(by Tony Serafini)
Another battle of backups with a few interesting player notes. The main theme of this game is how much better a team Denver is than Minnesota. Denver QBs played well behind solid pass blocking. Run execution helped control the game from start to finish. The offensive playcalling was on-point for a preseason game. The right mix of run and pass plays and play action. Denver has some pretty decent depth at QB in Stidham and Ehlinger. Aside from a bad throw from Ehlinger that led to a MIN INT, for the most part, they played pretty mistake-free football. Interesting takeaway from the Denver passing game, 21 completed passes in this game, and 14 of those passes went to RBs. I feel like we are getting a glimpse of PPR value for both Harvey and Dobbins this season.
Of the defensive front, Minnesota’s defense looked lost at times and really had no answer for the Broncos all game. The Denver backup defense looked as tough as their starting defense. Denver looks well-coached on both sides of the ball. At no point did this game ever seem like it wasn’t going Denver’s way.
Mims and Franklin made appearances in this game for the first series! Troy Franklin held a good block on first series that led to good YAC for DEN TE Adkins. Next play they tried to go back shoulder throw to Franklin about 20yds downfield and CB Demmings was all over Franklin. No real chance of making this a catch. Mims had a ball thrown his way but couldn’t come up with it and came up gimpy at the end of the play. Mims in this game is a sad sign that Denver just doesn’t see him as we do.
Player Notes
-- Demond Claiborne MIN RB: He finished with 8 carries for 21 yards (2.6 YPC) and didn't catch a pass. He also returned two kickoffs for 55 yards, averaging 27.5 yards. The YPC does not tell the whole story as the Denver Defense played a strong game, not giving much to the MIN run game. The thing that impressed me most about Claiborne is that he takes what the defense gives him. It may not look pretty, but a 2yd gain is better than an RB stepping back and sideways in the gap and getting hammered for a 1yd loss. Claiborne has good vision, patience, and he waits for blocks to setup and always seems to be moving forward gaining positive yards. He looked puzzled on pass protection at times, but I could not tell if every single passing down he was in on was a designed delayed RB release pass pattern or he was just turning a missed block into ‘oh I’m actually going out for a pass now.’ If MIN could have opened up a few more holes against the DEN D, he might have had more to work with.
-- Dillon Bell MIN – 89 – WR: Was open on a play early 1st quarter but QB was being pressured and the throw was off target. He took a WR screen from one side of the field to the other and ended up turning a 1yd loss into a 5-6yd gain. Looked pretty quick for a big guy. He sometimes looks like a TE on the field with his size. Sometimes appears a bit slow and unable to get separation. He had an ‘almost’ catch down field for what would have been a big game but could not keep his foot in bounds. He was being well-covered on this one, again, seemed unable to separate.
-- Justin Joly DEN – 80 – TE: His big play this game was the 88yd TD. Credit to Joly for running a route down the seam and getting lucky enough that no one covered him. A MIN defender sort of bumped him about 7 yards downfield and then let him run free. Defender must have believed there was another safety over the top or someone behind him to cover Joly. Joly did catch the ball and turn up field for the TD. I would say he had to outrun two defenders, but they did not exactly appear to be going all out to catch him. His breakaway speed did not look like much. Aside from that one big play, the rest of his game was a big nothing burger. Denver did end up waiving Joly and Miami picked him up.
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-- Red Murdock DEN – 50 – LB: Had 4 tackles in the game but most of his tackles appeared about 5-7yds downfield. I did not really notice him swarming the ball or making plays at the line of scrimmage. Did come in on the last defensive play of the game and force a fumble with a punch tackle that knocked the ball loose. Gave DEN the ball back to kneel out the game.
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