Why the strategy the Broncos used to clobber Tom Brady may be useless against Cam Newton

businessinsider ^ | February 04, 2016 | Scott Davis

[Berlin_Freeper]

In the AFC Championship, the Denver Broncos defense clobbered Tom Brady, sacking him four times, hitting him 20 times, and forcing him into two interceptions.

[fortheDeclaration]

Yes, it should be competitive.

[ilgipper]

IMO, 31-0 at halftime is blown away. They deserve incredible credit for nearly pulling the comeback. Their shutdown of the offense in the second half was a true achievement. That said, it was a blowout. Despite committing not to let down in the 2nd half, Carolina definitely did not play with the same intensity for the final 30 minutes. It got interesting for sure, but Carolina had their way for the first half dominating in every fashion. (I was for Seattle in that game, so no bias). The effort to comeback has impressive, but it was still a complete beatdown when it mattered most.

[ilgipper]

To follow from my previous note, Seattle’s comeback does show that Carolina is not unstoppable. Denver was told for a week they couldn’t beat the unstoppable Patriots, and now have heard it for two weeks about Carolina. It will be fun to see if they can come up with a game plan as good at the last one to put a stop to Carolina. Seattle definitely slowed them down in the 2nd half.

[RegulatorCountry]

Carolina has an issue with underperforming in the second half in general. As a fan it’s seemed to me that nearly every game involves going into the half with a big lead that evaporates, leading to a close game that is decided in the last minutes.

[Scutter]

Yep.

[Scutter]

Suggest you read these two threads. The sentiment on this guy seems universally negative.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3394242/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3394226/posts

[Colofornian]

Cam is not only big and strong and hard to tackle, able to shake guys off and still get the ball away (for example like Ben R. at Pittsburgh), but he's also got some jets he can use to get out of trouble and throw the ball out on the perimeter or maybe even run for positive yardage. And... the Panthers exploit that in him by using a zone-read running game that makes him a constant threat to run. The RB usually gets the ball, but Cam can keep the ball and run it "his own self". The defense has got to stay honest and account for that in some way.

Guess you underestimated that Bronco defensive line on Cam, eh?

[Colofornian]

Why the strategy the Broncos used to clobber Tom Brady may be useless against Cam Newton

Why the author of this piece should stick to writing Business items for Biz Insider vs. "branching out" to NFL assessments, of which he prepped himself mighty sparsely.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Posting post game sure does have its benefits.

[Colofornian]

Of course. But using the word “useless” to describe THE best defense in the NFL and what commentators are referencing as one of the top 4 or 5 defenses of all time shows this rag’s author elected NOT to use his noggin even tho the Broncos game him 18 previous post-game assessments to take into consideration. (Iow, the “post-game” assessment of the Broncos defense wasn’t to be a post SB game size-up only)

[Berlin_Freeper]

“may be useless” under his perceived reasoning to the unique match-up. Offered pre-game and open to debate.

[OKSooner]

Yes, I sure did and I also didn't take into account Denver's ability to cover Carolina's receivers with jus four DBs, leaving the front seven available to stuff the run game, especially the zone read plays which went nowhere except for what, one long run by Cam, and to also, obviously, to set up a crucial touchdown with defensive play. (Or was it a defensive touchdown, period? I don't recall and it doesn't really matter. Denver's defense won the game.) To paraphrase Joe Thiesmann, Denver's defense knew the zone read play better than Carolina did last nite. It was like their linebackers had radar.

Harris, (I forget his first name) is actually a homey, from Bixby, OK, I believe, and was quoted on this AM's radio as saying "We knew Cam couldn't throw on us", and Denver proved it all night.

Which is fine with me, I was happy to see Peyton go out with another Super Bowl ring and all of his teammates get one as well.

Bottom line, in football speed kills and Denver had an advantage in team speed on defense and Carolina had no solution for it.

All JMO, of course... I'm still waiting for the phone to ring with someone wanting to pay me for my opinions. :)

Mrs. Sooner was especially happy to see Peyton go out, presumably, at the top of his game.