November 28, 2007 12:10 AM

Picking up the pieces

A.P. Crisafi, a regular, leads off a double dip about the Broncos' defensive approach Sunday . . .

Q: I am sick and tired of (Mike) Shanahan going into his prevent-win mode or better yet playing not to lose. Once again the Broncos get a sizable lead then instead of crushing the Bears, the coach pulls the reins on (Jay) Cutler. Run, run, then surprise pass, and here come the Bears with their ears back rushing and blitzing Cutler. The offense outside of the shovel pass hasn't changed in years … The Bears won because they opened up their passing game and tried to win the game they played to win, not to lose.

A: I understand the frustration when people see a 14-point lead disappear in the final minutes. But the Broncos were not in a prevent. At least one of the linebackers was attacking the line of scrimmage on every play down the stretch, and the defensive backs, especially Dre' Bly in the slot when the Broncos were in the nickel, were often up in press coverage.

So the Broncos had not backed off into that old school prevent when the back seven simply drops deep at the snap, charging away from the line of scrimmage.

The Bears comeback was really built around a blocked punt. The Bears, with a nice pre-snap adjustment got a rusher free, the Broncos didn't adjust, and Chicago blocked a punt and took over on the Broncos 18-yard line with 7:14 to play.

The Bears scored four plays later to make it 34-27. On the Broncos' following possession, two first downs would have probably put the game out of reach for the Bears.

The Broncos threw on the first play of the drive – for 10 yards – then ran twice for zero and zero yards. They were going to throw again on third down but surrendered a sack when Adewale Ogunleye got around right tackle Erik Pears.

So, two runs and two passes. An even split that didn't work on that possession. The Broncos gave the ball back, and the Bears were then saved on a fourth-down incompletion by an illegal contact penalty on Bly.

With the Bears in three wide at that point, the Broncos had to play their nickel – five defensive backs. And with a wet field, where players had fallen all game, the offense has plenty of the advantage at that point.

And after looking at it again, to me it's a lot to expect defensive backs to man up in that weather and make it work very well. That means the defense has to get to the quarterback, and the Broncos did not sack Grossman on the Bears' two scoring drives in the fourth quarter or in the Chicago scoring drive in overtime.

That's likely the biggest issue. The Broncos might have even still gotten out of trouble in the overtime, or at least given the ball to their offense for at least one shot at the win, but a missed assignment by one of the linebackers let tight end Desmond Clark get loose for a 39-yard completion that provided the bulk of the yardage for the game-winning kick.

When the Broncos' defense has gotten into the deep hole this year, it's because they haven't defended the run in the middle of the field well enough and they haven't gotten to the quarterback with any consistency when they do push an offense into passing situations.

Elvis Dumervil is still the only player consistently stressing opposing offensive linemen in the pass rush.

As far as letting Cutler go late in the game, he dropped back to throw seven times in the 15 plays they ran from scrimmage in the fourth quarter or a little less than 50 percent. With a double-digit lead, that's probably more than some teams would think about.

But the Broncos have a pile of injuries at running back as well, and even Andre Hall had to leave the game late.

So, in the end, the blocked punt, the missed assignment on the 39-yard pass in overtime and not enough pressure on Grossman were the key issues.

Dennis Smythe in Highlands Ranch, on a week for the regulars, leads another double dip, this one on the kicking game . . .

Q: I am wondering exactly what it will take to effect a change in the current management of the Broncos after watching them punt to Devin Hester of the Bears . . . Does anybody on the Broncos coaching staff read the papers? One mistake in coaching is not a sin, but you will recall that Shanahan made precisely the same mistake several years ago when the Broncos lost a game when they punted the ball to Dante Hall of the Chiefs when he was red hot. Ray Guy of the hated Oakland Raiders was admittedly the greatest punter of all time. He has given many clinics on punting. He has said that if you want to kick the ball out bounds, all you have to do is take two steps in the direction you wish to punt the ball, and then you punt it.

A: Hester is the best kick returner I might have ever laid eyes on, so good that there is no real consistent solution at this point, 27 games into his career. He has yet to finish his second season in the league, and he is already just three touchdowns on kickoff or punt returns away from the league's all-time record.

That is simply phenomenal. The Broncos tried the squib kickoff, but the wet ground slowed that down enough that the Bears ended up with the ball at the 50 at one point.

They intended to pin Hester to the sideline for the most part and then make him come back into the coverage unit to find some room to run. That worked in the first half, but in the second half the Broncos didn't place the ball as well or tackle as well.

Ironically, the Broncos were trying to angle a punt out of bounds in the fourth quarter when the Bears had the right rush called and blocked the punt. If Sauerbrun was punting straightaway at that point. he probably had a far better chance of getting that punt off.

But overall it is my belief that Hester is good enough to overcome what most teams will try to do with him at some point. And the choice will be either the guaranteed surrender of field position to keep him away from the ball or the risk he gets his hands on it during a play when just one defender is out of place.

