With under a minute left in regulation, Joe Flacco took a 5 step drop and launched a bomb through the brisk, 13 degree Denver sky.
6 foot 4, speedy, Jacoby Jones snuck behind safety Rahim Moore, caught the bomb from Flacco, then proceeded to run nearly 20 yards for the 70 yard touchdown. The game known as the Mile High Miracle propelled the Joe Flacco led Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl XLVII victory.
During the span of Baltimore’s playoff run, Joe Flacco threw for 11Td’s and zero interceptions totaling 1,140 yards passing through the air. It was a remarkable playoff run that capped with a Super Bowl XLVII MVP completing 22 of 33 attempts for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns, again zero interceptions.
Joe Flacco has proved to be a clutch (26 career game winning drives) performer in high intensity games. Joe has a cool, calm and collected presence that gives you a sense of ease if he’s quarterbacking your team during the post season. Now, I do not believe Joe Flacco can “win” you a game with his arm exclusively, unless **Rahim Moore is your safety, but he has the tools to lead and be smart with the football and play to the strength of his team which was defense for the Ravens in 2012 and will be the same for the Broncos in 2019.
The NFL today consists of high-powered offenses, coached by innovators and bright young offensive minds like Andy Reid, Josh McDaniels, Kyle Shanahan, Adam Gase, Freddie Kitchens and 2017 NFL coach of the year Sean McVay. These teams are also quarterbacked by young players such as Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, Jimmy Garoppolo and Baker Mayfield. All great young QB’s and young head coaches, but John Elway decided to go the complete opposite direction for the 2019 version of the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos plan of attack won’t be 300 yards through the air or scoring 25-30 points per game, it’ll be boring, slow and unpopular to the general consumer but it’s the brand of football conducive to winning championships.
Defense and a consistent top 10 level run game, is the formula that produced many Super Bowl champions not named Tom Brady. It’s a old-school formula that is proven to win games in January. It’s also the formula the 2015 Denver Broncos used to capture their 3rd Super Bowl title, and they will look to repeat that this upcoming season.
Philip Lindsay took the league by storm with his exuberant personality and ‘can’t miss afro,’ earning pro bowl honors as a undrafted free agent becoming the first player in league history to do so. You also have Royce Freeman who set many rushing records for Oregon University, a big bruising back with some elusiveness coming into his sophomore season. A lot of people are sleeping on the success Royce Freeman will have this year but he is my pick for breakout performer and will lead the team in rushing yards. The combination of those two runners with a improved offensive line that has three new starters and pro football hall of famer Mike Munchak coaching it, looks to be a improved bunch.
Munchak is regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in the league as well as being a great player. Munchak was interviewed by John Elway for the head coaching gig but lost to the Vic Fangio. Somehow, John and Vic were able to bring Munchak back to the facility to coach a smaller, yet very important role in rebuilding the offensive line. Munchak has coached over 30 years in the NFL and is respected by his peers as one of the best.
Munchak has his work cut out for him attempting to turn Garret Bolles the Broncos 1st round pick in 2017 into a decent player. Bolles led the NFL in holding penalties in 2018 but if any coach can turn Bolles around, its Munchak, who completely turned around Pittsburgh’s offensive line during this current Mike Tomlin era.
John Elway Broncos GM also signed Juwan James this off-season to a 4 year $51 million dollar contract. This contract is the highest paid contract to a tackle in team history. A contract like that comes with a certain level of expectation that James must fulfill.
Dalton Risner Broncos 2nd round pick in 2019 looks to start at guard from day one and also has high expectations placed upon him as a productive rookie player. Risner has tons of college experience in a power 5 conference starting all four seasons, earning 1st team AP All American honors his junior and senior year. Risner was mocked to be selected in the first round in numerous mock drafts. He is a mean, high upside physical football player from Wiggins, Colorado. A small town with a population of just 887.
The Broncos o line is re-tooled and should help vault the running game to a elite level with Royce Freeman and Phil Lindsay carrying the heavy load.
So with a potential strong running game and a veteran quarterback, the main reason the Broncos will find success this season is the 11 guys on the defensive side of the ball.
