War Room Position Analysis: Defense

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Posted: Saturday January 30, 1999 08:31 PM

This is the last of a series from The War Room, breaking down Super Bowl XXXIII by the defensive and special teams matchups.

Defensive Line

Since San Diego's offense couldn't keep up with its top-rated run defense, this position comparison matches the second- (Atlanta - 75.2 yards a game) and the third- (Denver - 80.4 yards a game) rated run defenses in the NFL. This Super Bowl puts strengths against strengths, especially in the run game. The Falcons' front four and the Broncos' defensive front anchor outstanding run defenses against the likes of Terrell Davis and Jamal Anderson.

Atlanta's front four of athletic DEs Chuck Smith and Lester Archambeau is formidable outside, as well as DTs Travis Hall and Shane Dronett. It is not a great pass rushing unit, but one that makes things happen at crucial times -- like Chuck Smith's big-time forced fumble on QB Randall Cunningham, which gave his Falcons a quick touchdown before the half in Minnesota. This group anchored an outstanding run defense all season that has performed even better in the playoffs, shutting down a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Garrison Hearst and Robert Smith, as well as powerful Leroy Hoard. Defensive line coach Bill Kollar will have to pull out all the technique tricks and motivational stops in preparing his troops to stop the NFL's MVP, Terrell Davis. Davis is in a class by himself following his 2,008 -yard regular season, with a playoff encore averaging 148.2 yards a game smashing the NFL playoff record by nearly 38 yards a game. Atlanta can expect Denver to rush the ball around 33 times come Super Sunday, with the explosive Davis toting the pigskin in his downhill, aggressive cut-back style. The outstanding Bronco offensive line operates like a machine, creating seams for Davis. Atlanta will have to get a tremendous jump at the snap to penetrate Denver's backfield while avoiding over pursuit. With Davis averaging more than 5 yards per carry, the Falcons will have to work hard to maintain their average of holding opponents to only 3.3 yards per rushing attempt. In the Atlanta 4-3 scheme the defensive linemen must control the line of scrimmage taking on blockers and freeing up the linebackers to make plays -- getting all the tackles. Kollar's unsung guys must continue to play smart, hard-nosed football but will have to get better pressure on John Elway than they have other quarterbacks.

Denver has really stepped up the level of play in the playoffs, with the entire defensive intensity cranked up to totally shut down both Miami and the New York Jets. This group only allowed 80.4 rushing yards per game all season, but was a little too forgiving in the pass rush department -- giving up 228 yards a game and ranking 26th in the league against the pass. The Denver front four of DEs Neil Smith and Maa Tanuvasa and interior DTs Keith Traylor and Trevor Pryce have played the run well all season, tying up offensive linemen to allow their linebacking corps to tackle opposing runners. The defensive front has been solid with Harald Hasselbach, who stepped in when Neil Smith was out with injury. The Denver scheme utilizes a variety of stunts, fronts and blitzes to keep offensive lines guessing. It has been very effective, holding rushers to 3.6 yards per carry and only 80 yards per game. The Denver defensive line is a somewhat smallish group that uses quickness and movement to confuse opponents. This match up in the trenches forces the Falcons' huge offensive line to stick with an aggressive zone-blocking style, sealing the defensive front and allowing Anderson to pick and choose his openings. It is a match up of style and personnel that bodes well for Atlanta.

