NFL

Exposed: Broncos’ defense looks like soft spot

Overlooked in the aftermath of Andrew Luck spoiling Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis homecoming Sunday night was the realization that the Denver defense just isn’t very good.

That isn’t exactly a shock after the Broncos gave up more than 500 passing yards to Tony Romo earlier this month in a 51-48 win at Dallas, but the return of pass-rush specialist Von Miller from an NFL drug suspension for the Colts game was supposed to fix a lot of what was ailing Denver’s D.

It didn’t.

Not only was Miller barely a factor with two solo tackles and no sacks, but Luck was never consistently pressured by anyone. And the Colts ran for 121 yards on 31 carries in Indy’s 39-33 upset that knocked Denver from the ranks of the unbeaten.

Without a consistent rush, the Broncos’ weak and injured secondary (Champ Bailey is sidelined once again) can be easily exploited.

That was a problem covered up nicely the first six games by an offense performing flawlessly, but we saw Sunday night what can happen when Manning & Co. aren’t perfect or nearly perfect. Four turnovers doomed them.

Adding to the defensive issues is coordinator Jack Del Rio appears consumed with landing the head-coaching job at alma mater USC and might not have his mind totally on the task at hand.

So unless Miller bounces back and starts playing like the player who terrorized opposing quarterbacks the previous two years, Denver’s Super Bowl hopes could be headed for an early playoff grave once again.

Irsay’s Colts really Lucked out

Look how long it took the Steelers to find a quarterback successor to Terry Bradshaw. Look how long it took the Giants to find a successor to Phil Simms. Look how long it has taken the Jets to find a successor to Joe Namath, the Dolphins to Dan Marino, the Bills to Jim Kelly. Look how long it took the Lions to find their franchise quarterback.

Colts owner Jim Irsay should consider himself lucky that he lucked into Andrew Luck taking the baton from Peyton Manning — even if Luck goes on to win only one Super Bowl championship. Even if Peyton wins his second before Luck wins his first.

Irsay better hope he doesn’t face Peyback in the playoffs. Peyton learned more about the Colts’ defense than the Colts’ defense learned about him on a night when he didn’t have control of his fastball.

Don’t count out RG3

RG3 finally has his mojo back, and perhaps Dan Snyder will relent and change his team’s nickname to the Backfromthedeadskins.

RG3, psychologically recovered from his ACL surgery, is a dynamic dual threat again who can run for 84 yards when he isn’t targeting rookie wunderkind tight end Jordan Reed and throwing for 298 yards and 2 TDs. The Backfromthedeadskins (2-4) are very much alive now in the wretched NFC East.

Let’s stay on the Quarterback Carousel

Nick Foles left Sunday as Nick Fails, and with a head injury to boot, after getting schooled by Monte Kiffin’s Cowboys defense. So much for winning the Eagles job from Michael Vick. If the Giants are lucky for a change, they’ll see rookie Matt Barkley (3 INTs) Sunday at the Linc.

— Roger Clemens would have a better chance of beating the Seahawks next Monday night than Rams backup Kellen Clemens will. Clemens, the Jets’ 2006 second-round draft choice after first-rounders D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold, was the quarterback Eric Mangini liked … until he didn’t.

— A Cleveland columnist is calling for Jason Campbell following Brandon Weeden’s second panic-stricken underhand flip in two weeks.

— Case Keenum may not be able to save Gary Kubiak’s job in Houston, but he does have a chance to supplant Matt Schaub.

— The Chiefs are 7-0, but Alex Smith hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass three weeks in a row, so the ’72 Dolphins will be popping the champagne once he’s forced to win a shootout with one of the elite gunslingers.

— Cam Newton and Philip Rivers had Phil Simms-in-Pasadena numbers, didn’t they?

Cut blocks on chopping block after Cushing deja vu?

Brian Cushing’s first devastating knee injury is credited with starting the debate about low blocks in the NFL. His second devastating injury — to the same knee — could end up deciding the issue.

Brian Cushing gets carted off the field after breaking his leg.EPA

The Texans linebacker is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn LCL and a broken left leg Sunday on legal low block by Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles.

Cushing’s knee injury came barely a year after he suffered a torn ACL in the same knee on a low block by then-Jets guard Matt Slauson — an injury that prompted an outcry from defensive players around the league and prompted some offseason soul-searching by the owners.

Those same owners, by way of the NFL’s competition committee, ultimately chickened out and allowed cut blocks to remain with only minor alterations, but look for the debate to intensify again in the wake of Cushing’s latest injury.

