With the off-season additions in the secondary, it’s obvious what the Broncos are trying to accomplish. Any time an offense spread the field last season against Denver’s defense, it was an absolute nightmare for the secondary. Every Bronco fan remembers last years’ AFC Divisional loss to the New England Patriots. During the game, the defense dropped back in coverage in order to let their personnel take care of the Patriots’ receivers. Problem was, the Broncos didn’t have the personnel to take on the Patriots in man coverage. It’s hard to see that nightmare repeat with the additions of Tracy Porter, Mike Adams, and Drayton Florence.

“The way we’re getting our hands on the ball and the way we’re flying around,” Porter said. “It just speaks volumes about us on the back end, the front guys putting pressure on the quarterback and the competitiveness that we have both offensively and defensively.”

When Porter talks about competitiveness in the secondary, it’s hard not to buy in. Mike Adams is one of the best cover safeties in the NFL. During his five years in Cleveland, he played extensively in the nickel and dime packages, formations that Denver couldn’t execute in at all last season. Tracy Porter has a Super Bowl ring, knows what it takes to build the defensive mentality necessary to win a Super Bowl, and can give Bailey the help on the other side of the field. Champ Bailey is still a corner who can shut down a teams’ best receiver, but he didn’t have help on the opposite side of the field last year. That changes with Porter and Florence.

When you factor in the growth of youngsters Rahim Moore, Quinton Carter, Chris Harris, Syd’Quan Thompson, and even rookie Omar Bolden, This secondary looks to be deep and talented.

“This is the most depth I’ve seen at corner on any roster I’ve been on,” Bailey said. “So I feel good about where we are.”

Broncos fans should also feel good about where this team is. With a little more then two months left before preseason begins, you can just hear the difference in players when they’re talking in interviews. This team has a confidence in themselves that hasn’t been around the last few years. The secondary seems confident that the defensive line will put enough pressure on opposing quarterbacks to make their life in the defensive back field easier.

Make sure to follow Predominantly Orange on Facebook and on Twitter.

“The running game is still going to be a top priority. I think Mike McCoy has addressed the team, and he’s really preaching balance, and trying to be three-dimensional, where on any down and distance, you can drop back, you can hand the ball off or you can run play-action. If the defense can be thinking about all three of those things, hopefully that gives the offense an advantage.” Manning said.

This is the biggest reason fans should be excited about the offense under Peyton Manning. Think back to last season, when Tim Tebow was in command of the offense. The Broncos were extremely one dimensional and teams picked up on it towards the end of the season. Where the offense will be much different this season, is defenses can’t stack the box with confidence the next play will be a run. What made the offense so predictable under Tebow, was even when there was a pass play, and the defense put eight men in the box, the gamble still paid off most the time because Tebow was not an effective passer.

That changes exponentially with Manning. Defenses can drop back predicting a pass, but then Manning will call a run. Teams can stack the box to stop the run, but Manning will throw over the defense.

“What you try to do is take what the defense is giving you. If they’re dropping a bunch of guys, you certainly hope you could run the ball. If they’re putting them all up in there and giving you one-on-one match-ups on the outside, you’ve got to be able to win those match-ups.” Manning said.

The test for this offense will be creating a formula for winning close games and shootouts

“I really feel that’s going to be important to have that balance, and you never know how a certain game is going to turn out,” Manning said. “If there’s going to be a shootout one game or if it’s one of those low-scoring games where you just keep pounding it on the ground … we hope we can play any type of game.”

Make sure to follow Predominantly Orange on Facebook and on Twitter.

Another fan told me that people need to stop pointing to how strong the running game was last season, as a reason why Manning will succeed in Denver. This same fan went on to tell me the only reason the Broncos had the best running game in the NFL, was because of Tim Tebow.

Tebows’ positive effect on the running game was well proven in games last season, however if you take him out of the equation and look at what Willis McGahee and Lance Ball accomplished, it’s obvious how much they produced as well. Between McGahee and Ball, there were 345 carries and 1,601 yards, with the majority going to McGahee with 249 carries and 1,199 yards. What jumps out is McGahee had 4.8 yards per carry and Ball had 4.2. The Point is, this running game can take a lot of pressure off Manning.

Yes, I understand the Broncos finished the season with 546 total rushing attempts and the offense was centered on the running game, but they were the best running team in the league when teams expected the run. Just think how dangerous the offense can be when there is the threat of Manning’s arm and the best rushing attack. The potential balanced attack is an Offensive Coordinators’ dream.

Throw in the big play ability of rookie Ronnie Hillman and it’s very possible the running game won’t miss a step without Tebow.

Make sure to follow Predominantly Orange on Facebook and on Twitter.