P. Manning looking to increase speed of offense even more..will Fox? (1 Viewer)

[Steed]

Could Manning actually be a value as the 4th or 5th qb off the board?

Listen to Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning bark signals at the line of scrimmage, and the two favorite words in his vocabulary quickly become apparent: "Hurry! Hurry!"Manning is constantly in a hurry. He rushes off to the next meeting at the team's Dove Valley headquarters. He wants to drive his team into the end zone ASAP. At age 37, Manning has no time to pump the brakes on the road back to the Super Bowl.We can play faster," Manning told me, as we stood in a cramped video transmission room at the team's practice facility.Faster? Could Manning get specific? Of course he could. Because you know Manning, an ardent student of the game, has done the math."I think we averaged something like 68 plays per game last season," said Manning, feigning not to know the exact number, in the same way the smartest kid in class plays a little dumb for the benefit of C+ students like me in the room. So I looked it up: During the 2012 NFL regular season, the Broncos averaged 68.13 plays per game. "And I think New England was No. 1 in the league with 75 plays per game," Manning said. He was crunching numbers so intensely, I swear the temperature of the tiny room began to rise.During his first season in Denver, Manning and the Broncos ranked No. 2 in league scoring. The goal is to be No. 1. And the team has a plan to get there."For whatever reason, our offense plays better the faster we go. I think that was clear cut last season. The receivers liked it; they got into a rhythm," Manning said. "Anything we can do as an offense to build off that, anything we can do to make us more efficient as an offense, that's what we're looking to do." The NFL needs a new metric for measuring offensive efficiency. With all the rules in the league tilted toward the quarterback, an offensive drive that doesn't produce points is an opportunity wasted. Denver had 190 offensive possessions during the 2012 regular season. The Broncos scored 481 points. Do the math. Each time Manning and his offensive mates got their mitts on the football, they averaged 2.53 points. But there are two obvious ways for Denver to become a more formidable and intimidating offense with Manning at the controls.1) The Broncos can improve their offensive efficiency per possession. The closer Manning can get to averaging three points per drive, the more unbeatable Denver will become. The lone team in franchise history to score more than 500 points in a season was the Super Bowl champions led by John Elway in 1998. Shattering that record is an obtainable goal in 2013.2) The Broncos can play faster. Increase the average number of snaps per game from 68 to 75, as Manning suggests is possible with quicker and more concise signals in the no-huddle attack, and it could give one of the league's most dangerous quarterbacks 100 more plays per year to score. That would be the equivalent to an extra drive per game. The pace would wear defensives out. On his way to the Pro Bowl, Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas caught 94 passes last season. Eric Decker contributed 85 receptions. With the addition of free agent Wes Welker, who averaged 112 catches per season as Tom Brady's favorite target in New England from 2007-12, the question has been asked: Will there be enough footballs in the air to keep everybody happy? The Broncos' plan is quickly taking shape: Invite NFL teams to 5,280 feet above sea level, then leave them gasping for air and begging for mercy.

 

[matttyl]

In redraft, I see Peyton as every bit as good this year as Rodgers or Brees.

 

[moleculo]

Could Manning actually be a value as the 4th or 5th qb off the board?

... The Broncos' plan is quickly taking shape: Invite NFL teams to 5,280 feet above sea level, then leave them gasping for air and begging for mercy.

I'm gonna need to clean myself up after reading this.

 

[Warpig]

If I were Fox, I'd just kinda suggest plays for Peyton to run and get the hell outta the way. If he wants a fast tempo, then let him do his thing. Seems the smartest move to me. We know Peyton loves to milk the clock and audible so I'm pretty sure he'll know when to milk the clock and when to put the pedal to the metal.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Fox is as conservative as Dungy was, and Peyton almost always had freewill to run the offense how he saw fit in Indy, so I doubt Fox will mess with it either (although there were times last year where they started games off a bit too conservatively).

 

[King of the Jungle]

After Denver let the Raven's steal their chance at a Super Bowl I imagine Fox will be okay with putting the petal to the metal.

 

[Shutout]

LOL..I'm pretty sure Peyton will do what he wants and Fox will continue to step out of the way on that.

 

[SSOG]

LOL..I'm pretty sure Peyton will do what he wants and Fox will continue to step out of the way on that.

Fox's best trait as a coach is that he's not a "system" guy. He'll run a 4-3 or a 3-4 or a 2-5 or the 46 if it fits best with the players he has to run it. Old school single-wing with Tebow? New school no-huddle with Manning? Sure thing, whatever gives him the best chance to win. If he thought his best chance was to hire Urban Meyer and run the spread, you bet he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Fox's second best trait as a coach is he's not an "ego" guy. He doesn't feel a need to leave his fingerprints on everything. If he's got a rock star coordinator, or a QB like Manning, he's perfectly content to step back and let them do what they think is best.

Fox has his preferences, of course, but he's far more manager than jumped-up coordinator. If Peyton Manning wants to run fast, I think Fox will just say "how fast?" and then work on getting everyone in condition to carry it out.