Congratulations Broncos‘ fans, your team went from maybe having a top-10 offense to a paltry 22nd in the NFL in total offense.  The team average of points per game is down to 18.6.  The Broncos total points actually lands them in the 24th slot with 167, just 10 points better than Tampa Bay.

The bright side is that the Broncos aren’t the league’s worst offense, that belongs to the Cleveland Browns at 78 points.  The Browns are still looking to break the century mark.  What’s the over/under on ex-Brown Braylon Edwards reaching the century mark in New York before the Browns do?

 

 

Lack of Commitment to the Running Game

It’s time to talk about the Broncos’ commitment to the run, which appeared to have abandoned the team in losses at Baltimore and at home against Pittsburgh. Against the Ravens the Broncos ran for 66 yards.  At home against the Steelers the Broncos only gained 27 yards on the ground.

During those two games the Broncos’ offense also failed to stretch the field with the passing game.

It seemed the Broncos game plan against Washington was a formula for success as they focused more on the running game, while throwing no less than four deep balls over 40 yards, two of which resulted in deep touchdown passes to Brandon Marshall.

The Broncos wound up with 120 yards on the ground and 207 yards through the air.  However if you subtract out Knowshon Moreno’s longest run of the day, a 28-yard blast that got the Broncos going, he only had 69 yards on the ground. 

The air attack was even worse once you take out Brandon Marshall’s two big plays that went for two touchdowns and 115 yards.

That means the Broncos had less than 100 yards passing outside of those two big plays.

Given all of the above, the Denver Broncos’ offense has shown a real lack of commitment, not just to the run or pass, but also to actually attacking their opponents where it hurts.  The Broncos’ maximum output on offense thus far on the season is three touchdowns against a very poor Cleveland Browns squad.

Possibly the most telling statistic of all is that between the Broncos’ two starting running backs platoon system, only Correll Buckhalter has rushed for over 100 yards once and Knowshown Moreno has not been over the century mark yet, though he has been close on two occasions.

 

Opponent : Run, Pass, Touchdowns

@Bengals: 20-75, 17-243, One (B. Stokley’s 87-yard miracle)

Browns: 37-186, 19-263, Three

@Raiders: 45-215, 13-157, Two

Cowboys: 25-116, 20-243, Two

Patriots: 25-103, 35-330, Two

@Chargers: 33-101, 20-22, Two

@Ravens: 19-66, 23-152, One

Steelers: 14-27, 23-221, None

@Washington: 22-120, 14-206, Two

One thing that stands clear from these statistics is that the Broncos have not shown a real commitment outside of games against the Browns and the Raiders, two of the league’s worst teams, to run the ball consistently.

 

Denver’s Philosophy

The Broncos have had a very clear change in run philosophies this season.  In the past, under Mike Shanahan, the Broncos had a furious rushing attack that utilized an amazing zone blocking scheme.  The scheme allowed the Broncos offensive linemen to be undersized and more agile athletes than most of their opposition’s O-line talent. 

The Broncos, under Josh McDaniels, have a clear change in philosophy to their run game and the statistics and recent changes in the lineup show a clear deficiency.

Recently longtime starter Ben Hamilton was replaced in the starting lineup by Russ Hochstein who is all of 15 pounds heavier at the same height.  Hamilton has had near career-ending concussion issues in the past; however this change in the lineup is at the root in the change of philosophy towards the run game.

The Broncos’ current attack has essentially abandoned the zone blocking scheme entirely, which was not a big deal early on.  However, due to the lack of production of late, coach McDaniels should take the old schemes under some consideration. 

The underlying issue here is that the new offensive approach is similar to cramming a square peg into a round hole.  The Broncos are trying to force a more physical run game, which comes at the expense of an offensive line that was originally designed to be more agile.

In the recent Broncos’ losses they have been out-played up front, out-schemed, and out-coached.

That’s why it’s a little perplexing that coach McDaniels has not really implemented much of a zone run game at all to date.  It seems like the strength of this team coming into this season was the offensive line and their zone blocking and pass protection abilities.  It has literally become a subtraction by omission that shows up on the stat sheet and the overall production of the offense.

Coach McDaniels’ new philosophy has taken the rest of the league all of seven games to catch up to it.  The approach needs to breathe new life into the direction of the output of the Broncos’ offense.  The coach needs to get in front of the curve, not lag behind it with a sub-par rushing attack and a pass game that is afraid to utilize the entire field.

If you consider the track record on the season, the Broncos failing to produce a 100-yard rusher every game shouldn’t be the biggest surprise of the season.  The bigger surprise is that the new regime has not played to any of the strengths of the past. 

Given the current injury to QB Kyle Orton and the poor showing last week by backup Chris Simms, the Broncos could use a good rushing attack to protect the quarterback and make it the strength it proved to be during the first six weeks of the season.

If the Broncos want to seriously control the ball and the tempo against the San Diego Chargers in the most important game of the season, they should implement the zone blocking scheme once again. 

The fact that Josh McDaniels hasn’t tapped into this sooner is as big of a shock as their 6-0 start. 

Moreover, the Broncos have two new starting offensive linemen since opening day of the season.  In order for the Broncos to protect the quarterback, they really need to run the ball.  In order to be affective, they have to keep the Chargers off-balance.

One of the best ways to do that is implementing the zone blocking scheme.

Casual observers may have noticed that the Broncos were at their best offensively last Sunday when they lined up under center, not in the shotgun, and had the threat of a rushing attack opening up the skies to big gains. 

While the Broncos were more affective on the ground than the previous games against the Ravens and the Steelers, they still failed to produce a rusher over the century mark.  The Broncos need to control ball and clock against the Chargers to have any realistic chance of winning the game.

The Broncos’ fast start had a lot of fans amazed and scratching their heads with the play of the defense.  If the Broncos are to grow as an offensive team, they have to start producing the same sort of results on offense. 

Rudimentary football says you build the systems around your talent, not your talent around your system.

Broncos’ fans will learn a great deal more about their coach and their future against San Diego.  The failure to control the ball on the ground, regardless of the quarterback, will say a great deal about coach McDaniels’ willingness to adapt to the situation at hand. 

Last week he showed great resolve to do the two things the Broncos failed to do against Pittsburgh and Baltimore, but the team still lost out on the road. 

This week, he must find ways to make the Broncos rushing attack dominate the tempo of the football game. Failure to adapt may possibly bring about a failure to win the division, and possibly even making the playoffs. 

This is a serious issue, and if the Broncos fail, they will have to point the fingers at themselves, starting at the top.

 

Contact Chaz at sportsmanagement@gmail.com

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