He finds the mistakes quickly and has the athleticism to make a team pay almost every time. That's rare.

There are often mistakes on coverage – that's just the human mathematics of 11 players trying to do something with 10 other players trying to prevent it – but most returners don't consistently find the openings so nothing bad happens to the kicking team.

Hester is a different deal. I know two special teams coaches who say Hester scored on them without a mistake being made by anyone on the kicking unit. That is very rare.

As far as Sauerbrun, he will be a free agent at season's end, having signed a one-year deal and kicker Jason Elam is also scheduled to be a free agent if the Broncos don't sign him to an extension before free agency opens in March.

They'll look at Sauerbrun hard at the end of the season to see if they want to bring him back or not. All indications at the moment is their plan is to talk to Elam's representatives at some point about an extension, but they haven't gotten too deep into things at this point.

Kaleb Harvey wonders about the linebackers . . .

Q: With all of the talk about D.J. (Williams) slow to learn the middle linebacker position, there has been little or no talk about how bad Ian Gold has looked. He misses so many tackles . . . but when they were talking about replacing a linebacker it was (Nate) Webster who was talked about. Am I missing something? Is Gold playing better than it appears?

A: This has been a popular topic in the Inbox all season long. The Broncos coaches have consistently defended Gold's play and offer that Gold is routinely playing good assignment football, meaning he is where he is supposed to be.

That said, they will also concede some, as the video has also shown, he has missed some tackles this season, often when he makes his first strike too high. And given his salary cap figure is close to $5 million for next season, it's possible the Broncos make a move there at season's end.

Williams, who has played all three linebacker spots over the last three seasons, has done well in the middle – I think – as time has worn on. He's active, plays with passion and when the Broncos defensive front can keep the guards out of his face, he consistently holds up at the point of attack.

The Broncos played Jamie Winborn with the starters some in practice earlier this year at Webster's strong side linebacker spot. Winborn has also appeared of late, including Sunday's loss in Chicago, as the third line linebacker (with Gold and Williams) in a 3-3 nickel package the team has played from time to time.

But they haven't moved Winborn into the lineup in the base 4-3 alignment and seem intent on the playing the three they started the year with there at the moment.

And Jay Mangers in Lincoln, Neb., took a look at the striped shirts . . .

Q: The officiating in the Broncos game (was not good). The way I see it, the crappy officiating lost that game for Denver. If the coach or any of the players can't say anything about officiating, why don't you, the press? Why can't you say anything? I think it would be a good story.

A: I could, but there will always be officials, and they will always make calls people don't like. It is a fact of football life.

Over the years it just seems to me teams get as many breaks on missed calls as they are hurt by missed – or incorrect – calls over the long run.

That said, Larry Nemmers' crew, which worked Sunday's game, has been the source of grumbling from several head coaches around the league that I've spoken to.

But the officials are graded every week and have to answer to the league's officiating department for any problems. Those who do well work the playoff games, those who do the best work the Super Bowl.

That's how you know who had a good year there because they are working on the final NFL Sunday of the year.

And finally Robert Johnson in Kilmichael, Miss., yet another regular with a quality query, looks down the road . . .

Q: What players on the Broncos will become restricted free agents and unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, and which of these players do you think will return to the Broncos and which players will leave?

A: The Broncos are not to the point where they are even close to deciding who they want to keep. Those meetings are held immediately following the season when the position coaches are asked to evaluate each player in their position group and those evaluations are reviewed by Shanahan. Then they have organizational meetings with the personnel department as well and make their offseason plan.

But right now the list is . . .

Unrestricted:
P Todd Sauerbrun
DE Ebenezer Ekuban
K Jason Elam
RB Cecil Sapp
DT Sam Adams
WR Brandon Stokley
S Nick Ferguson
TE Stephen Alexander
LB Jamie Winborn
TE Nate Jackson

Restricted:
CB Karl Paymah
CB Domonique Foxworth
S Hamza Abdullah
C Chris Myers

Among the unrestricted, Ekuban is a Shanahan favorite, but he's also coming back from one of the most difficult injuries to bounce back from in a torn Achilles tendon. Alexander is considering retirement if he can't re-sign in Denver.

Stokley is likely in line for an extension, but his agent may want to take him into the market given how well he's played. A lot of teams would be interested because of what he's shown coming back from an injury-marred 2006 season.

He also showed, with Javon Walker injured, he could play outside in an offense and be effective in a time when many teams had already pigeon-holed him as a slot receiver only. So he has certainly made himself some money this year.

The restricted will all likely be tendered by the Broncos – they'd like them all back at this point – especially since Abdullah and Myers are starters right now with Foxworth and Paymah also getting playing time.

Right tackle Erik Pears will be an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he can't negotiate with anyone else unless he is released by the Broncos, but he will be at the end of his current contract at the end of the season

That's it, and thanks.

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