Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
KAPALUA, Hawaii - With the Broncos already facing changes in half of their secondary, the NFL rules-makers have made it clear to Denver and everyone else in the league that the high-flying passing numbers last season weren't a fluke.
Buckle up, because they're coming again.
"But I think you saw some good football played," Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "The guys who went on to be Pro Bowl defenders, you can feel like they really were Pro Bowl defenders. I think it separated people who were very good from people who weren't, and I think that's part of what we wanted to see."
When the league said there would be a strict enforcement of the rules on contact between defensive backs and receivers last season, it got exactly what it wanted. In 2004, teams averaged a combined 43 points a game - the sixth-highest total in the past 37 years - and averaged a combined 654 total yards a game.
The yardage total was only the ninth time in league history teams averaged more than 650 yards a game. Teams also averaged 4.95 touchdowns combined a game, the highest figure since 1987.
And Atlanta Falcons general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the powerful competition committee that recommends rules changes each year, said officials will be reminded in the 2005 season to keep more of the same.
"It will be re-emphasized again in the second year," McKay said. "Our feeling has always been that you need to re-emphasize points for at least two years to make sure people understand what conduct is allowed and what isn't allowed and to try to create more consistency with respect to the officiating of the rules themselves."
McKay said annual surveys sent to head coaches revealed a consensus: The coaches like the way downfield contact and pass interference were called this past season and they want it to stay that way, despite the pressure it puts on defenses.
That is some sobering news for the Broncos, who were escorted from the playoffs last season by Peyton Manning's 458 yards passing and four touchdowns in a 49-24 Indianapolis win in an AFC wild-card game.
Already this off-season the Broncos have lost starting safety Kenoy Kennedy (Detroit Lions) and stand to lose cornerback Kelly Herndon this week when they are not expected to match a five-year, $15 million offer sheet Herndon signed with the Seattle Seahawks last week as a restricted free agent.
Herndon started every game alongside Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey in 2004. The Broncos have the salary-cap room - roughly $3 million - to match the offer, but the team already has an offer on the table to free-agent defensive end Courtney Brown that would take a large portion of that room.
The Broncos already have shown they believe oft-injured Lenny Walls will start alongside Bailey this year. Walls was set to be the starter in training camp last season, but suffered an ankle injury that put Herndon in the lineup. Recurrent shoulder injuries to Walls kept Herndon there.
Herndon's offer sheet would have a charge of $1.62 million against the cap next season. The Broncos, who would receive no compensation for Herndon if he goes to the Seahawks because he entered the league as an undrafted player, had the chance to tender Herndon with first-round value before free agency.
But they chose to put that $1.429 million tender on Walls that would give the Broncos a first-round pick if they lost Walls to another team. Herndon was offered a one-year, $626,353 tender.
Few in the league, including the Sea-hawks, expect the Broncos to match the offer to Herndon. But Broncos general manager Ted Sund-quist said the team would continue to "evaluate" the offer.
The Broncos must decide by Thursday, according to paperwork sent to league offices. Herndon signed the offer sheet Wednesday night but the NFL started the seven-day clock to match such offers on Thursday.
"But I think all of us, when you look at the emphasis on downfield contact, how the games are called, and how offenses are playing, you have to pay attention to how you're putting your group together (in the secondary)," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, also a co-chairman of the competition committee. "Nobody has enough corners anymore. No matter how many you have, you're going to need them. And I think that will be the case this season as well."
ETC.: With most of the Broncos management, including coach Mike Shanahan, here for the league meetings, defensive end Marques Douglas is expected to visit with the team's defensive coaches today at the Dove Valley complex. Douglas had seven sacks for the Baltimore Ravens last season . . . The Broncos will find out this week what kind of help they will get in next month's draft in terms of compensatory picks for their free-agent losses in 2004. They are hoping to get at least an additional third-round pick because former defensive end Bertrand Berry went to the Pro Bowl and had 14.5 sacks for the Arizona Cardinals to lead the NFC.