We’ve all heard the phrase “defense wins championships” and you’ll be hard pressed to find someone to disagree. With Joe Flacco at the helm, I trust the Broncos to be similar to the 2012 Baltimore Ravens in terms of “the formula” or style of play.
The 2012 Super Bowl winning Baltimore defense led by Ed Reed and Ray Lewis showcased two of the best defensive players of all time and other good veteran players such as Haloti Ngata, Terrel Suggs and Bernard Pollard. I believe the 2019 version of the Denver Broncos will be just as good if not better.
With names like Chris Harris, Derek Wolfe, Justin Simmons and Bradley Chubb, you wouldn’t necessarily believe they could be as lethal defensively than the 2012 Ravens but im here to tell you otherwise.
Bradley Chubb broke the teams franchise rookie sack record with 12 sacks and looks to add to that production his sophomore campaign with new defensive coordinatior Ed Donatell leading the way. Von Miller held his 3rd annual “Pass Rush” summit earlier this summer in Vegas, where 2nd year pro and teammate Bradley Chubb was present. Chubb was able to soak up game from the NFL’s best with players like Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell, Melvin Ingram and others in attendance. Bradley Chubb as a young player getting advice and learning moves from players at the top of their game is priceless.
Miller also raves on the maturity and reliability of Bradley Chubb. In a interview with Jeff Legwold of ESPN Denver, Miller talked about how Bradley reminds him so much of him self back in his early years, “It’s just so different,” Miller said. “It’s just the first thing I kind of think about, how he goes about things, how he handles himself. I’ll say it, and looking back I know it’s true, but he’s so beyond me in that way, how I was. It means the sky is the limit for him.” Chubb has a drive to get better and is learning from one of the best in Von Miller and Head coach Vic Fangio. When asked about the progression of Chubb and how he will fit in the defensive scheme, Fangio stated, “I think Bradley is in a good spot, I do think he is really a guy that we can use and [have success] in this defense. He is a good edge setter. He is versatile. We can play him inside. He is a very reliable player for a young guy — even when he is dropping [into pass coverage], which is rare from those guys who come from college and were primarily defensive ends. He is farther along dropping than most of the guys I’ve seen that have to make that transition.”
Free agent additions Bryce Callahan and Kareem Jackson offer the Broncos extreme versatility in the secondary. Vic Fangio’s creativity on defense with the versatility of the Broncos DB’s allows them to play different coverages from week to week and place different players in different positions for success.
For example, Kareem Jackson during training camp 19′ has been playing safety almost exclusively while playing every down as a Texan last regular season at cornerback. Justin Simmons Broncos starting safety who is coming into his 4th season has experience playing slot corner, Su’a Cravens who is listed as 2nd string safety behind Simmons can play linebacker in sub packages, as well as a “in the box” safety and also is athletic enough to play deepest man. Can’t forget about Will Parks who though isn’t as versatile as the other DB’s, but is extremely athletic and physical with a great spirit and attitude about him, Will is among the more popular Denver Broncos players. The Broncos two starting corners Chris Harris and newly acquired Bryce Callahan are both highly ranked in Pro Football Focus (PFF) slot rankings. Chris Harris finished #2, while Bryce finishes at #11 respectively. The Broncos can throw multiple different personnel groupings of DB’s on the field, such as…
- CHJ, Callahan, Jackson, Simmons
- CHJ, Jackson, Parks, Simmons
- CHJ, Callahan, Cravens, Jackson
- CHJ, Jackson, Parks, Cravens
The combinations are endless with depth behind Chris Harris and Bryce Callahan. Issac Yiadom And De’Vante Bausby are young high-upside corners with professional experience. Yiadom got a lot of game experience for Denver last year with injuries throughout the secondary, Bausby spent time with Vic Fangio in Chicago before playing in the inaugural AAF football league. Bausby led the AAF with 4 interceptions.
Vic Fangio, new Broncos head coach knows how to coach his way to at least a top 10 defense, proving that multiple years throughout his 30 years of professional coaching. Khalil Mack was a great player in Oakland but I give a little credit to Vic Fangio for the year Khalil had in Chicago last season terrorizing opposing offensive coordinators and right and left tackles.
