Mile High Report
Sean Payton decided not to play most starters in the second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals. While fans likely were disappointed in not seeing the starters play, this provided an excellent opportunity for us to see the depth of the roster and what they bring to the table.
The big thing I learned from this game is that the Denver Broncos were extremely smart in hiring Sean Payton (loss of draft picks be damned). Their roster depth from when he was hired compared to what we see on the field this season is a night-and-day difference.
Honestly, I’m impressed with how complete this organization looks. The front office, coaching, and players are all doing an impressive job.
Let’s start off by giving props to Davis Webb for calling a superb game. I thought the offense in both halves was set up to succeed with sound calls that gave our players opportunities to execute.
I liked what the team was doing on 3rd down. There was a good balance of run and pass. The Cardinal defense was kept on its heels throughout the game.
I can’t give Jarrett Stidham enough props for his play so far this preseason. He’s shown an impressive amount of growth in this offense compared to what we’ve seen from him in the past two years. He’s dialed in on this offense and is playing at a high level. He’s looking like an excellent backup quarterback (arguably the perfect guy for the Sean Payton offense). For the half he played, he was 16 of 23 for 240 yards and 2 TDs with a rating of 132.5.
I liked seeing him make the smart move, pulling up before he crossed the line of scrimmage to hit a 15-yard pass to convert a 3rd and long. On another 3rd down play he called back a receiver off a route that ended up getting the conversion on a pass interference call (which would have been caught had the defender not climbed the back of the receiver before the ball got there).
But honestly, the touchdown passes were just stellar. Both of them were delivered with touch and accuracy that would make Peyton Manning proud.
Sam Ehlinger put in some good work as well in the 2nd half. He was 14 of 16 for 162 yards. Ehlinger isn’t pushing for Stidham’s job, but the rookie is showing good skills to the coaches. He’s likely a practice squad player for the team this year. I definitely see potential in him and can see why the team drafted him.
The offensive line was much more effective this week than in their first preseason game. We were pushing the defense around much of the time up front, which is what you want to see from the big uglies up front.
The loss of Nick Gargiulo is an absolute shame. Gargiulo had been impressing at this training camp and surely had a spot on the roster locked up....
