BRONCOS MUST CONTAIN RAIDERS TIGHT END TO WIN
During the second half last week against Oakland Raiders tight end Jared Cook, the Los Angeles Rams provided a blueprint the Broncos should avoid Sunday. L.A. didn’t really cover Cook. Facing a soft zone, Cook ran short routes for gains of 7 and 8 yards, part of a ninecatch, 180yard tour de force in an otherwise dreary 3313 loss to the Rams.
If the Broncos account for Cook, they should be 20.
If they let Cook dominate, their strugglecoveringtight ends tradition will continue and they will be 11.
“We need to have a great plan to get him contained,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “We can’t walk in here (team headquarters) on Monday and say we didn’t. If we don’t contain him, it’s going to be a long day for us.”
Seattle tight end Will Dissly made it a long first half for the Broncos last week, catching a 15yard touchdown pass and a 66yard completion.
Dissly is a rookie. Cook, 31, will be making his 135th regularseason appearance and is cagey enough to get open with a variety of moves.
“Great player,” said safety Will Parks, who is a candidate to cover Cook. “You have to play techni
cally sound because he had 180 yards and (Rams) guys had bad eyes and bad technique.”
Broncos defensive backs coach Marcus Robertson, who works with the safeties, was in the Tennessee organization nine years ago when the Titans drafted Cook in the third round.
“We drafted him as a mismatch tight end so I definitely know how good he is and he’s gotten better,” Robertson said. “He’s somebody we’ll definitely have to deal with.”
Cook has six years of at least 40 catches playing for Tennessee, St. Louis, Green Bay and the Raiders. Last week, he set a career high for yards (only his seventh 100yard game) and tied a personal best in catches (first ninecatch game since 2011).
On his nine receptions, Cook never began in motion, but the Raiders were creative in moving him around the formation.
Cook caught three passes starting from the inside right receiver (in a trips look), two apiece from the left slot and left tight end (standing up) and one each from right tight end (threepoint stance) and wide right.
Cook’s long catch went for 45 yards and came from the left slot. He used a stutter move against linebacker Cory Littleton. Cook worked over safety John Johnson, beating him with a shallow cross (11 yards), a double move to the corner (28 yards) and later ran over Johnson during a 14yard catch.
One wrinkle the Raiders presented was having three receivers lined up to one side and Cook by himself on the opposite side. The Rams naturally had to pay extra attention to the receiver side.
“When I looked at the film, he should have had more yards,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “If you’re lucky enough to have the wild card (player) that you can win with, you can put him in all kinds of plays to help him be a dominant player.”
Dissly beat linebacker Bradley Chubb on both of his big plays and Cook presents the same kind of conundrum: Assign a defensive back or linebacker to cover him?
The case for inside linebackers Todd Davis or Brandon Marshall: It would allow the Broncos to stay in their base or nickel package (five defensive backs) and keep their best cover men on the Raiders’ receivers.
The case for a safety or cornerback: A more athletic player like Parks or starting safety Justin Simmons would be able to track Cook.
A potential drawback would be having one less linebacker to play the run game if the Broncos use a dime package (six defensive backs).
“We can stop the run if we’re in dime,” Robertson said. “There’s no issue there. But we’re going to try and create the best matchup possible for us.”
Last year, the Broncos allowed Dallas’ Jason Witten to catch 10 passes for 97 yards and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce to roll up 133 yards on seven catches.
Compared to the rest of the NFL last season, the Broncos’ defense gave up the third most yards to tight ends (1,023), was the worst in yards per catch (12.9) and allowed the ninthmost catches (79).
Cook will present the first major tight end test of this year.
“I can’t tell you what we’re going to do,” Davis said of the Broncos’ game plan. “But I think we’ll be solid.”