Enter the Film Room: Denver Broncos vs Houston Texans

Aug 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman (23) rushes in the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Denver’s RBs/TEs vs Texans LBs

Run-

The Broncos have a mixed group at TE. Some of them are really good blockers, and others should not be blocking. Linebackers of the Texans are excellent and exploiting a bad blocking matchup. They are strong and quick. As a group, they are made to stop the run.

For the Broncos RBs, if they can get to the edge and have the speed or burst, they can get a solid gain. The LBs are quick, but not the fastest group. Speed is the counter here, not power. If the RB goes to use power to get past, it is going to be one heck of a collision. These LBs are a powerful bunch that can take on power backs, and win.

Pass-

The Texans LBs as a group, are built to stop the run. So it is understandable that they tend to struggle in coverage. Not all of them do, however. They have some really good coverage LBs, who can match up really well with the Broncos TEs and RBs.

A few of the LBs in particular are bad in coverage, but they are not used in coverage often. The Cardinals exploited these mismatches, especially when one of them ended up on a WR. Julius Thomas is hard to cover by almost any LB, so I would expect him to have a big game.