The Sports Guru

The Denver Broncos opened their home schedule taking on the Tennessee Titans in pre-season game number 2. Looking sharp on both sides of the ball in their 35-10 win, the Dever was able to smooth out a lot of the rough edges from their loss to Detroit last week. Here are my 5 Observations from the game….

1. Jake Plummer is not ready to give up the keys to the car just yet. For the first time in his career Plummer has someone in the rear-view mirror in rookie Jay Cutler. All the “experts” seem to think that Cutler will over for Plummer in 2007. I’m not so sure. No doubt that Cutler has been impressive, but Plummer has looked equally sharp and seems energized by the challenge Culter has provided. These “experts” seem to think that Shanahan’s patience with Plummer ended after a poor performance in the AFC Championship Game. Not so fast my friend. As long as Plummer is playing at a high level and the team is winning Plummer will lead the way.

2. The D-Line is doing what it has to do. One of the weaknesses of the Broncos last seaosn was the inability of the defense to generate any pressure on opposing QB’s without bring extra defenders or blitzing. That put alot of pressure on the DB’s. So far this pre-season the defensive line has done a great job getting to the quarterback without blitzing. Denver is doing this primarily with backups, with 1/2 of their defensive line out with injury. Once Gerrard Warren and Courtney Brown return the unit should be that much more effective. This bodes well for the team in 2006.

3. Both Bell’s are doing the job. In a perfect world Mike Shanahan would like top have a primary back get a majority of the carries. Unfortunitely for Shanny, he has two guys that together equal the type of back he wants. Rookie Mike Bell has been annointed the starter. He runs hard everytime he has the ball and is quick to the hole. He had a couple of big runs during the game, but ended up being caught from behind, once by a linebacker. Tatum Bell, on the other hand, has the breakaway speed and would have went house on at least one of the runs that Mike Bell was caught. The knock on T. Bell, however, is the lack of toughness in his running. He doesn’t get many yards after first contact, and has shown durability issues as well. Another newbie in camp, Damien Nash, looked impressive as well, before getting hurt. Needless to say, it’s status quo for the running game in Denver.

4. Rod Smith is as good as ever, even at 36 years old. Smith saw his first action of 2006 and looked crisp and quick. There were two times in the game that Smith was lined up against Titans DB ‘Pac-Man’ Jones, a 1st Round pick last season. Both times Smith beat Jones and made plays to extend drives. Smith is probably 2-1000 yard seasons away from the Hall-of-Fame, and with the way he is looking now can probably go close to 40. Staying with the receivers, a position of weakness the past few seasons has suddenly become a strength for Denver, with multiple players making an impact. David Kircus, Todd Devoe, and TE Tony Scheffler have shown they could be dangerous weapons during the season.

5. A quick note about the Titans. Here is a team that had high pick in the first two rounds in the draft. Right now neither of their selections look like they are going to make an impact in 2006. I am just going to say it, Vince Young is not even close to being ready to start in the NFL. After watching Young he looks to be 2 years away, at least. His feet are way too “happy” and he is too quick to take off running. That was good enough in college, where every play he ran was some sort of option, but in the NFL it will get him killed. In both games Young has taken hard shots that can severely injure him. Young is going to have to learn to be more of a pocket QB, similar to Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick, who is still trying to learn it. LenDale White looked worse than Young, and with two starting running backs already on the team the Titans wasted a pick that could have gone to better use. It is going to be a long season in Tennessee.