Hines Ward shaking in his cleats at the thought of fighting the Law in Denver Monday night
Ty Law, from the glory days in New England
As I sat down to prepare this article on the Broncos matchup with Pittsburgh Monday night, what I did not expect was for the Broncos to look to yet another aging, but impactful veteran in the secondary. With yesterday’s signing of Ty Law (which the Broncos have yet to officially announce, as of this writing, but all other outlets report it as a done deal), the average age of the Broncos secondary just went into the stratosphere. But the Broncos staff is hoping that along with the age comes the same experience, drive, determination, leadership, and raw grit that Brian Dawkins has brought to help make this unit one of the best in the league.
There’s no doubt that the older of the two Ty Laws in town (in a coincidental twist, the Nuggets rookie sensation is named Ty Lawson… can’t wait for the papers to try to twist that into a witty headline) wants to play Monday, and that based on his history with Hines Ward, the Broncos probably want him to play too. With Champ on one side, you can bet whoever plays opposite will get the action. I would expect the Broncos to leave Goodman on the other side, bringing in Law in nickel packages to roam the secondary looking for a head to smash.
Before the Law signing, I was planning on talking about how the Broncos will likely face a no-huddle offense that strikes repeatedly in order to wear them down. I still believe that, but now I think more than ever the line and linebackers need to push hard against Big Ben and see to it that he doesn’t get the time to scan the field. The one weakness with Law is that he is not as fast as he once was, and look for the Steelers to attack him as soon as he hits the field and before he gets a chance to shake off the rust of being away from competitive football all season.
Of course, all this assumes that Law will in fact play. Either way, the Ravens game showed us that the Broncos will have to play the same hard-hitting and gritty defense that shut down the Patriots in Week 5.
So lets talk about what’s really going to determine Monday night’s game. It’s not the home field advantage (though that can’t hurt), and it’s not the special teams (dear God, please let it not be the special teams)– it’s whether or not Orton and the boys can come out hard and fast and put points on the board. The O-line is struggling. Polumbus is serviceable, but as of yet he’s no Harris, and Harris is out with dislocated toes (ouch!). Last week, it started with a hard blind-side sack and went downhill from there. The Broncos need to establish the run, and do it early, then work on the short passing game that makes this team go. And of course, at some point, they’re going to have to shoot down the field or else the Steelers defense will eat them apart, much as the Ravens did. Look for Moreno and Buckhalter (especially Buckhalter) to try to hit the holes hard in the first quarter. If they don’t stack up 100 yards rushing, they can’t even come close to winning this game.
So welcome to Denver, Ty Law. We’re glad to have you. If you bring even half of what Dawkins has brought, you’ll be welcome to finish out your career right here in the Mile High City. And if you can help the Broncos beat Pittsburgh on Monday night and show they can bounce back from a loss (say, I don’t know, maybe 24-13? That’d be nice), then you can ride with this team all the way to the AFC West crown and a very unexpected but warmly welcomed playoff run.
