Denver Broncos: The Perfect Opponent

[ScipioCowboy]

You guys are really not giving us much credit. Just like every team Denver has faced all season and the D just ripped them apart. Already 10 sacks. 8 Turn Overs. Watch out for Elvis Dumervil he is a beast. I'll be there on sunday cheering for my Broncos harder than ever and giving the cowboys offense hell when they are on the field along with the rest of the fellow bronco's fan base.

Perhaps the defense "has just ripped them apart" because the Broncos have yet to play an offense ranked higher than 24th in the league.

 

[Fletch]

They have great young back in Knowshon Moreno and he's starting to breakout. Our RunD could have a hard time with their zone blocking schemes similar to what Tampa was doing to us in the first half. Hopefully we'll shut it down.

Moreno has what... one TD? And that was against the Raiders? (Yeah I know Moreno is coming off an injury) Who have the Broncos played? I think the Browns was their first game, then beat the Bengals on a complete FLUKE - tipped pass. Then they beat up on the Raiders.

I'm not going to overlook the Broncos, and hopefully neither are the Cowboys. But they are a bit overrated at this point.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Perhaps the defense "has just ripped them apart" because the Broncos have yet to play an offense ranked higher than 24th in the league.

They havn't seen an offense that even kind of resembles our offense. They have a fast defense but they are on the small side. The running game should be in full force once again.

 

[Fletch]

Felix Jones is out. Barber is questionable at this point.

I guarantee Barber will play.

 

[masomenos]

I actually like the Broncos, they're one of the few teams outside of Dallas who I care about. Denver just isn't as talented as Dallas.

Denver didn't destroy Cleveland, they scored the average amount that the Browns give up. In their other two games, Cleveland gave up 20 and 34 points. Denver scored 27 against them, that's turning in an average game against a bad team.

 

[alancdc]

do you know anything about the denver broncos

Denver stinks, and we should beat them 28-10. Plus, for some reason, our QB tends to play better on the road.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Denver stinks, and we should beat them 28-10. Plus, for some reason, our QB tends to play better on the road.

Denver is obviously better than most people thought they would be. That is a credit to their coach pushing a team-first philosophy that the players bought into. Man, that is something I didn't think I would be saying after the whole Culter mess. Very impressive start for the Broncos though. No one should take that away from them.

I would suspect that this game will be a tight one. If Dallas wins, critics will say that they beat a team that was much worse than their record indicated so I don't expect any respect to be garnered for this team regardless of it's performance. If Denver wins, critics will pile on and Denver will only get credit for beating an overhyped team. Either way, the victor will get zero respect for the "W".

I think Dallas will eek out a win, but we shall see.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the Broncos have the #1 rated defense in the NFL giving up an average of 214ypg. Not only that, they are also leading in points given up. They average only 5.3ppg. To better understand what 5.3ppg means, they have given up 7, 6, and 3 points (in that order ie, their defense is getting better) in their three games so far this season.

Now, granted, they haven't been playing the BIG powerhouse teams thus far, but understand. These are NFL teams and to only average 3.5ppg over three games is pretty damn good. They played the Bengals and only gave up 7 points. If someone would have scored 2 TDs in a single game, they would have a higher ppg average. On the other hand, the Bengals played Green Bay and dropped 31 on them, and played the Stealers and dropped 23 points on them. Denver only gave up 7 points to the Bengals. THAT is pretty good!

They are only giving up an average of 12 first downs a game (36 total so far) and only allowing 28% of third downs to be converted. A play made against Denver only averages 3.9 yards in distance.

Denver already has 10 sacks (3.3 per game) and Elvis Dumervil has six of them. This new fangled defense is anchored by none other than the old Eagles defensive captain Brian Dawkins.

Finally, they have forced 3 fumbles and have 5 interceptions. They are +6 in turnovers. So, the force turnovers and do not turn the ball over often.

This should be a real test for the Cowboys new TO-less offense.

 

[visionary]

The Dallas Cowboys could not be playing a better opponent this week than the Denver Broncos.

The validity of the Cowboys' two wins is being questioned, and as much as we may hate admitting it, some of the questioning is warranted. Both victories were deeply flawed, and came against teams that are a combined 0-6.

However, with a win against the Broncos, the Cowboys will have beaten an undefeated, division-leading opponent on the road. A victory should provide them with some measure of respect and, more importantly, some confidence in the weeks ahead.

I like this match up because the Broncos' record is inflated, in my opinion. Their talent level is probably worse than their record indicates and inferior to the Cowboys' talent. The Broncos have a very good receiving corp, but their running backs are merely average and their quarterback is a journeyman. Given how the Cowboys offensive line has gashed every defense its played thus far, it's a reasonable assumption it will have similar success against the Broncos defense.

Additionally, the Cowboys (especially Romo) should not be as tight in this game as they've been over the past two weeks; this is a road game against a non-conference opponent, and Romo tends to play better on the road.

If the Cowboys are as good as many people seem to think, they should win this game. In fact, if the team plays as well as it did Monday night and can eliminate the drive-killing penalties, the Cowboys should put this game away at some point in the fourth quarter.

i dont agree with you, i think the broncos are for real and at worst not as bad a team as you seem to imply. for this reason, i think a win against them will be a quality win.

but lets take your line of reasoning, if you see that the broncos are as bad as you think they are, wont the experts see the same thing? so if the experts think the broncos are a bad team with no talent then we are in a no win situation,

if we beat them... that is only to be expected because we are a far better team,

if we dont beat them... we lost to a far inferior opponent.

how is that the "perfect opponent"?

