DPO Krieger: Broncos pit their new physicality against the masters
Adam Smith
familiar to most of us, but Kreiger colors in some details and adds
some extra insight.
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13716407
Krieger: Broncos pit their new physicality against the masters
By Dave Krieger
Denver Post Columnist
Posted: 11/05/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
If you like the collision part of collision sports, Monday night's
nationally televised ballgame is for you. Whether it's for the Broncos
will tell us a lot about just how physically tough Josh McDaniels has
made them in 10 months.
The group McDaniels took over in January was known as a finesse team.
With small, athletic offensive lines and small, speedy linebacker
corps, the Broncos won 60 percent of their games under Mike Shanahan.
From the moment he took Shanahan's place, McDaniels emphasized winning
one-on-one matchups with more physical play. His training camp and
practices have featured more hitting than Shana- han's traditionally
did, on the theory that physicality, like the game's other skills,
requires practice.
For the first six weeks of the season, it paid big dividends. The
Broncos routinely wore down their opponents, dominating in the second
half. Last week, against the Ravens, they lost the physical battle for
the first time. Not coincidentally, they lost a game for the first
time too.
"They beat us up pretty good, no question about it," quarterback Kyle
Orton said Wednesday.
If any team in the league matches the Ravens in physical toughness,
it's the Steelers, who are up next. So the Broncos have another chance
to prove they can hold their own in a black-and-blue game.
"It's a very physical team in every phase," McDaniels said. "To me,
that's where it starts with the Steelers. If you're going to get
outphysicaled — offensively, defensively, in the kicking game — you're
going to have a hard time winning.
"They're definitely going to challenge you in every area. Every one of
their players plays like that. I don't care if it's the kickoff
returner, the kicker, the tight ends, the lines, (Ben) Roethlisberger,
whoever it is, they're all physical players. They play tough and
they're going to present that challenge to us individually and as a
team."
The offensive line, which seemed virtually impenetrable as the Broncos
raced to their 6-0 start, looked vulnerable for the first time against
the Ravens. In part, this was because right tackle Ryan Harris was
carted off the field with two dislocated toes, although the Ravens had
some success against the left side too.
With Harris out, 6-feet-8, 300-pound backup right tackle Tyler
Polumbus will have at least part of the responsibility to fend off
Steelers left outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley on Monday night.
Whether it's Polumbus or tight end Daniel Graham, that matchup will be
about speed as much as strength.
"(The Ravens) were fast," Orton said. "Pittsburgh's fast. When you're
not executing and not playing like you want to, you make the defense
look that much better. These guys don't need any help."
Safety Brian Dawkins, one of the McDaniels acquisitions who increased
the Broncos' toughness quotient, believes the battle against physical
teams is rooted in technique more than brute strength.
"It's about us doing what we do," Dawkins said. "We're not trying to
match somebody. We're trying to be who we are. When you're matching
somebody, to me that's saying that they are a team that's above you
and you're trying to build up to them. We feel like we are who we are
and if we go out and do what we're supposed to do, we feel like we
have a chance to win every game."
Obviously, the Broncos haven't had nearly as much time to build a
physically imposing roster as the Steelers, who have been at it, as
Dawkins said, since "before I was born."
The offensive line is the one part of the team that hasn't changed
since Shanahan's last year. The tackles are big, but the interior
linemen still are relatively small. The line plays bigger than it is
because of Graham, one of the game's best blocking tight ends, who
gives it essentially a sixth lineman, just as he did for CU a decade
ago.
The linebackers have gotten bigger as a group by virtue of Mike
Nolan's 3-4 defense, as has the defensive line. But the question
remains whether those changes are enough to match the Steelers.
"We feel like we've got a physical football team, and certainly
Pittsburgh prides themselves on that too," Orton said. "So it'll be a
hard-hitting game, and whoever can win that battle is going to have a
good chance to win."
The last time the Broncos played on Monday night — at San Diego — they
won the battle in the trenches decisively. They dominated the second
half and won going away. Doing that to the Steelers is a much taller
order.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297 or dkri...@denverpost.com