Things didn’t go according to plan for the Denver rushing attack in Week 1.
After working to establish balance offensively throughout training camp and the preseason, the Broncos opened the season against the Raiders and ran for just 38 yards total – the team’s lowest rushing output of the season.
“That was the one game looking back the entire year that we really struggled running the football,” Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy said. “It was just one of those deals where we came out and they beat us up front.”
The Broncos ran the ball just 13 times and averaged 2.9 yards per attempt in a 23-20 loss.
“In that first game we abandoned the run too quickly,” Head Coach John Fox added.
McCoy agreed.
“We probably started throwing the ball a little too often too early in the game,” he said. “We got away from the run and when you look back you kind of say, ‘Hey, this is a football team that you have to just keep pounding the rock against.’”
But since then, the Denver ground game has emerged.
With the help of free agent running back acquisition Willis McGahee, the Broncos have averaged 125.9 yards per game on the ground entering Week 9 – good for the eight-best mark in the NFL.
And as the Broncos prepare to face the Raiders again Sunday, they expect the running game to play a larger role and produce.
McCoy’s key to continued success on the ground since the opener? Patience.
“You just have to stay patient,” McCoy said. “From that game on, we’ve gotten a little better each week in the running game, and we have to continue to get better this week.”
To win round two against the rival Raiders, Fox knows he needs his running game to be at its best to give his offense the best chance to thrive.
“We’re going to have to do a better job of balancing the attack this time around,” he said.
Tags: John Fox, Mike McCoy, Week 9, Willis McGahee
Yep – that means Denver’s offensive line is going to have to be able to move OAK defensive line and open some holes. I don’t see that happening. Tebow will lead DEN in rushing yards. LOL
Thanks Beast, you and I both hate Bama.
I Dennis Allen to bring the blitz more this week and bring more disguises. Thats one reason I was so happy and amped up when we got him bc Sean Payton and Greg Williams do an awesome job of disguising their packages. Dennis Allen learned from them and needs to start taking more chances.
We should’ve had more pressure on Stafford especially since he was dealing with a bum heal. We need to be like sharks on D and attack when we sense blood.
Reading this article just tells me its going to be another real boring game. They are basically telling us that their taking the ball out of tebows hands, If they think we will run the ball on the raiders I think we will loose the game, our defense will have along day on the field to many 3 and outs.
RAIDERS 45
BRONCOS 10
Here are our numbers so far this season.
We haven’t had rushing numbers like this in a while but sadly our throwing numbers have slid. I like we are running again but being this unbalanced is never good. If we could have a top 5 rushing attack and a top 16 passing attack, we would be in good shape.
OFF PASSING YDS 179.6
30th Overall
OFF RUSHING YDS 125.9
8th Overall
For the defense we are obviously improved and I like the overall balance. I am hoping this trend continues. If we finish top 15 in both these categories it would be an immense improvement over last year and something nice to build on.
OPP PASSING YDS 249.7
19th Overall
OPP RUSHING YDS 117.7
18th Overall
It hasn’t translated into wins yet but we are moving in a better direction for sure.
[...] like to work to their strengths. That means take the ball out of Tebow’s hands and put it in McGahee’s hands. Another bright spot is the defense. Last year the Denver defense was ranked last in every category, [...]
Games are won in the trenches!! Our defensive tackles aren’t good enough, they fail to create any pressure up the middle to disrupt the pocket and seem to get pushed around alot. Our interior o-linemen suck! they can’t pass protect and struggle against good d- linemen in the run game. Let’s be honest, we just lack the talent right now on both side’s of the ball, we have to be patient because it’ll take a few more year’s to build a good quality team. By the way, love Tebow, just don’t think he’s ready to play at QB right now, he need’s time to develope. Can’t win game’s in this league without NFL caliber QB.
I think we can win with the run 1st and 2nd downs and short passes on 3rd. Just basic football. Keep Tebow under center.