Jake Plummer is obviously signaling for a spike. Both teams understand the strategy at this point in the game. It goes without saying that the Center would know the play. Why on earth would Nalen even consider going for Olshansky's knee? Totally uncalled for. Personally, I have NO problem with Olshansky's reaction and felt it was totally justified. Back in 2002, the Broncos O-line ended the season of Chargers Nose Tackle Jamal Williams with a block from behind. That was Igor's rookie year and he undoubtedly remembers that well.
The Chargers defense may not be getting the best press lately, but I like the swagger they are playing with. You like to see that from your D.
This from today's San Diego Union-Tribune:
November 20, 2006
DENVER – Igor Olshansky plays a certain way, with the strength of a bear and a Russian temper.
The latter might have cost the Chargers the game last night. But the Chargers held on to win 35-27, and so Olshansky was left with just a lesson learned.
With the Broncos having driven to their own 34-yard line and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 34 seconds remaining, Broncos center Tom Nalen dived at Olshansky's knee.
Olshansky came up and swung two times at Nalen, drawing a 15-yard penalty and getting ejected.
"He cut me after they took a knee," said Olshansky, who did not remember his left and right that landed on Nalen's body.
"I don't know what I did. I blacked out after that," Olshansky said. "He does a lot worse every play than what I can do with a right and a left in full gear."
Opponents have long complained about the Broncos' cut blocks.
"I play this game with emotion," Olshansky said. "The same thing that drove me to retaliate is the same thing that drives me to kick the other guy's (rear end) during the game. I learned from it, and it won't happen again."
Said coach Marty Schottenheimer, who screamed at Olshansky as he left the field: "(Olshansky) is a terrific young man, but there is no act (by Nalen) that could create the kind of act he did. . . . You can't ever react that way in that situation."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-20-2006 @ 4:24PM
Dave Finley said...
enjoy
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11-20-2006 @ 4:38PM
Dave S said...
The Bronco's have always been cheap shot mother truckers....always will be. Thursday at "The Head" we will hand them their asses and send them home beat whinning and out of the play off race.
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11-20-2006 @ 5:52PM
JukeBox said...
Makes me sad to hear Madden defend such a dirty shot. On a spike play there is no reason to go for someone's knees. It's cheap...it's dirty...it can end careers. Why the NFL doesnt further penalize people like Nalen is beyond me. The NFLPA oughtta step up and reprimand the loser. And he oughtta feel shame for the disgrace to football that he is. Glad they lost. They deserved it.
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11-20-2006 @ 6:15PM
R said...
Nalen thought they were running a play. Are you really trying to tell me that Nalen purposely hit him and knew Plummer was going to spike the ball? BS. Every team does it, get a life.
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11-20-2006 @ 6:41PM
brandon said...
sound like there are a lot of haters out there the play was legal end of story p.s. we will still win the west GO BRONCOS
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11-20-2006 @ 7:05PM
Dusty Fink said...
The bronco's play dirty and classless football end of story. If the NFL gave a damn for any player other than QB's that crap would have been shut down a long time ago. But the big men who win the games in the trenches don't sell tickets so the NFL treats them like they are disposable while QB's have to be hugged to the ground.
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11-20-2006 @ 7:45PM
Rick H said...
Oh sure, the center didn't know if was a spike. He thought maybe it was going to be a run or perhaps a pass, but wouldn't he need to know which as it would dictate his blocking scheme? He knew it was a spike. He was getting his butt kicked and thought he'd get some payback. Too bad Igor didn't have another chance to t-off against him on the last play of the game. Cheap shot.
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11-20-2006 @ 8:00PM
Ryan Gault said...
You guys are idiots if you think Nalen did that on purpose. The pass was completed, everybody ran to the line and yes Plummer signaled for a spike. Nalen hiked the ball and then second guessed himself. With the crowd noise and everything going on around him he thought they were actually running a play. You can see that he hesitated and then with all the commotion he reacted thinking there was an actual play. He went in for a cut block which is PERFECTLY LEGAL. If you all don't like cut blocks, which EVERY TEAM in the NFL takes part in then write the league about it. I suppose all you Chargers fans think the hit Robinson put on Charlie Frye a few weeks ago was a clean hit. He buried Charlie's face in the ground after he stopped playing due to the whistle. Robinson got caught up in all the commotion and crowd noise and blasted him from behind while all the other players stood and watched. It happens people... move on! Your teams have all commited penalties and sketchy hits from time to time. If the Broncos are so dirty, why are they the least penalized team in the NFL?
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11-20-2006 @ 9:14PM
LT said...
No, you're the idiot Ryan. Watch the play again, why does EVERYONE else on the team know that it's a spike? Face it, Nalen took a cheap shot, and the whole line plays dirty, everyone else in the NFL knows about their reputation. And no, every other team does not use the cut block technique exclusively like the Broncos, except for the Falcons who hired your old line coach Alex Gibbs, the man responsible for implementing this dirty technique as the primary blocking scheme. Just because it's legal doesn't make it right. If you don't have a big enough pair to block the man in front of you head on, you shouldn't be playing the game. Hopefully the NFL takes notice, fines Nalen, and makes this technique illegal in the offseason.
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11-20-2006 @ 9:45PM
John Deckard said...
Hey Einstein (Ryan): every other Denver lineman is just standing there after Nalen hikes the ball. It would be one thing if Nalen tried to pancake Olshansky, but it's an entirely different thing that he went for Olshansky's knees. Typical Denver o-line.
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11-20-2006 @ 9:47PM
Rusty W said...
Igor, We love him !
