Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is one of the most-respected minds in the entire game.
Now, coming off his first Super Bowl title, the defensive guru is looking to continue helping his Broncos make history.
It won’t happen during this week’s exhibition game against the San Francisco 49ers, but it’s definitely a nice test for Phillips and Co.
In keeping with this theme, the long-time NFL assistant had nothing but great things to say about first-year 49ers head coach Chip Kelly.
Chip Kelly does an amazing job with his offense. Without game planning and even with planning his offense can present a lot of problems
— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) August 18, 2016
We don’t see a ton of praise thrown San Francisco’s way nowadays, but this is Phillips indicating that Kelly’s complex offensive scheme presents a ton of problems for defenses.
It’s also something we saw to an extent in Kelly’s debut with San Francisco last week. The team racked up over 300 yards of total offense in the first half before succumbing to the struggles of backups after halftime.
Not only will this game be good preparation for Phillips and his Broncos defense, it will help Kelly understand where his previously dormant offense is at heading into the regular season.
Despite the positive vibes coming out of San Francisco, the primary issue remains quarterback. Colin Kaepernick did not take part in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans with a “dead arm” and he’s not going to play this week against Denver (more on that here).
Meanwhile, free-agent signing Thad Lewis tore his ACL in the preseason opener and is out for the year. This forced San Francisco to sign Christian Ponder off the street.
Add in the struggles we’ve seen from Blaine Gabbert during the summer, and there has to be some real concern here.
Taking on last year’s top defense will be a huge test for Kelly and the 49ers offense. It will definitely be interesting to see how this all plays out Saturday evening.