 

[Doomsday101]

I don't take any team or wins for granted Denver record says 3-0 so they have found ways to win regardless of who they play. As so many around the NFL say it is not easy winning in this league games more times than not are determined through a handful of plays. For Dallas this is an opportunity to get themselves back to back wins for the 1st time this season to be 3-1 and to stay up with the leaders in the division. Denver is not going to just roll over for us they are a team with some confidence; winning tends to do that for a team so I expect Denver to fight hard in this game.

 

[Smith22]

Denver will find out really quick how good they are. Have a look at their next opponents:

Cowboys (L)
Pats (L)
@Chargers (L)
@Ravens (L)
Steelers (L)
@Deadskins (W)
Chargers (W)
Giants (L)

 

[Doomsday101]

Denver will find out really quick how good they are. Have a look at their next opponents:

Cowboys (L)
Pats (L)
@Chargers (L)
@Ravens (L)
Steelers (L)
@Deadskins (W)
Chargers (W)
Giants (L)

True that is a big challenge ahead of them and they will find out a lot about their team over the course of those games.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the Broncos have the #1 rated defense in the NFL giving up an average of 214ypg. Not only that, they are also leading in points given up. They average only 5.3ppg. To better understand what 5.3ppg means, they have given up 7, 6, and 3 points (in that order ie, their defense is getting better) in their three games so far this season.

Now, granted, they haven't been playing the BIG powerhouse teams thus far, but understand. These are NFL teams and to only average 3.5ppg over three games is pretty damn good. They played the Bengals and only gave up 7 points. If someone would have scored 2 TDs in a single game, they would have a higher ppg average. On the other hand, the Bengals played Green Bay and dropped 31 on them, and played the Stealers and dropped 23 points on them. Denver only gave up 7 points to the Bengals. THAT is pretty good!

They are only giving up an average of 12 first downs a game (36 total so far) and only allowing 28% of third downs to be converted. A play made against Denver only averages 3.9 yards in distance.

Denver already has 10 sacks (3.3 per game) and Elvis Dumervil has six of them. This new fangled defense is anchored by none other than the old Eagles defensive captain Brian Dawkins.

Finally, they have forced 3 fumbles and have 5 interceptions. They are +6 in turnovers. So, the force turnovers and do not turn the ball over often.

This should be a real test for the Cowboys new TO-less offense.

I agree nyc.

Both clubs will be coming into this game with something to prove. Neither team has a "quality" win and after this game, one team will be labeled a pretender and the other will be labeled a contender.

Watching how the Cowboys offense struggled against the Panthers in, especially in the first half, this is not a "gimme" game.

 

[PassingBy7]

Denver will find out really quick how good they are. Have a look at their next opponents:

Cowboys (L)
Pats (L)
@Chargers (L)
@Ravens (L)
Steelers (L)
@Deadskins (W)
Chargers (W)
Giants (L)

Not saying Denver will come out and win all those games but it also needs to mentioned nobody thought coming into the season we would be 3-0 at this point. The Broncos continue to improve week to week and hopefully that trend continues this week. Obviously, this game will be a measuring stick to see exactly where both teams stand.

 

[Doomsday101]

Not saying Denver will come out and win all those games but it also needs to mentioned nobody thought coming into the season we would be 3-0 at this point. The Broncos continue to improve week to week and hopefully that trend continues this week. Obviously, this game will be a measuring stick to see exactly where both teams stand.

True. I doubt many felt Cinn would have beaten GB in GB and then turn around the next week and beat Pitt. You go out and play the games and the wins determine how good you are. Right now Denver is 3-0

 

[YosemiteSam]

Perhaps the defense "has just ripped them apart" because the Broncos have yet to play an offense ranked higher than 24th in the league.

Perhaps those offenses are ranked below 24th because Denver's defense tore them apart.

You can look at it from both sides. The real question is, is their glass half full or half empty. We shall take a step closer in figuring that out come Sunday.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Perhaps those offenses are ranked below 24th because Denver's defense tore them apart.

I doubt it.

The Browns and Raiders have been inept offensively regardless of whom they've played.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

I doubt it.

The Browns and Raiders have been inept offensively regardless of whom they've played.

Is Jamarcus Russell officially climbing up the ladder of worst first pick in history yet? He is pretty wretched.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

i dont agree with you, i think the broncos are for real and at worst not as bad a team as you seem to imply. for this reason, i think a win against them will be a quality win.

but lets take your line of reasoning, if you see that the broncos are as bad as you think they are, wont the experts see the same thing? so if the experts think the broncos are a bad team with no talent then we are in a no win situation,

I never asserted that the Broncos were a "bad team." I stated that they weren't as good as their record would typically indicate.

if we beat them... that is only to be expected because we are a far better team,

if we dont beat them... we lost to a far inferior opponent.

how is that the "perfect opponent"?

I explained my reasoning quite thoroughly in the OP.

A victory against an undefeated and uncontested division leader on the road could give momentum to the Cowboys. By the time we determine how good the Broncos really are, we'll have moved well beyond this game.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Is Jamarcus Russell officially climbing up the ladder of worst first pick in history yet? He is pretty wretched.

Epically bad. According to Norm (if I'm remembering correctly), Russell had one yard passing in the second half last week.