Defenders already feel picked on by the league’s rule makers because of the continuing (and often confusing) crackdown on violent hits, and the apparent double standard of blockers being allowed to dive freely and legally at their knees only adds to the frustration.

Cut blocking still has plenty of powerful defenders, including coaches such as Cushing’s own boss, Gary Kubiak, whose primary blocking scheme is centered on them.

So getting rid of low blocks entirely will be an uphill battle when the topic is no doubt brought up again by the competition committee next spring. But doing away with them looks more and more like the right thing to do.

These coaches should know better

In the heat of battle, there are regrettable coaching meltdowns, and today we have no choice but to hand out a stunning number of dunce caps. In no particular order:

John Harbaugh called for an onside kick two minutes into the fourth quarter after a field goal cut the Ravens’ deficit against the Steelers to 13-9. It didn’t work, and the Steelers kicked a field goal.

“The idea there was to grab another possession,” Harbaugh said. “They had some long drives and we were struggling to get possessions and get our offense on the field. We would have needed a touchdown either way to tie or to win the game. It felt like we steal a possession there and go down and win the game.” They lost, 19-16.

— Joe Philbin had the Dolphins leading 21-20 with the ball at their 48 and 3:39 left.

The Dolphins, who can’t pass-block, had averaged 4.8 yards per rush against the Bills’ 28th-ranked run defense. Philbin and offensive coordinator Mike Sherman instead called a pass play and winced as punching bag Ryan Tannehill was sacked on second down by defensive end Mario Williams. Thad Lewis had plenty of time to engineer the game-winning field goal drive.

“Every time you pass the ball, you can run it, and when you run it, you can pass it,” Philbin revealed.

— Mike Shanahan’s special teams had been torched a week earlier by the Cowboys’ Dwayne Harris (86-yard punt return and 90-yard kickoff return). So what do the Redskins do? They punt to the Bears’ incomparable Devin Hester in the second quarter. And what does he do? He returns it 81 yards for his 19th career touchdown return. (The Redskins won a 45-41 barn-burner in spite of the error.)

— Gus Bradley is a rookie head coach whose Jaguars appear headed for 0-16. Down 17-3 late in the third quarter to Philip Rivers and the Chargers and faced with fourth-and-goal from the 5, Bradley changed his mind about going for it while burning a timeout. He sent in the field goal unit to make it 17-6.

“I would say today it had nothing to do with skill, it was more by choice,” Bradley said. “We didn’t make the right choices. When I say we, I’m really talking about me. I just did a bad job today of getting our team ready.”

— Rob Chudzinski, another rookie head coach with the Browns, was trailing the Packers 17-6 when he eschewed a field goal and went for it fourth-and-15 at the Aaron Rodgers 31. Struggling Brandon Weeden threw incomplete deep for Josh Gordon, and Rodgers took over with 11 minutes left.

— Greg Schiano, the Bucs down 31-17 with five minutes left, kicked the field goal fourth-and-23 at the Atlanta 23 … at the end of a penalty-plagued, 18-play, 9:06 drive.

“At that point, we knew we needed to score, so we took the three to make it into a two-possession tie game,’’ Schiano said.

Timeout: After further review, remove the dunce cap from Schiano’s head. He managed to kick another field goal, and would have had a chance to force overtime if one of his guys recovered the onside kick with just under two minutes left. Sorry about that, the knee-jerk reaction these days is to pile on this dictator … er, guy.

Chiefs have sacks five times per day

The 7-0 Chiefs already have 35 sacks and 19 takeaways. A year ago, they finished with 27 sacks and 13 takeaways. Giants fans might remember the good old days when Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora would engage in a personal sack duel. For Andy Reid, it’s Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, each of whom has recorded 10 sacks.

The Bengals have learned how to win, but they suffered a crippling blow when they lost cornerback Leon Hall (Achilles). That automatically makes the task that much less daunting for Geno Smith and Jets on Sunday. Unless you think Pacman Jones is a shutdown corner.

And what happened to that feared Bengals pass rush? Matthew Stafford wasn’t sacked once in 51 attempts. That A.J. Green-Antonio Cromartie matchup is the headliner. Cromartie better be wary of the double move Green put on the Lions’ Chris Houston for an 82-yard TD catch from Andy Dalton.


Sad stat line in latest Bucs loss: Darrelle Revis, one tackle.