griffin may get some reps in the passing game and
the Broncos will attack OLB Kevin Hardy.
As poorly as Palmer is playing, the poor performance of the offense
is not entirely his fault. His receivers had almost double-digit dropped
passes last week, they can't separate from man-to-man coverage and Palmer
is getting hit entirely too much because of poor blitz pickup. His best
weapon, WR Chad Johnson, is doing more talking than pass catching and
concentration is fading.
Mike Shanahan is taking full advantage of Plummer's ability to put
pressure on the edges of the defense with rollouts and bootlegs. When he
rolls out or bootlegs it simplifies his reads and he only has to work half
of the field. Versus a Bengals defense that tends to overpursue he may
have some room to run. The Broncos' success in the run game increases the
value of play-action, which gives Plummer good one-on-one matchups.
The Bengals really miss having WR Peter Warrick working out of the slot.
He is a safety blanket for Palmer on underneath and intermediate routes.
His protection is so bad that vertical routes are out of the question.
The Broncos used two-tight end sets 62 times last week and a lot of it was
with motion, using the tight ends as lead blockers in the run game. Versus
a weak Bengals run defense, two-tight end power-run formations should give
Droughns a lot of room to run.
Special Teams
The Bengals are struggling on both sides of the ball and are continually
losing the battle of field position. They lack big-play capability on
return teams, which is putting added pressure on the offense.
Prediction: Broncos 28, Bengals 14
Tuesday, our scouts filed their advance advance scouting report on this
week's matchup between the Broncos and Bengals. Now they're back with a
second look.
The battle between the Broncos' offensive line and the Bengals' defensive
front seven will be one to watch. The Broncos use a heavy dose of zone
blocking schemes, while the Bengals have good quickness and penetrating
skills. If the Bengals are quick off the snap and can "shoot the gaps,"
they can disrupt the Broncos' power run game, but if they play the game on
their own side of the line of scrimmage Reuben Droughns will wear them
down.
The Bengals like to use three-receiver sets with a pass offense that
features layers, but defenses are blitzing QB Carson Palmer so much that
the Bengals are starting to rein in their offense. The Bengals may be
forced to leave backs and tight ends in to block and for blitz pickup.
This limits Palmer's weapons, which is not good, but neither is getting
hit on every play.
CB Champ Bailey is impacting this Broncos' defense in subtle ways.
His cover skills allow him to shutdown the opponent's top receiver and in
essence take away half of the field. That allows the safeties to help out
in coverage on the other half of the field or to help in run support and
blitz packages.
When you defend the Broncos' zone blocking running game, the Bengals'
defensive linemen must attack vertically, sustaining pressure upfield. You
cannot react laterally, or will allow the Broncos' offensive line to
execute cut blocks, and get to the second level of the defense. In
addition, if you attack upfield, you get in the backfield quickly and
eliminate options for Droughns.
When you play against the Broncos, you have to be very conscious of the
continuity between the Broncos' zone run game and the designed movement of
Jake Plummer in the bootleg passing game. The two work in tandem, and it
puts a tremendous mental and physical strain on the backside defenders.
They are caught in a conflict: Do you pursue hard down the line to play
the run, or do you stay at home and play your contain responsibility
versus Plummer?
The biggest problem facing the Bengals' offense right now is the
inconsistency of their OL play. The Bengals have been unable to generate a
consistent running game using their two staple running plays: "Power" to
the TE, or strong side of the formation, and "Iso lead", with the fullback
Jeremi Johnson leading into the hole.
The inability of the Bengals to run the ball consistently has forced
Palmer into too many second-and-long, and third-and-long situations.
Watching Palmer on tape, you see a QB who is searching, rather than
reading, the defense. The Broncos play a lot of man and zone combinations
in coverage, and it will difficult for Palmer to decipher where to throw
the football.
It is shocking to see on film how fundamentally unsound the Bengals are on
defense, considering head coach Marvin Lewis' defensive background. Their
gap control and discipline is shoddy, they overrun holes and leave big run
lanes. They struggle to get off blocks and even when they do, they are
lousy tacklers. They are not very talented to start with, but they could
be more effective if they were disciplined.
Cincinnati defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is taking some heat for
the poor performance of this defense. In fact, Marvin Lewis has taken over
some of the play-calling duties and some people think that Frazier is
simply in over his head, but in fairness to him the talent at his disposal
is not overwhelming.
The matchup for the Bengals' defense versus the passing game is a problem
because of the Broncos' run game. The Bengals' safeties will have to spend
so much time in run support that they will put their corners on an island
in man-to-man schemes. The Broncos do not usually throw much to their
backs, but RB Quentin Griffin may get some reps in the passing game and
the Broncos will attack OLB Kevin Hardy.
As poorly as Palmer is playing, the poor performance of the offense
is not entirely his fault. His receivers had almost double-digit dropped
passes last week, they can't separate from man-to-man coverage and Palmer
is getting hit entirely too much because of poor blitz pickup. His best
weapon, WR Chad Johnson, is doing more talking than pass catching and
concentration is fading.
Mike Shanahan is taking full advantage of Plummer's ability to put
pressure on the edges of the defense with rollouts and bootlegs. When he
rolls out or bootlegs it simplifies his reads and he only has to work half
of the field. Versus a Bengals defense that tends to overpursue he may
have some room to run. The Broncos' success in the run game increases the
value of play-action, which gives Plummer good one-on-one matchups.
The Bengals really miss having WR Peter Warrick working out of the slot.
He is a safety blanket for Palmer on underneath and intermediate routes.
His protection is so bad that vertical routes are out of the question.
The Broncos used two-tight end sets 62 times last week and a lot of it was
with motion, using the tight ends as lead blockers in the run game. Versus
a weak Bengals run defense, two-tight end power-run formations should give
Droughns a lot of room to run.
Special Teams
The Bengals are struggling on both sides of the ball and are continually
losing the battle of field position. They lack big-play capability on
return teams, which is putting added pressure on the offense.
Prediction: Broncos 28, Bengals 14
