BRONCOS’ OFFENCE NOT SCARING ANYBODY
Denver off to 5-0 start, but drop-off by Manning and Co. is noticeable
After Week 5 two years ago, the Denver Broncos averaged 46 points per game. After Week 5 this year, half that: 23 points per game.
It’s just another revealing measure of the stunning drop-off in Denver’s offensive production since late last season. Peyton Manning hasn’t looked the same since.
The offence’s ineffectiveness was on display again Sunday, when Manning failed to engineer a touchdown. The Broncos defence did score one, the decisive Pick-6 by cornerback Chris Harris.
A chunk of the offensive dropoff from 2013 to now is attributable to Denver’s overhauled receiver corps. Manning made the most of the league’s best group of pass-catchers in 2013: wide receivers Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker and Eric Decker, plus tight end Julius Thomas.
Manning still has Demaryius Thomas, but no Welker, no Decker, no Thomas. That trio has been replaced by Emmanuel Sanders, Jordan Norwood and Owen Daniels — not nearly as dynamic.
Here’s another stat that chronicles the plummet. Two years ago this week, the Denver offence was converting 58.3 per cent of third downs, the best rate in the league. This year so far: 32.4 per cent, third worst rate in the league.
And yet, just as they were two years ago, the Broncos are 5-0.
NEVER KICK A KICKER: You kick kickers at your peril. Former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick on Sunday morning tweeted the following jab:
“Yes kickers are people too, but they’re not football players.” Ouch. Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan — the pride of Regina, Sask. — didn’t take that potshot quietly. He immediately jumped on Twitter to slam Billick for never having even played in the NFL:
“Here’s @coachBillick’s stats as an NFL ‘football player’ 0 games played 0 catches for 0 yards. Oh and 0 fg attempts.”
Ryan sure looked like a football player when he threw that touchdown pass in the NFC championship game last January. And when he makes the occasional tackle.
Billick later deleted his offensive tweet, but then followed up with this a couple hours later, when asked by a follower what he’d say to Matt Stover, the Ravens’ top placekicker while he was head coach.
“Matt was one of my favourites & truly an integral part of our team,” Billick tweeted. “But not a football player. He taught me that.” Lesson not learned.
HERO: Eli Manning, QB, Giants. The other Manning brother has blown enough leads this season and in recent years. So let’s give him his due after Sunday night’s incredible comeback to knock off San Francisco, 30-27, which lifted the Giants atop the NFC East with a 3-2 record. With 21 seconds remaining, Manning hit Larry Donnell from 12 yards out for the winning score. On the night, Manning was 41 of 54 for 441 yards and three touchdowns.
ZERO: Greg Hardy, DE, Cowboys. Never mind that he had a monster game Sunday in his return to NFL action after a four-game suspension to begin this season, and after missing last year on the commissioner’s exempt list, all for roughing up his thengirlfriend and throwing her onto a futon covered in guns.
On Sunday, Hardy hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady five times and sacked him twice, and also forced a fumble. Fine. Everyone knows Hardy is a premier pass rusher. He’s also a premier jerk away from the field.
Last week, in his first interview in ages, the tin-eared Hardy spoke about how hot Brady’s model wife is, and that he planned to come out with “guns blazing” in his return to action.
Then on Saturday, a rap video Hardy made a few months ago surfaced. Strippers and guns are featured in it. These are not the actions of a man touched by a single drop of remorse.
STOCK UP: Chris Johnson, RB, Cardinals. Remember the former Titans star, whom the team couldn’t give away a year ago last spring, and who did nothing last fall as a New York Jet? Arizona head coach Bruce Arians remembered him, and acquired him this past off-season. The speedy back ran for 103 yards on only 11 carries in the Cards’ big win at Detroit, giving him 296 yards over the past three games.
STOCK DOWN: Andy Reid, head coach, Chiefs. His offensive line is a disaster, understood. But he’s supposed to be the offensive guru who can overcome such limitations, such as those of the quarterback he sought and got two years ago, Alex Smith. Even before running back Jamaal Charles blew out his right knee against Chicago on Sunday, the Chiefs offence wasn’t scaring anybody.