KAPALUA, Hawaii - With the Broncos already facing changes in half of their secondary, the NFL rules-makers have made it clear to Denver and everyone else in the league that the high-flying passing numbers last season weren't a fluke.
Buckle up, because they're coming again.
"But I think you saw some good football played," Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "The guys who went on to be Pro Bowl defenders, you can feel like they really were Pro Bowl defenders. I think it separated people who were very good from people who weren't, and I think that's part of what we wanted to see."
When the league said there would be a strict enforcement of the rules on contact between defensive backs and receivers last season, it got exactly what it wanted. In 2004, teams averaged a combined 43 points a game - the sixth-highest total in the past 37 years - and averaged a combined 654 total yards a game.
The yardage total was only the ninth time in league history teams averaged more than 650 yards a game. Teams also averaged 4.95 touchdowns combined a game, the highest figure since 1987.
And Atlanta Falcons general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the powerful competition committee that recommends rules changes each year, said officials will be reminded in the 2005 season to keep more of the same.
"It will be re-emphasized again in the second year," McKay said. "Our feeling has always been that you need to re-emphasize points for at least two years to make sure people understand what conduct is allowed and what isn't allowed and to try to create more consistency with respect to the officiating of the rules themselves."
McKay said annual surveys sent to head coaches revealed a consensus: The coaches like the way downfield contact and pass interference were called this past season and they want it to stay that way, despite the pressure it puts on defenses.
That is some sobering news for the Broncos, who were escorted from the playoffs last season by Peyton Manning's 458 yards passing and four touchdowns in a 49-24 Indianapolis win in an AFC wild-card game.
Already this off-season the Broncos have lost starting safety Kenoy Kennedy (Detroit Lions) and stand to lose cornerback Kelly Herndon this week when they are not expected to match a five-year, $15 million offer sheet Herndon signed with the Seattle Seahawks last week as a restricted free agent.
Herndon started every game alongside Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey in 2004. The Broncos have the salary-cap room - roughly $3 million - to match the offer, but the team already has an offer on the table to free-agent defensive end Courtney Brown that would take a large portion of that room.
The Broncos already have shown they believe oft-injured Lenny Walls will start alongside Bailey this year. Walls was set to be the starter in training camp last season, but suffered an ankle injury that put Herndon in the lineup. Recurrent shoulder injuries to Walls kept Herndon there.
Herndon's offer sheet would have a charge of $1.62 million against the cap next season. The Broncos, who would receive no compensation for Herndon if he goes to the Seahawks because he entered the league as an undrafted player, had the chance to tender Herndon with first-round value before free agency.
But they chose to put that $1.429 million tender on Walls that would give the Broncos a first-round pick if they lost Walls to another team. Herndon was offered a one-year, $626,353 tender.
Few in the league, including the Sea-hawks, expect the Broncos to match the offer to Herndon. But Broncos general manager Ted Sund-quist said the team would continue to "evaluate" the offer.
The Broncos must decide by Thursday, according to paperwork sent to league offices. Herndon signed the offer sheet Wednesday night but the NFL started the seven-day clock to match such offers on Thursday.
"But I think all of us, when you look at the emphasis on downfield contact, how the games are called, and how offenses are playing, you have to pay attention to how you're putting your group together (in the secondary)," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, also a co-chairman of the competition committee. "Nobody has enough corners anymore. No matter how many you have, you're going to need them. And I think that will be the case this season as well."
ETC.: With most of the Broncos management, including coach Mike Shanahan, here for the league meetings, defensive end Marques Douglas is expected to visit with the team's defensive coaches today at the Dove Valley complex. Douglas had seven sacks for the Baltimore Ravens last season . . . The Broncos will find out this week what kind of help they will get in next month's draft in terms of compensatory picks for their free-agent losses in 2004. They are hoping to get at least an additional third-round pick because former defensive end Bertrand Berry went to the Pro Bowl and had 14.5 sacks for the Arizona Cardinals to lead the NFC.