WAR ROOM EDGE: Atlanta Falcons

Linebacker

These two units are the heart and soul of their respective defenses, both emotionally and statistically. The linebacking corps of each team also provide leadership and bring Super Bowl experience. Atlanta has a longtime Falcon in the middle with run-stopper, Jessie Tuggle, who has led Atlanta in tackles for nine consecutive years prior to this season. Tuggle has been the mainstay for Atlanta since signing as a rookie free agent in 1987. After going through so many tough seasons there is no Falcon player that can better appreciate Atlanta's success in this dream season. The Falcons tackle leader is now OLB Cornelius Bennett, who had 121 tackles in 1998 and experienced four trips to the Super Bowl with Buffalo. The All-Pro Bennett brought leadership to Atlanta that along with his productivity are much appreciated in this Super Bowl season. Henri Crockett, who has become a steady starter and solid player, won the other OLB spot. This unit leads the way in not just tackles, but the opportunistic Falcons led the league with 44 turnovers, including 25 fumbles. These takeaways gave the Falcons offense many scoring opportunities that led directly to 146 points this season. It was aggressive defense that created these turnovers and shut down opposing ground games, limiting opponents to a mere 75.2 yards rushing per game this season. Atlanta gained confidence each week defensively to the point where the Falcons believe that they can shut down even the most powerful offenses, creating turnovers to give their offense additional scoring opportunities.

Emotional leader OLB Bill Romanowski and leading tackler OLB John Mobley head Denver's linebacking corps with run-stuffer Glenn Cadrez in the middle. The three productive LBs combined for 332 tackles. This group will key on powerful RB Jamal Anderson, as they have only allowed two running backs to exceed 100 yards rushing all season. In the playoffs, they have been outstanding, holding Miami's Karim Abdul-Jabbar to a meager 5 yards and Curtis Martin and the Jets to a mere 14 yards on the ground. These tremendous defensive performances give the defending champions momentum heading into their title defense against Atlanta. Expect these two linebacking units to highlight the run defenses that will be critical for success in Super Bowl XXXIII. And based on the dominating efforts of the Broncos and Falcons in the playoffs, as well as the regular season, this comparison is almost too close to call. Due to the inexperienced Crockett alongside the veterans Tuggle and Bennett, the productive trio of Mobley, Cadrez and Romanowski gives Denver a slight advantage. Denver's trio is better in pass coverage, but Atlanta's group led the league in turnovers created (44), giving special consideration to the linebacking corps for the 25 fumbles recovered.

WAR ROOM EDGE: EVEN

Defensive Back

Both defenses have given up substantial yardage and rank in the lower tier of the league in passing yards allowed. Both teams had 19 interceptions in the regular season. Both secondaries will face excellent quarterbacks and outstanding receivers in the passing game. The Falcons' starting secondary has improved dramatically each week with improved play and gains in confidence under the leadership of veteran free-agent free safety Eugene Robinson. Robinson is playing in his third consecutive Super Bowl after joining Atlanta from Green Bay, bringing the Falcons maturity and consistency to their defensive backfield. This was never more evident than in the overtime win against the explosive Minnesota Vikings passing attack that was shut down in the second half and overtime period, giving up only one touchdown. The top cover guy is CB Ray Buchanan, who will draw the assignment of the "hot" receiver. Buchanan held rookie phenom Randy Moss to a single 4-yard catch in the second half of the NFC Championship game. Opposite Buchanan will be Ronnie Bradford or Michael Booker (the other being the nickel cover guy) and SS William White will be forced to the dual role of playing near the line of scrimmage to defend the run against Terrell Davis and in pass coverage against Shannon Sharpe. White faces the toughest challenges of his career with the dominating running of MVP Davis and the prolific receiving of All-Pro tight end Sharpe. Look for the focus and intelligence of Robinson to keep his teammates in position to make plays with the intensity to create problems for the potent Denver offense.

Denver's veteran secondary combines for more than 37 years of NFL experience, making up for any lost steps with anticipation and experience. This group has a reputation of being big hitters that are not cover guys, but they are great zone coverage players. This defensive backfield has allowed 228 passing yards per game. That statistic is misleading because Denver usually had early leads in games. The defense only faced around 23 rushing attempts per game, as teams aired it out playing catch up ball against soft zone coverage, giving up yardage but not many points. This secondary plays very aggressively and must be careful not to sneak up to defend the ground attack and get out of position against the dynamic receiving duo of Martin and Mathis.

