FanHouse TimCrowder

There have been many culprits for the Broncos disappointing season but one of the chief reasons is their reliance on roster upheaval. They have developed very few players through the draft, changed coordinators and systems several times and have released 19 players since this season began. That doesn't cover the amount of free agents and trades that have backfired in the Mike Shanahan era, either. So, it was with a bit of surprise that I read Jeff Legwold's column in today's Rocky Mountain News. It seems that the Broncos are regarded as the front runners to land Jason Taylor in a trade if Bill Parcells decides to move his new team's best player.

Legwold argues that missing out on Patrick Kerney in free agency last season was part of the reason for the Bronco slide and acquiring Taylor would remedy that. Kerney would indeed look good on the Broncos, he'd look good on any defense, but that's not a good enough reason to pick up Taylor.

Quick fixes aren't the salve for Denver's wounds. As good as he is, Taylor will be 34 and the Broncos need to focus on developing the players they already have. He would also cost them high round draft picks, which the team needs to start taking more seriously.

Mike Shanahan's decision to gut his defense and bring in Jim Bates as a new coordinator hasn't resulted in much success for the Broncos. Fixing that unit has been a priority during the bye week and will continue to be a focus as the team steels itself for a visit from Pittsburgh on the 21st. I wonder if they will make a radical change along their defensive line.

As mentioned earlier this week, Simeon Rice hasn't worked out at defensive end and the team thought so much of starting tackles Sam Adams and Amon Gordon that they benched them for the game against the Colts. John Engleberger is a textbook place holder at the end opposite Rice but the only guy playing really well has been Elvis Dumervil. They drafted three defensive linemen this April so why not scale back the veterans and give the trio of Tim Crowder, Jarvis Moss and Marcus Thomas a chance to improve what's been a lackluster unit?

The ex-Gators Thomas and Moss were big talents whose character questions on draft day dropped them into Denver's lap. It's hard to think they would do a worse job than Gordon and Engleberger against the run and Moss could really add some pressure on the quarterback opposite Dumervil. Crowder, a second rounder, was active for the first time last week and should see increased time as part of the rotation. There will be growing pains but it will be to their long-term benefit to get the rookies on the field more.

Teams that don't play in Indianapolis have spent most of the last decade trying to figure out how to stop Peyton Manning. Early on he would force the ball on occasion, which led to a fair number of interceptions but since 2003 you couldn't count on that. Manning matured, takes what the defense gives him and is content to win even if he doesn't put up eye-popping numbers. Those endorsement checks get cashed whether he throws for 400 yards or 200, after all.

One thing he's never done is take a lot of sacks. He recognizes defenses too well for that. So it's odd that the Broncos pinned their entire defensive hopes on sacking Manning yesterday. They deactivated oversized defensive tackles Sam Adams and Amon Gordon and replaced them in the middle of the defensive line with defensive ends Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder. Having spent the first three weeks getting overrun like the French army at the on the Western Front of WWI, the Broncos decided to play French army in World War II and offer no resistance whatsoever.

The scheme did confuse the Colts at the outset.

"A guy like (rookie left tackle Tony) Ugoh has never seen that (type of defensive front) before," Manning said. "But that's where sideline adjustments pay off. You talk about what it is and you adjust to it. And we certainly got some run game looks at it once we figured out where No. 94 was going to be."

They certainly did. Joseph Addai and Kenton Keith averaged more than seven yards a carry en route to 216 total yards on the ground. And the quartet of pass rushers didn't sack Manning once and disrupted him so much that he threw three touchdowns. It's time for the Broncos to go back to the drawing board to fix their woeful defense.

Denver Broncos:

Out - Guard Ben Hamilton (concussion) and tackle Ryan Harris (back).

Questionable - Tight end Stephen Alexander (calf), defensive end Tim Crowder (ankle) and cornerback Karl Paymah.

Going into week one, the injury news is relatively positive for Denver. As you can see by the report, they will not be missing any starters today, and that should bode well for the Broncos, both offensively and defensively.

Buffalo Bills:

Out - Defensive end Ryan Denney (foot) and linebacker Keith Ellison (ankle).

The injury to second-year linebacker Keith Ellison could prove to be damaging for Buffalo's young defense. He will be replaced by Coy Wire, a converted safety will very little experience at linebacker. And don't look the other way on the Denney injury either. The back-up defensive end has been very productive for Buffalo in the past, and losing his production will most certainly be felt.