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Broncos defense picking up steam
Posted: Tuesday January 12, 1999 03:58 PM
Broncos defensive coordinator Greg Robinson has won this award before, and if his defense executes this week the way it did last week, he'll win again. The offense in Denver gets a lot of the publicity (and so it should) but the defense played one fine game against the Dolphins. They held Miami to 14 first downs, which tied for the lowest total last weekend, and the Dolphins went 2-for-10 on third-down conversions, worst yet in the playoffs. Miami's 14 rushing yards speaks for itself, and most of all, Denver held the Dolphins to three points. This is a coach who went to the Super Bowl last year, and his defense played well in the victory. And now the Broncos are one game away from going again. They have average talent, especially in the secondary, and do I hear of anyone waiting to talk to him about their head coaching vacancies? No. What a mistake. Next, we honor a quartet of unsung heroes -- the four fullbacks who block for the tailbacks on the remaining playoff teams. The only way we find out how good they are is when they're hurt and the "star" running back can't gain a yard.
Another quiet star for the Broncos on Saturday was tackle Matt Lepsis. When starting left tackle Tony Jones was injured in the second quarter, right tackle Harry Swayne switched over to the left side and Lepsis, a former tight end and World Leaguer, took over at right tackle. He is competitive and played well. Denver knows they have a good long-term player and a guy they can count on for the playoffs. The Vikings are a team full of stars, and sometimes the performance of their role players goes unnoticed. I noticed tailback-receiver-returner David Palmer on Sunday, and as Cards coach Vince Tobin pointed out, even if you get all the great Vikings receivers covered, you still have to deal with Palmer and Leroy Hoard. Palmer had two rushes for 13 yards, two catches for 29 yards and even lined up a quarterback twice to throw the defense off. On Minnesota's first scoring drive, he had a critical 21-yard gain on a 3rd-and-6 to help set up the opening touchdown. Hoard, too, deserves credit for what he's done this season. He could start for some teams in this league, but he enjoys his role on the Vikings, filling in on goal-line situations and when starter Robert Smith is tired or injured. Hoard scored three touchdowns on Sunday, rushing 11 times for 44 yards and catching one pass for 16 yards. His hard, pounding style is a good change of pace from Smith, yet another factor opposing defenses must prepare for.
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