Safety Cravens eager to compete
The Broncos have outscored opponents by 23 points in the first quarter this year, the sixth-best margin in the NFL.
At first blush, that would debunk Broncos coach Vance Joseph’s mantra over the past week that his team must start games faster to claw their way out of a 3-6 hole.
“Offensively, we have to obviously start faster and score more points early,” Joseph said.
Heck, the Broncos have already scored more opening-drive points in nine games this season (17) than all of last year (16).
But when your team is in a 1-6 funk, the next two opponents (Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh) have current win streaks of six and five games, respectively, and your players’ wantto level doesn’t merit criticizing, some kind of straw needs to be grasped. So emphasizing faster starts appears to be it.
Some statistics to consider:
• The Broncos are tied for 19th in first-drive points (17 — two touchdowns and one field goal). Kansas City is first with 55 points on 10 opening drives and New Orleans is second with 41 points on nine drives.
• The Broncos have outscored their opponents 6542 in the first quarter. A qualifier: They led Arizona 21-3 after the first quarter in Week 7, impacting the overall total.
• The Broncos have not trailed by more than four points after the first quarter all season, meaning they have not come out flat to the point of being trucked from the opening kickoff.
• The Broncos’ defense has allowed only one opening-drive touchdown and 16 total first-possession points.
• Maybe Joseph’s point should be the need to start the third quarter better. The Broncos’ seven points on their opening drive of the second half ranks 29th.
More than most teams, the Broncos are built to establish a lead and then pound teams with a ninthranked running game (126.7yard average) and a pass rush that is tied for seventh in sacks (31). They are not built to play uphill because of their juggled offensive line and having to rely on three first-year receivers.
That probably represents the core of Joseph stressing quicker starts.
Joseph pointed to the most recent game (a 19-17 loss to Houston in Week 9) and used the first 15-20 plays as an initial turning point.
“The first 15-20 plays of the game, you can tell right away if your plan is pretty good or if your plan is not good or if it’s player error,” Joseph said. “If your plan is good, if your team matches up well — you just know.
“In the first 15-20 (snaps) on both sides of the ball, we have to play better football.”
Houston’s first drive: The Texans moved 75 yards on eight plays to make it 7-0. The Broncos allowed gains of nine, 31, 18 and 7 yards.
The Broncos’ first drive: Three-and-out with 1 yard gained.
An opening play script is meant to serve as a way to start fast (obviously), but also show different looks to see how the opponent responds. On their first two drives against the Texans, the Broncos used five different personnel combinations. On the second possession, they needed a thirdand-8 conversion (21-yard catch by Courtland Sutton) to extend the drive but settled for a field goal after they faced a third-and-17.
Five times in nine games, the Broncos have scored a touchdown on one of their first three drives, but also needed seven drives against Oakland, eight against the Rams and five against the Texans before reaching the end zone.
“We can’t have droughts like that and expect to win games,” Joseph said.
Su’a Cravens’ long-anticipated Broncos regularseason introduction left him wanting more.
Cravens, who spent the first eight weeks on injured reserve (knee), finally debuted Nov. 4 against the Texans. He played 27 defensive snaps and contributed three tackles in a 19-17 defeat. And, Cravens wasn’t immune to the large number of miscues that derailed the Broncos’ comeback effort. His third-quarter holding call on third-and11 extended a Houston drive that finished with a field goal.
“(Coaches) told me they were just trying to get me back into the motion of things and didn’t want to rush me back,” Cravens said. “I’m a competitor. So I hate just standing there and watching. So watching the film for me was just, ‘I want to play some more.’ ”
The Broncos signed Cravens in March, and over his seven months with the team, including its 3-6 start to the season, he has appreciated a consistent player focus toward improvement.
“I like this locker room a lot, because we don’t get too high and we don’t get too low,” Cravens said. “We understand we have a job to do, and we have keep the positivity going. We can’t focus on the negativity.” Elway remains optimistic. During his weekly ap- pearance on Orange & Blue 760, a Broncos broadcast partner, general manager John Elway reiterated that he sees enough “good things” to be confident about the final seven games.
“Every time I go into a season, I think we can win every football game,” Elway said Tuesday. “That hasn’t changed.”
Elway added: “When you lose, everything gets magnified and talked about. When you win, it covers up a lot of things. If we make that field goal last week (against Houston), we would still have negative things we’re talking about, but it would be in a different tone because there is a huge difference between 3-6 and 4-5.”
Linebacker Von Miller’s 15 career sacks against Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers mark the most by any active player against an active quarterback in the NFL. … Chargers running back Austin Ekeler, an Eaton native, played college football at Division II Western State (Gunnison) before carving out a role in L.A. Through nine games, Ekeler has totaled 591 yards from scrimmage and three receiving touchdowns.