Dan Pompei

This has been one strange season for the Denver Broncos.

From Jay Cutler's learning curve to the rotating door on the defensive line to the reshuffled offensive line to changing the defensive philosophy mid-stream, the Broncos have been a study in improvisation.

They have been capable of beating the Kansas City Chiefs on the road and the Pittsburgh Steelers in a four-game stretch. And they are capable of losing two games in a four-game stretch by a combined score of 85-10.

They started the season with 13 players who have been to a Pro Bowl, tied for most of any NFL team. But they are 4-5.

They have a new defensive coordinator in Jim Bates who has a history of being tough against the run. But they rank 31^st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed.

They made over their defensive line in the offseason in order to suit Bates' scheme, but they already have gotten rid of three of the defensive linemen who were supposed to fit the new scheme — Amon Gordon, Antwan Burton and Simeon Rice. The Broncos have added four defensive linemen in a little over a week — including Kenny Peterson, who they have cut two times in the last year.

They put a lot of stock in Bates' scheme, but promptly scrapped it during their bye week and reverted to many of the concepts they had been playing last year. Now, the Broncos are doing more one-gapping and penetrating up front. With the changes, some confusion has been inevitable.

They have a lot of talent on offense and they do a lot of things really well, but most of it doesn't matter because they fail to convert third downs and break down in the red zone.

They have a quarterback with enormous gifts. But every so often Cutler bounces a critical throw, or inexplicably fails to see a defender like he did on linebacker Derrick Johnson's interception last week in Kansas City.

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They have all the pieces in place to have a potent deep passing game — a strong-armed passer in Cutler, big-play receivers in Brandon Marshall and Javon Walker (when healthy), and a running game that sucks up the safety. But they have thrown only eight passes of 25 yards or more — only three teams have thrown fewer.

Most of the time, it seems the Broncos don't even try to go deep. It seems they are content with a dink-and-dunk attack. Perhaps Cutler has not gained the trust of offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger.

Or perhaps the coaches don't believe the offensive line can pass protect on long developing plays. Certainly, this is not the kind of offensive line play for which Broncos are known. The line is without injured starters Tom Nalen and Ben Hamilton. Eric Pears was switched to a new position before the season, and Chris Myers was moved during the season.

Nalen and Hamilton are only two of a number of key players who have missed significant time with injuries. Among the others are wide receiver Walker, wide receiver Rod Smith, running back Travis Henry, defensive ends Ebenezer Ekubon and Jarvis Moss and safeties John Lynch and Nick Ferguson.

What the Broncos are is a case study of a team out of sync. They could start to realize some of their potential and play better down the stretch.

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