I'm Worried and You Should Be Too

Jim Bates' defensive strategy goes something like this: Get two huge guys in the middle to clog things up; speedy defensive ends rush the quarterback and tackle the halfbacks on running plays; linebackers get the majority of tackles by running down receivers and halfbacks; corners and safeties shut down the passing game and back up the running game.

It's a relatively simple scheme, and you can tell if it's working by a quick peek at the box score. Here's a quick peek at the defensive tackles portion of the box score from the game against Dallas:

Tackles:
Champ Bailey, 6
Nick Ferguson, 5
Nate Webster, 4
Kenny Peterson, 4
Domonique Foxworth, 4
John Lynch, 4
Dre Bly, 4

I see that cornerbacks and safeties are 5 of the top 7 leading tacklers. I think to myself, "That's not a good thing." Then I think to myself, "In fact, that's a very bad thing. It means the whole defensive unit is doing something terribly wrong." And then I slouch down, let out a long sigh, followed by some creative profanities in Spanish, and let a wave of quiet football depression sweep over me.

People, things just aren't right in D-Town. The D-line is a shambles precisely when it's supposed to be the cornerstone. Things don't look good. Hide your babies. Lock your doors. Run for cover because it just might be a horrendously long and obnoxious season when teams run willy-nilly all over the Broncos.

But wait! There's hope. The Broncos have traded Gerard Warren to....
the Raiders (hey wait a second, that doesn't sound good) for....
a fifth-round draft pick - wait, let me be precise: a conditional fith-round draft pick.

Wow! I'm glad we got rid of Trevor Pryce a few years back (he had 13 sacks last year) for what amounts to a conditional fifth-round draft pick. Like the Guinness guys say: Brilliant!!!