By Mark Malone
Special to ESPN.com
Mike Shanahan said it best: Anybody in the NFL can stop any one thing at any time. But at what expense?
That's what happened when Minnesota was able to shut down Jamal Anderson in the NFC Championship Game. The Vikings went into the game saying, "If we shut Anderson down, we win the game." As we saw, what that does is put the cornerbacks on an island in single coverage.
You'll see Broncos safety Steve Atwater playing near the line of scrimmage a lot, but that's no different than what Denver has always done. The Broncos will develop some schemes to get some help for cornerbacks Ray Crockett and Darrien Gordon outside. But if you take Anderson away and force Chandler to beat you, he has proven he's as capable as any big-game quarterback in football.
Chandler believes in himself and has been able to stay away, for the most part, from the big injury this season. He makes good decisions. He got away with a couple of bad throws against Minnesota, but he's fundamentally sound in terms of reading. He's a very accurate passer who can make all the throws you have to make in the NFL.
All season, the Falcons came up with big plays in the passing game. They did it very quietly because everyone was enamored with the story of Randy Moss and Randall Cunningham in Minnesota. But the Falcons have put up big numbers and come up with big plays, and that won't change.
Tony Martin and Terance Mathis finished only seven receiving yards short of Cris Carter and Randy Moss, the Vikings' prolific duo. O.J. Santiago has come into his own as a receiving tight end. Anderson can catch the ball out of the backfield.
Chandler has a lot of weapons to work with. If the Broncos overcommit themselves to the running of Anderson, Chandler is more than capable of taking advantage of that Denver secondary.