Dawkins will be seeing No. 10 in his nightmares.


Whether we liked it or not, we all know why Brian Dawkins was allowed to leave via free agency this offseason. There was a part of his game that had become detrimental to this defense and it was just something this team could no longer afford to mask.

It was, of course, his lack of coverage ability. Dawk wasn't ever the best cover safety, but he was always able to get the job done. However, in his later years Dawk had slowed down and in essence because a fourth linebacker for Jim Johnson.

It was no secret that Dawk had lost a step in coverage and that it was affecting Johnson's gameplans. In fact, Dawk was nowhere to be found on the Cardinals' game-winning drive during the NFC Championship game last year because of his lacking coverage skills.

Now, almost a year later, the Broncos will have to worry about Dawkins' old team using that knowledge to their advantage.

We've all seen what DeSean Jackson can do when a team has safeties that aren't quite up to snuff in coverage. He gets behind them and he's gone. As the old saying goes, "If he even, he's leavin'."

Does anyone think that Dawk can even stay even with DJack if he would happen to get put on that island?

So what do the Broncos do? They'll most likely just put Champ Bailey on DJack and have him play man with him most of the time, but an aging Bailey, for as good as he still is, will not be able to stick with Jackson for the entire game.

At some point, the Broncos will be forced to play a zone coverage and that will be the point that DJack breaks the record for most touchdowns over 50 yards. He'll get behind Dawk and walk into the endzone -- signaling the end of one era and the emergence of another.