Every Play Counts: Spencer Larsen on Offense, Defense and Special Teams

Every Play Counts is Michael David Smith's weekly look at one specific player or one aspect of a team on every single play of the previous game.

The quirkiest story from Sunday's NFL action was the news that Spencer Larsen of the Denver Broncos turned back the clock and started the game on both offense and defense. I'm one of those old-fashioned types who can't get enough NFL Films footage of Chuck Bednarik, so I was curious to see just what kind of player Larsen is.

So I reviewed the tape of each and every one of Larsen's plays -- at fullback, middle linebacker and on special teams -- for this week's installment of Every Play Counts. Short answer: He's certainly not Chuck Bednarik, but he is a talented player who has a relentless approach on special teams and real potential as a linebacker. At fullback? Not so much.

It's not really accurate to call Larsen a two-way player. He's really a three-way player, because he also plays special teams, where he started the game on the opening kickoff, running downfield and getting into good position to make the tackle on Falcons return man Jerious Norwood, although Larsen's teammate Mario Haggan got there first.

On the Broncos' next kickoff, after a first-quarter touchdown, Larsen showed the kamikaze style that players need for special teams coverage: He sprinted downfield, got knocked to the ground by an illegal leg whip from Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas, then got back up and got in on the tackle. (That leg-whip from Nicholas wasn't the only time a Falcon cheap-shotted Larsen. On one play on the Falcons' first offensive possession, Falcons offensive lineman Harvey Dahl, shoved Larsen to the ground long after the whistle blew. I'm amazed that there was no flag on the play; I'm sure Dahl will be fined.)

Larsen plays quite a bit of special teams; he's on the kickoff unit, the kickoff return unit and the punt unit. But lest anyone think Larsen is a 60-minute man, it should be noted that he got only three plays on offense. One of those was the Broncos' first offensive play, which makes him officially a starter, but he didn't do much on offense.

On the first snap, an end-around handoff to Eddie Royal, Larsen's only job was to line up in the I-formation and make it look like he was blocking a run to the left to draw the defense away from Royal, who was running to the right. He did his job fine, but there's not a lot to it.

His other two plays at fullback came on back-to-back plays near the goal line in the third quarter. On second-and-goal, Larsen lined up at fullback in the I-formation and his job was to block Falcons defensive end Chauncey Davis. Larsen's block was OK, and Davis didn't make the tackle, but it didn't exactly remind me of Moose Johnston blocking for Emmitt Smith. On the next play, third-and-goal, Larsen was supposed to clear a path to the end zone for running back Peyton Hillis behind him. Larsen ran into the end zone, but he didn't exactly clear a path: He ran right past the guy he should have blocked, Falcons linebacker Curtis Lofton, who broke through and tackled Hillis for a loss of a yard.

Larsen played linebacker at Arizona and had never played fullback until the Broncos told him to start practicing there in September. He might have the talent to be a decent fullback some day if the Broncos have patience for him to develop, but he's not there yet.

Where Larsen really shines is at middle linebacker. The Broncos held Falcons running back Michael Turner mostly in check on Sunday, and Larsen was the biggest reason for that. On a Falcons first-and-10 in the first quarter (the play immediately following the kickoff on which he got leg-whipped), Larsen recognized that the play would be a handoff to Turner going to the left side, and he got there so quickly that Falcons center Todd McClure, who was supposed to block Larsen, never got a hand on him. Larsen tackled Turner for a gain of just two yards.

Larsen comes off the field in the nickel package, but he's OK in pass coverage when that's what he's called on to do. With the Falcons facing first-and-15 after a false start in the first quarter, Larsen dropped back to cover the deep middle of the field, and Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw a short pass to wide receiver Michael Jenkins eight yards downfield along the left hashmark. Larsen closed on Jenkins quickly and brought him down before he could pick up any yardage after the catch.

What I like best about Larsen on defense is his relentless approach. On a second-and-6, the Falcons got the ball to Norwood in the Wildcat formation, and Dahl -- the same guy who had cheap shotted him earlier -- took Larsen down with a cut block. But Larsen saw when he hit the ground, that Norwood was coming his way, so he just rolled into Norwood's feet and brought him to the ground.

Larsen does have some weaknesses as a linebacker. Most notably, he gets fooled by misdirection plays. On back-to-back plays in the first quarter, Larsen got taken out of position both times. First, Turner took a stutter-step to his right when he got the handoff and then turned to his left; Larsen went in the direction of the stutter-step. Then, on the next play, Ryan faked a handoff to Turner going to his left and then rolled out his right and completed a pass; if Larsen had been in the proper position he could have pressured Ryan, but instead he was fooled by the fake handoff.

But while Larsen can get out of position at times, when he just needs to line up and hit the guy in front of him, he's very good. On a second-and-10 handoff to Turner in the second quarter, Larsen lined up in the middle and just exploded across the line, running straight into Turner's legs and taking him down for a gain of just a yard.

Sunday's game was the first one Larsen had started at any position, let alone multiple positions. He only started at middle linebacker because Nate Webster was out with a knee injury. On the strength of that one game, I'd say he's worthy of being a full-time starter at linebacker, though definitely not at fullback.

But the mere fact that he started on offense and defense is worth celebrating. Larsen said after the game that whether he's playing special teams, fullback or linebacker, he has a pretty simple task: "I know my job," Larsen said. "I was out there to run into people."

That's a sentiment Bednarik would appreciate.