DE Bert Berry did a fabulous job for Denver last season. But he did so at the expense of Trevor Pryce, who took most teams double teams.

This year Berry will be the Arizona Cardinals’ Pryce. Will he be able to come up with 8.5 sacks facing double teams every down, as Pryce did last season? Probably not. And who will take advantage of Berry’s double teams for AZ? Berry got a nice pay day, and he deserved it, but it was also a move that will make him look like a one year wonder if head coach Dennis Green doesn’t get him some first rate help in the next year or two.

DE Reggie Hayward will be replacing Berry and he should more than make up for Berry's loss. If he's as good as he seems, he could be the one eating up some double teams, which will free up Trevor on the other side more frequently. It seems a no win situation for opposing offenses.

I don’t mean to imply that Berry would have flopped in Denver this season. Overall I think he brings more balance than Hayward, being able to play well against both the run and the pass. But Berry is no Trevor Pryce and will not be able to equal Pryce’s performance vs constant double teams.

But against the pass, I see Hayward as a definite upgrade.
But, as Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News has asked, as Hayward steps into Berry’s spot at RDE and covers Berry’s production, who will make up for Hayward’s 8.5 sacks as a back up?

There won’t be any one player who steps in and makes up for Hayward’s numbers as a backup. There isn’t any backup DE with that much talent and drive. But, barring injury, I’ll predict that Nick Eason will make up for most of that.

D.J. Williams will make up what’s left over and more. Larry Coyer has got to be drooling when he witnesses Williams size, speed and athletic ability. I expect to see him become a major force in blitz packages.

However, the real difference maker will be Luther Eliss in the middle. He may not have but four sacks all season long, but he’ll be forcing QBs to shift over toward the DEs and into the arms of incoming blitzers.

I don’t see any possibility (other than serious injuries) for Denver’s sack total to do anything but rise.

As for Mike Shanahan, a lot of people are saying that he's stealing a page for the Patriots play book, that he's mimicking Bill Belichick. That's a mistake.

If there is a parallel then it would be with Brian Billick, another coach considered and offensive genius, but one who had to change the way he approached his team because he didn't have the personnel to work things to his liking.

Billick has proven he isn't simply an offensive genius, he's coaching genius. He doesn’t force his players to fit his team, he molds his team to fit his players. This year we'll see if Mike Shanahan is made of similar stuff.

It should have been clear to most people, and certainly was to Shanny, that the offense was going to slip this year. Too much age, too little realistic hope for serious upgrade on that side of the ball.

At the same time there were possibilities to upgrade an already excellent defense, with the Bailey trade being the key.

Recent SBs have shown us again and again that a rock solid D can overcome a mediocre O. Shanahan moved in the right direction for the right reasons.

So Denver's O finishes this season ranked somewhere between 10th and 15th? It shouldn't matter, because they should have a defense that could end up being one of the historically great units of the NFL.

Now we just have to wait and see if he's a football genius, or simply a great offensive mind.