The frustration is understood but why would we stoop to their level. Eventually the grabs and dirty play of certain teams will be their undoing. As I watched our Charges play yesterday I couldn't help but notice the inside pull of the line. Watch just about any run from Denver over right tackle and there's the hands grabbing and holding by the jersey. They really don't do it much on pass protect, but why isn't the head linesman aware of this and why isn't he calling it? Guess we'll never know, the refs are allowed to demean the players and get away with it. Sell em out in Denver, in more ways than one !
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11-20-2006 @ 10:09PM
Richabbs said...
I love Schottenheimer's comment: "...there is no act (by Nalen) that could create the kind of act he did. . . . You can't ever react that way in that situation." Easy for him to say. It isn't his knee or his career that will be over because of this cheap shot. Obviously Schottenheimer's more concerned about winning games than protecting his own players.
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11-20-2006 @ 10:34PM
Pittsburgher said...
JukeBox, how can you expect anything else from Madden? He was one of the dirtiest coaches to ever play the game. How many rules do we have now because of Madden? You can't advance a fumble into the endzone in the last two minutes, thanks to Madden. A team is charged with a timeout for an injury in the last two minutes, thanks to Madden. If there isn't a rule specifically forbidding something, then it is okay with Madden, no matter how dirty or against the spirit of the game it is.
And Madden almost never complains about the refs. Unless it is the Superbowl with the team that kept him from getting there so many years.
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11-21-2006 @ 12:37AM
TrojanMan said...
How "F'en" stupid.
Nalen thought they were running a play?
How come no other O-lineman came off the line like they were running a play?
Also why would he be cut blocking if they were "running a play",they wouldn't be calling for a run with the clock running down and no timeouts left.
Don't defend Nalen,he took a cheap shot plain and simple.
Maybe they should spend more time trying to figure out how to stop "LT".
SHOW ME YOUR LIGHTNING BOLT!
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11-21-2006 @ 12:39AM
Brann said...
Ok, claiming that the CENTER didn't know that the play was a spike is so far beyond stupid as to be laughable. It's simple. Nalen dove at Olshansky's knee of his own volition. No one pushed him, no one forced him, and no other Denver O-lineman attempted to go for someone's knee. It was a dirty play, pure and simple. Denying it is silly.
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11-21-2006 @ 9:59AM
Bob Johnson said...
For people claiming to know football who are defending Nalen's act I would LOVE to know why he was the only one of the NINE men on the LOS to not know that it was a spike. You're gonna have a real tough time convincing anyone with more than 2 brain cells that a 12 year veteran CENTER didn't know what play was being run. I mean COME ON, they had no timeouts...He knew EXACTLY what was going on and EXACTLY what he was doing. I can't believe some idiot would claim that it was crowd noise that confused him, that very well may have been the quietest down at Invesco the entire night. What a joke!! The cheap shot was probably in retaliation for something that happened earlier, but it is one of the single dirtiest plays you will ever see unless you watch Bronco's games on a regular basis. Nalen is the one that should be facing a huge fine and suspension, not Olshansky. It's too bad this wasn't hockey game because we would have had the pleasure of seeing Igor beat the hell out of the scumbag that is Tom Nalen.
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11-21-2006 @ 9:59AM
Jhon said...
It was intentional. Only an idiot would claim that Nalen thought a play was being run. So a veteran starting Center thinks that a run play is being called with less than a minute with no time outs, and still on your teams side of the field? because ONLY RUNNING PLAYS allow an offensive lineman to move past the line of scrimmage. if an O-lineman moves past the line of scrimmage on a pass play, he gets flagged for being an INELIGIBLE RECIEVER DOWNFIELD. Therefor only someone with ZERO football knowledge would buy that crock.
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11-21-2006 @ 10:00AM
Hoystory said...
That wasn't legal. I sincerely hope that Nalen's career is cut short by a knee injury and he limps the rest of his life. The ball has been spiked. Whistles blow. Play is over. Nalen dives at Olshansky's knees.
As for Madden, what do you expect from a former Raiders coach?
Oh, and Madden -- your video game sucks too.
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11-21-2006 @ 10:00AM
Jan Vincent Farensbach said...
Tom Nalen knew that the ball is going to be spiked to stop the clock. He is the center. There is no running play. Unquestionably a cheap shot and players, especially football players, are and have every right to be sensative about shots to their knees, especially when it is obvious there is ill will behind it. Disgraceful. Could end the linebacker's career. However, you the linebacker has to be smarter about it. He must know the situation.
As far as John Madden's response, it is a typical of an Oakland Raider. He is right, however, the linebacker must be composed.
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11-21-2006 @ 11:54AM
Chris said...
There is a term, not widely known, in NFL rules called "Close line play". You are allowed to clip within the tackle box and three yards of either side of the line of scrimmage. This is the very rule that Denver takes advantage of with their cut-blocking schemes. Also, this rule allows you to dive forward, pass the line of scrimmage, on a pass play, and it would NOT be and INELIGIBLE RECIEVER DOWNFIELD. As you long as you are within three yards, and between the tackle box, it's legit.
Normally, offensive lineman don't normally dive at pass rushers because the pass rushers stay low for leverage and may be stunting, going somewhere else, etc. On run plays, you can catch the lineman from behind because they're chasing the action, so you likely know where they'll be. Exploiting this rule is the heart of Denver's schemes.
In the play in question, it's clear that Nalen could have believed that Plummer may have been running a pass play. At the snap, he immediately drops back into his pass-blocking stance.
HOWEVER! Olshansky takes one step forward and stands straight up. Pass rushers don't do this. Olshansky was clearly giving himself because he saw the spike coming. Nalen could have easily just pushed Igor in the chest to stop him.
Going for the knees was an incredibly poor cheap shot. But within the rules. Go figure.
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