The growing and popular phrase around the Broncos this offseason has been ‘death by inches‘, brought to the team by coach Fangio and that particular phrase is the epitome of Vic’s coaching philosophy. ‘Death by inches’ is the series of small mistakes that may be overlooked because their small errors, but as those mistakes add up it ultimately leads to the demise of the team. Its the ‘little things‘ that count with coach Fangio and that was highlighted by starting defensive tackle Shelby Harris in a interview with Andrew Mason from DenverBroncos.com, “that death by inches’ thing is literally, I feel like, our season. Little things, little things, little things add up,” Harris said. “Little things lose you one game, and the ‘death by inches’ thing is as simple as you can be 6-10 or 10-6. A couple of little things can change all that. And I feel like attention to detail about all that stuff will help bring us back to who we really are.”
The ‘death by inches‘ mantra was also indirectly used by the Joe Flacco led 2012 Baltimore Ravens team that ultimately helped lead to their success. During a sit down interview with sportscaster and Emmy award winning Joe Buck, Pro Football Hall Of Fame safety Ed Reed states, “We’ve got volunteer fireman walking around here cleaning up after grown men, your locker is two feet away from the garabage can, but you come in here and take off your tape from your wrist and ankle, and instead of throwing it away in the garbage, you throw it on the floor… Im like listen guys, its the little things, man, we wont win the Super Bowl unless we do the little things.”
I’ve yet to mention Von Miller’s impact on the 2019 Broncos defense. Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller doesn’t need a lengthy paragraph on his production or how good he is because real recognize real. But no different from Khalil Mack I believe Von Miller will receive the Vic Fangio bump and take his game to another level in 2019.
During the Broncos pre camp press conference Fangio was asked about Von Miller and he replied, “With us guiding him and being a resoruce for him, I think he has more in him that he can even be better and better,” Fangio said. “He is a guy that should be in the mention for player of the year award and stuff like that. If we can get him to improve to do all the little things correctly – not that he hasnt in the past- but improve it and just become a little bit better.”
If Fangio can turn Von Miller into a 14-18 sack guy this Broncos defense will be lethal and may lead them to a deep playoff run, just like 2015. The way to win football games in cold tempartures in January is play great defense and control the game offensively by converting on 3rd down and run the clock by running the football effectively, control the game.
The 2012 Baltimore Ravens finished their Super Bowl winning season with 10 regular season wins with a aging, veteran defense. The 2012 Denver Broncos team was the high powered, explosive bunch with a MVP, record breaking led, walking hall of famer in Peyton Manning. The Broncos won 13 games and were favorites to capture Super Bowl XLVII. Explosive offenses more times than not will not win a Super Bowl because defense and ball control is more important.
I believe the Denver Broncos have the defense and the Quarterback to win at least 10 games in 2019 and be a “sneaky” playoff team come January.
The pressure Von Miller and Bradley Chubb apply on opposing quarterbacks will be hellacious and troubling.
Chris Harris Jr is one of the most consistent defensive backs in the league and can be trusted to play at a high level during a contract year.
Justin Simmons had a sneaky good 2018 campaign totaling 98 tackles and 3 interceptions. The long, athletic safety has a high upside and high IQ to go along with it. It will be interesting to see if Justin Simmons can get the Vic Fangio bump as well entering his 4th season. Eddie Jackson, safety in Chicago had a breakout year under Vic Fangio last year with 6 interceptions returning 2 for scores.
The free agent signings, Kareem Jackson, Bryce Callahan & Juwan James all got paid the big bucks this off-season to help Denver win football games. All three players have intentions of performing at a high level this season.
The 2019 draft selections Noah Fant, Dalton Risner, Drew Lock, Dre’Mont Jones, Justin Hollins and Juwann Winfree are all listed in Denver’s ‘two deep’ in the depth chart. All of Denver’s 2019 class is expected to play and produce both offensively and defensively, but maybe more important on special teams.
This formula won Joe Flacco a Super Bowl MVP and also got the Denver Broncos a Super Bowl title just 4 seasons ago…
#FreeGame 