Hoofbeats said:
I find it pretty hillarious that Fish fans are focusing on Denver's defensive line instead of their own. Sure, we brought in some players who were considered underachievers in Cleveland, but it seems to be lost on you guys that they were ADDED to a unit that was already 4th against the run and 4th overall in the NFL last year. Nobody questions that Brown, Warren and Ekuban are extremely talented. They were all high draft picks. That has not been their problem. The NFL is full of players who only achieved their potential once they changed teams, so this is nothing new. Miami, on the other hand ALSO brought in new defensive line guys. However you brought in old guys that are well past their prime, while we moved older guys off the roster or to the 2nd unit (Marco Coleman). This is odd considering you are the team that went 4-12 and we went 10-6, so you should be the ones rebuilding with younger guys.
Before you start bashing the performance of the "Browncos" last season it might be nice to look at how some of your own D-line castoffs are likely to perform. Traylor is 70 pounds overweight, with limited mobility and makes a good space eater but can't do the one thing you MUST do to stop Denver's running game; move well laterally. Holliday was a puzzling pickup to me. Kansas City's "defense" was pathetic the last two years so ANYBODY leaviing the Chiefs should be looked at with extreme skepticism. In the two Kansas City games last season, Denver runners gained 299 yards on 48 carries, or a whopping 6.2 yards a pop. It was even worse in 2003 as Denver went through the Chiefs "defense" like a hot knife through butter, averaging 34.5 points, 488 yards total offense and 224 on the ground, going off for a ridiculous 7 yards per carry rushing. For the 2004 season, KC's "defense" was horrible, finishing 28th against the run in yard per rush and dead last in yards per pass. They were no better in 2003, finishing last against the run and 29th overall. These dismal performances were actually considerably worse than Cleveland, which finished 27th and 16th respectively last year. The biggest difference however, is that these "Browncos" are not only talented, but young as well. Contrast this with the old guys Miami brought in. Keith Traylor is a fat old tub-o-goo whose good for one thing...clogging up the middle. He was effectively hidden in New England playing with the Pats superior talent around him. Unfortunately for you, Denver LOVES going against guys like this because they're stationary targets. Running against guys like Traylor and Holliday will always put smiles on the faces of Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell. The addition of Kevin Carter may help some, but Carter is 31, and not the player he used to be. His sack totals were somewhat inflated in St. Louis, which scored so much that the other team was frequently forced to pass in order to catch up, giving him the ability to forget about the run and just go after the QB early and often. Carter was let go by the Titans after 4 mediocre seasons; a team that finished 27th in total defense last year and 30th against the pass. So while Fish fans may think the "Browncos" will be easy pickin's, castoffs from sorry defenses lilke Kansas City and Tennessee plus an obese Traylor should hardly invoke confidence against our running game.
It's also quite funny to hear you talking about the Fish running over these guys based on their performance against them last year in Cleveland. The Fish scored only 10 points against Cleveland last year and gained a mediocre 280 yards in total offense. Adding a rookie runner and a career backup QB who can't get out of his own way doesn't qualify you to think it will be any better this time going up against these same guys surrounded by the fastest linebackers in the NFL and 2 All Pro defensive backs in the secondary.
The NFL's 4th best defense from 2004 added All Pro DE Trevor Pryce, a young, quick, potentially dominating DT in Warren, increased speed and depth off the edges in Ekuban and Engleberger and a high motor run stuffer in Myers. Anything physical freak Courtney Brown adds is merely gravy. If he stays healthy, this is a top 3 D-Line. Miami will not be improved on defense by adding old, slow, over-the-hill players like Traylor, Holliday and Carter to go with their other geezers like Seau and Thomas. Another 4-12 season is a distinct possibility. Barring a weather related equalizer in the form of a mud hole for a field, Denver should rush for 180-200 yards and probably sacks Gus at least 4 times. Giving Shanahan more than a week to prepare against a rookie coach is a recipe for a Denver win.
Prediction: Denver 34 Miami 10
Why is this so difficult to understand? I am not reading nine pages worth of this so I will merely comment to your original post.
First and foremost. You keep talking about how you only added to your defense. That isn't true. Reggie Hayward who had over 10 sacks last season for your Broncos, is no longer there. That is a big blow, like it or not.
Ok, on to defending our guys. First and foremost, the obese Keith Traylor. I love fat Keith Traylor. He reminds me of Tim Bowens who, was pretty darn good at clgging up the lanes for years in Miami. You talk about how he cannot move laterally which is what you line makes teams do. big deal. Keith is a double wide Traylor ( yes the pun was intended ), he doesn't need to move laterally, he is already there. The man is wider than to of your smallish linemen. Anderson and Bell are going to have to run aruond him and not get sucked into his gravitational pull. Furthermore, We don't need Traylor to move laterally, that is why we have Thomas and Seau and Crowder. See, Traylor gobbles up the blockers which allows our linebackers to shoot the gaps. It may not work every play, but that is the theory anyway.
Onto Holliday. I like how you try to pin KC's defensive woes on one player. A player who was hurt and only started in nine games nonetheless. The guy cannot be blamed for last season's ineptness in KC when we wasn't even playing an he? Furthermore if you want to look at two years ago ( and it is obvious you do ), he had 6 sacks a forced fumble and defelcted two passes. Not too shabby. However, in terms of stopping the run, he isn't really going to be a factor. You see, he will more than likely be in at the DT spot when obvious passing downs occur. He is not to be counted on in the run game, but you seem to forget that point, maybe you just didn't know.
Kevin Carter. He also had 6 sacks last year and has over 85 in his career. Like it or not, he is a talented player who has looked great all preseason long. He is splitting time between the DE and DT spots depending on how we line up.
You talk about the age of some of our veterans and how Kevin Carter is 31, and not the player he used to be. Well, checking your roster the following people just across your line are 30 or older:
Marco Coleman, 35
Chuckie Nworkie, 30
Trevor Price, 30, coming of injury
And following them is Ebenezer Ekuban who is 29 as well as Michael Myers who is also 29.
My point? My point is this. A lot of the guys you have picked up or already had on your roster are not the players they used to be. Furthermore, the players they used to be weren't that good. Honestly, do you think these players who are hitting the "old age" of 30 are going to improve? Maybe a little bit but it is doubtful, that they improve like you guys think they will.
I see a potshot at Thomas and Seau as well. Ok, so they are older and have lost a step. I give you that, we do have great depth with Spragan ( you guys may have heard of him? ) and Channing Crowder who was the steal of the draft and has already found himself starting.
The reason Miami is so down on your D-line is, well, they sucked last year. The Browns player were not very good. You talk about how we only scored 10 points against them last year, but that was mainly do to two very bad teams playing each other. It usually either becomes a boring low scoring slugfest or a high scoring affair where no one can stop anything. Miami's offense last season was horrible. Sammy Morris was our main running threat and he was a converted fullback. Fiedler and Feeley battle to find out who was the worst QB ever and the o-line was swiss cheese. A heper moneky with a hard on could have penetrated that line. And in the end, we still beat the browns with those players you highly regard so much.