This combo excels at getting behind the coverage in the Falcons' play-action passing game for big plays and will look to exploit the corners, who have been susceptible to giving up some big plays this season. The Broncos must maintain their discipline and keep the receivers in front of them before assisting in stopping the run. This defensive backfield is a group of solid players that do not give up many yards after the catch, but tend to give up too many catches. The veteran free safety Steve Atwater is a play-maker -- who ranks fourth on the team in tackles (behind the three linebackers) -- and the inspirational leader of a secondary that snared 19 interceptions playing opportunistic football all season. Experience must overcome ability for Denver to contain the Falcons passing attack.

WAR ROOM EDGE: Atlanta Falcons

Special Teams

The key to winning big games is execution. Execution in the special teams phase of Sunday's game may make all the difference, not surprisingly, both 16-2 Super Bowl teams have excellent kicking games. The Atlanta Falcons won the NFC Championship Game by forcing Minnesota's Gary Anderson into the first miss in his otherwise perfect season and positioning their own Morten Andersen for the game-winner in overtime. This group has persevered through numerous critical situations and consistently made the necessary plays to succeed. Andersen is the third leading scorer in NFL history (1,761 points), second in field goals (401) and first in 50-yard field goals (35). It was appropriate that the steady veteran kicker with ice in his veins booted the Cinderella Falcons into their first Super Bowl in franchise history. His contributions were many, but not limited just to this season, as Andersen has been selected to seven Pro Bowls. This veteran is outstanding off of artificial turf but Super Bowl XXXIII will be played on the manicured grass of Miami's Pro Player Stadium. Andersen had one blocked this season on grass by the New England Patriots, so watch for possible breakdowns, but don't expect any from the clutch kicker. In fact, Andersen has been tremendous in the post season with 50 percent of his kickoffs being unreturnable. The Falcons punter Dan Stryzinski averages 40 yards per punt, but his excellent hang time allows only 36.6 net average per punt. His booming punts allow the coverage team to get downfield forcing 29 fair catches, 25 punts downed inside the 20 and limiting opponents to a mere 5.6 return yards per punt, which was the second best in the NFL. In the post season, Stryzinski has been tremendous with only one of his seven punts being returned. Atlanta has a spark plug in rookie return man Tim Dwight, who has taken a kick return the distance for a touchdown earlier this season. Dwight ranked third in the NFL and is a daring punt return man. The lightning-quick return man has excellent hands and great quickness, which was very evident as he created some positive field position in the NFC Championship Game. The Falcons' coverage units and kick return unit (second in the NFL) have played extremely well this season, but the punt return unit did not block up to par. If the blocking on punt returns improved, Dwight is very capable of popping big returns.

The Denver Broncos special teams have had special performances but have not been special overall. Punter Tom Rouen was second in the NFL, averaging 46.9 yards per punt. That terrific average was negated by poor coverage, resulting in a net average of 37.6 yards per punt, with only 14 punts downed inside the 20. Rouen has not performed well in the playoffs, dropping a snap and getting a punt blocked inside his own 10-yard line, which gave the Jets a touchdown in the AFC Championship Game. Prior to that he had one blocked and returned for a score in the playoff game by Jacksonville. That type of sloppy play can lose a big game. While Denver starts a record-setting place-kicker in Jason Elam, who has a 63-yard field goal to his credit this season, the kicking game has not been outstanding. The kick coverage units have been only adequate, allowing 22.5 yards per return and an average starting point of the 27-yard line on kickoffs. Elam has a powerful leg, but less than 10 percent of his kickoffs were touchbacks this season. He was perfect this season before missing his last four field goals in the regular season then returning to hit all four attempts during the playoffs. The Broncos' return game has the ability to be explosive with Vaughn Hebron having already returned a kick 95 yards for a touchdown against the Dolphins in Pro Player Stadium. The problem for Denver is in the punt return department, where star return man Darrien Gordon injured his knee in the AFC Championship Game after returning an interception. If Gordon can go, look for starting side receiver Rod Smith to step in and return punts. The return units have been inconsistent, but occasionally provided the blocking for big returns. If the Broncos' special teams can rise to the occasion in this final game, they are capable of making big plays. Even with the big legs of Rouen and Elam, the Broncos' inconsistencies will give the edge to the more consistent Falcons.

WAR ROOM EDGE: Atlanta Falcons

 

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