SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Bay Trail outlines a tucked away portion of the San Francisco Bay itself, and that is surrounded by a couple of hotels and a business district. Thursday, a man was out for an early morning walk on that trail in classic 49ers red. A local meteorologist giving the forecast also called for “a big 49ers win!”
Thursday morning, in this 49ers-crazy town, is game day.
These scenes, no doubt, are repeated in Denver. You know, minus the Bay.
And still, this preseason game, , can’t come fast enough for so many people. There’s a word repeated a lot in reference to the Broncos defense this season.
Speed.
Quickness.
Fast.
The Broncos have all of that in bunches. The defense this team will put on the field will be its fastest in years. Years. So fast that even 300-pound rookie defensive tackle Sylvester Williams insists he’ll be a quarterback hunter from the nose-tackle position.
But from ballhawking linebacker Wesley Woodyard to opportunistic cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Chris Harris to a bevy of safeties in an air-tight competition to the poster child for all of this — sack master, Von Miller — getting to the edge, around the edge or yards after the catch against this group will be as hard for opponents.
Even the slowing cornerback, Champ Bailey, puts fleet feet on the field, enough to continue to reprise his shutdown-cornerback role at age 35.
And Thursday night that speed gets a good look, for a couple of series at least, against San Francisco, a team offensively that has maybe the best blend of speed and power in the league. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick hits the edge and flies around it with few peers. The Broncos would rather not see any biceps being kissed in the end zone in celebration of a touchdown Thursday night.
In the first eight weeks of a season in which the Broncos get Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick running coach Chip Kelly’s expected light-speed offense, and Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III’s pistol attack, they’ll need all the speed they can put on the field — and have that speed playing at a high level.
Our first glimpse of what that can be starts Thursday night.
Buckle up.
Christopher Dempsey: 303-954-1279, cdempsey@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dempseypost
Visit each weekday near noontime for a serving of dish concerning Colorado’s sporting landscape from a Denver Post sports writer. Care for another helping? Visit .
