Denver Broncos Welcome the 49ers to Practice

The Broncos offense should have a golden opportunity this week to get extensive work against someone besides the best defense in the league.  Starting Wednesday, the Denver Broncos host the San Francisco 49ers for a set of joint practices leading up to their preseason tilt Saturday night at Sports Authority Field—the same as they did a season ago.  Wednesday’s bout will be open to the public down at Dove Valley, and as always is free of charge.

Offensively speaking, this camp has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for the Broncos.  The quarterbacks, and the offense as a whole has seemed to follow up good performances with extremely lackluster efforts, and it showed up again this past Saturday as the offense was overly sluggish after a very good performance last Thursday night against the Bears in their

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preseason opener.  A big part of the offensive disconnect would have to be the fact that they are going up, day after day, against one of the most dominant defenses in league history—just ask the Chicago Bears.

Saturday, Gary Kubiak was visibly angry with his offense—his quarterbacks in particular, as he was heard ripping Paxton Lynch after he had a ball batted down by Jared Crick in a team session—a rare first team look for Lynch.

Lynch wasn’t the only quarterback though, as all three of the quarterbacks got their fair share of getting chewed out.

Things were so bad for the offense that Coach Kubiak made the offense stay after practice and get additional reps while the defense was sent inside—something that was a first for this training camp, and shows that the frustration is mounting for the coach over these uneven offensive performances.  He said as much after practice Saturday:

"“We didn’t practice very well offensively. We’re less than 48 hours out of a game and to come back and practice is tough. We handled it defensively, but we didn’t handle it offensively. It’s disappointing for me.”"

Obviously, Kubiak would like to see the offense carry over good performances to the next one, but it’s very hard when you have to go against a defense that is so good, and takes such great pride in not letting an offense getting the best of them two days in a row.  Wednesday’s session against the 49ers should provide valuable time against a decent, but not dominant defense, and give the Broncos a much better idea of where they are truly at.

Sunday the 49ers got their first look at preseason action, and their defense was in fine form against a familiar face around these parts—former Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler.  The Niners held Osweiler and Houston’s first team offense to only 27 yards in the air on seven pass attempts, and no points.  The Broncos hope to fare much better against the Niners than the Texans did, and hopefully that can begin Wednesday in practice.

Certainly it would be a welcome sight to Kubiak to see the offense string together a few good practices together, and finish it off with another strong performance in a game.

Here are a few things to look for Wednesday as the Denver Broncos host the San Francisco 49ers for a bout of joint practices:

• It is no secret that the Broncos have a quarterback competition; it’ll be very interesting to watch how the reps are spread out this week.  Can Paxton Lynch get any more reps with the number one offense?—if so, it could be a sign of things to come in the next few weeks.
• Will Gary Kubiak begin to unleash Von Miller and Russell Okung fully this week against new competition?  He had stated that both should be getting up to full speed around this week, and it’ll be great to see them both in action if that is the case.
• Will Aqib Talib play in team sessions vs. the 49ers?  He hasn’t been ruled out for a preseason return, but Kubiak did indicate Saturday that they wanted him to shy away from contact drills so we will see if there is a change this week.  Regardless, suspension pending, he should be ready for Carolina.  Reportedly he is in mid-season form, as he nearly picked off Mark Sanchez in his first team drill of the season.
• Speaking of Mark Sanchez, can he shake the INT bug that has haunted him throughout his entire career?  Saturday he threw yet another pick 6, his fourth this camp.  If he is to hold on to the starting gig, a turnover free outing vs. the Niners could certainly help that.
• Can the Denver Broncos defense be every bit as dominant against the 49ers as they were against the Bears?  While the Niners defense held the Texans offense to zilch, it’s not as if their offense were going bonkers either.  The Niners have their own quarterback competition going on between Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick.  Will the Broncos defense clamp down even harder to show Kaepernick what he is missing out on when he refused a pay cut to join the Broncos during offseason trade talks?