Greg Cosell's Look Ahead: Trevor Siemian is capable of running Broncos offense

All eyes will be on Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian this Sunday night, when Denver hosts the Kansas City Chiefs.

There have been some criticisms of Siemian’s play lately, and Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said he wants more out of Siemian. I don’t believe there should be any major reason for concern.

Within the contest of the Broncos offense Siemian has been mostly efficient. He can do what the Broncos ask him to. Siemian doesn’t have a big arm, and there’s a somewhat mechanical component to Siemian’s game. He needs routes and concepts defined. But that’s not a bad thing. And in a positive sense, SIemian knows where to go with the ball, he has some pocket movement skills and he throws a good ball. Even though he’s not a power thrower, he can make the necessary throws in the offense.

I see him as Kubiak’s 2016 version of Matt Schaub. Don’t forget that in 2009, when Kubiak coached Schaub with the Houston Texans, Schaub led the NFL in passing yards and made a Pro Bowl.

Here’s a great example of what happens when Siemian’s routes and concepts are defined. Against the San Diego Chargers, on a third-and-7, Jordan Taylor’s motion set up a shallow cross. That was the built-in blitz-beater on a three-man route concept that had two verticals to the outside. When the Chargers blitzed, Joey Bosa came clean on a long stunt. Siemian hit Taylor on that shallow cross for 35 yards. That’s a prime example of a defense winning schematically but the offense having a play to beat the blitz, giving Siemian an answer.

Here’s another way the Broncos’ scheme has helped Siemian. On third-and-8 against the New Orleans Saints, the Broncos used shifts and formation to create a defined throw. Running back Kapri Bibbs shifted out of the backfield well outside the numbers to make it a 4×1 set, with four receivers on one side and one on the other. The set took away any underneath defender to play Thomas as the “X iso” to the back side (he was the lone receiver to Siemian’s left), and the slant route was easy pitch and catch for 18 yards. You can see how the left side of the field is wide open for a slant route by Thomas.

Siemian can make throws, too. Against the Saints, on third down, he initially looked to Demaryius Thomas on a stick route, but cornerback Delvin Breaux was sitting outside. Siemian then drove the ball to Taylor in the void behind Breaux and outside of safety Jarius Byrd for a touchdown.

Siemian is still a young quarterback and will make mistakes. I thought Siemian misread the coverage on both of his interceptions against the Saints. On the first, I think he read it as man coverage, but cornerback Sterling Moore was looking in the backfield playing zone and jumped the throw on an outside slant.

On the second interception, Siemian had to throw under pressure before he had coverage clarity. My sense is he never picked up the “1 robber” coverage and never accounted for safety Kenny Vaccaro playing the robber spot.

Against the Saints, Siemian made some mistakes reading coverage and recognizing blitzes, but also made some big throws in critical situations. As always, Kubiak helped him with concepts and play-calling. It’s a formula that can work for the Broncos.

Prescott on the move

On Wednesday I broke down Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s rookie season, and wanted to add another play I saw on Thursday.

On third-and-9 late in the game, we saw how accurate Prescott is on the move. Against a “man free” blitz, Prescott moved out of the pocket to his right. He hit Dez Bryant for 26 yards with a nicely thrown pass to the crossing route.

The Cowboys continue to do an excellent job utilizing Prescott’s movement. They stress defenses on the edge with their concepts and play calls. They can be effective doing this because Prescott has been very good throwing on the move.

Titans stopped on fourth down

There’s a fine line between success and failure in the NFL. We saw that in a big game between the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans last week.

The Titans rallied after a bad start and were in Colts territory late in the game. They went for it on fourth-and-1 with less than three minutes left in a 24-17 game. Using six offensive linemen, they ran power strong. Right guard Josh Kline pulled and fullback Jalston Fowler was the lead blocker. DeMarco Murray – who didn’t have his best game, when it came to vision – bounced the run outside. He did that often in this game, bouncing it out instead of hitting it up inside. He was tackled by Clayton Geathers and didn’t get the first down, but we can see that he would have gotten the yard had he stayed tight to the play-side blocks of Kline and Fowler.

Instead of a first down and possibly tying the game, the Colts took possession and ran out the rest of the clock. The Titans, instead of being 6-5 with a win, go into a game against the Chicago Bears at 5-6. Murray’s run wasn’t the reason the Titans lost, but it shows how thin the margin for error can be in the NFL.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.