Improving the Broncos' running game had better be a rush job

[Lonestar]

Analysis: Improving the Broncos' running game had better be a rush job
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
POSTED: 08/23/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT


Broncos running back Lance Ball fends off Zack Follett with a hard shot to the face mask during a second-quarter run Saturday night. Ball scored a touchdown on a pass reception in the first half. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post )
Two games into the Broncos' preseason with two to play, their running game begs this question: Is it the backs or not?

Last season, when the Denver running game limped through most short-yardage situations and was unable to close the deal in several games because the team couldn't pound away at defenses to score touchdowns and eat the clock, coach Josh McDaniels was peppered with questions. Why didn't he use Peyton Hillis? Was first-round draft pick Knowshon Moreno tired? And why didn't the running backs seem to explode through the holes?

McDaniels repeatedly said the issues were more than the running backs.

Then the Broncos rebuilt their offensive line during the offseason, making it a more bruising group. But with all-pro left tackle Ryan Clady injured and missing all of training camp, the Broncos' makeover has resulted in an offensive line that includes two rookies who are starters — center J.D. Walton and left guard Zane Beadles — and a left tackle, D'Anthony Batiste, who has just four starts in his NFL career.

Also, three running backs are hurt.

As a result, the Broncos have rushed for just 111 yards in two preseason games and averaged 3.2 yards per carry. The Broncos have one rushing touchdown in the two games, and their No. 1 offense has run the ball only 11 times overall.

Moreno (hamstring injury) and Correll Buckhalter (head and neck) could miss the entire preseason. That means the Bronos could open their season Sept. 12 at Jacksonville without seeing what their front-line running game can do in game conditions.

McDaniels said he was going to pass early and often in the Broncos' preseason opener at Cincinnati and that they would pound away a little more against the Detroit Lions in the second preseason game Saturday night.

But the Lions' 4-3 defense is fast and aggressive. And with rookie Ndamukong Suh, the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, anchoring the middle of their defensive line, the Lions controlled the line of scrimmage when starters were playing against starters Saturday at Invesco Field at Mile High.

As a result, the Broncos' first-team offense had serious issues on first down. Before they went into their hurry-up look when they regained possession with 59 seconds left in the first half, the Broncos had nine first-down plays — two incomplete passes, a run for minus-1 yard, three runs of 2 yards, a run of 4 yards, a run of 7 yards and a sack of Kyle Orton for a 7-yard loss. On those nine first-down plays, the starting offense was in a second-and-8 situation or worse seven times.

Those are percentages no offense can live with. Teams that can't run the ball effectively, for whatever reason, face those percentages.

Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15861013

[rcsodak]

THE SKY IS FALLING!

Just think how rested up the 'starters' will be. ;)
Mobile Post via Mobile.BroncosForums.com/forums

[spikerman]

THE SKY IS FALLING!

Just think how rested up the 'starters' will be. ;)
Mobile Post via Mobile.BroncosForums.com/forums

One preseason game of not being able to run the ball is not a big deal. Two games should raise some eyebrows. The sky is not falling, but it's not exactly all candy and rainbows right now either.

[SOCALORADO.]

Man, these RBs better be ready to go on opening day, cause its gonna get awfully tough for Orton without em.
I am actually not too worried about the health of these guys, and i actually think White (week 4) is gonna be really productive for DEN. I really hope he can find his form and be the "Thunder" to Moreno's "Lightning".

[dogfish]

it's hard enough starting two rooks inside-- missing clady and kuper as well is more than this line is capable of overcoming. . . walton and beadles will hopefully improve as the year goes on, but batiste and hoschstein just plain suck. . . sounds like kupes will be good to go for the regular season, but i'm about out of hope for clady. . .

my expectations for this year's running game are low regardless, but we really won't even know what we have until/unless we get closer to something resembling our full starting unit out there. . . if we don't, i'm guessing what you see is pretty much what you get. . . if we have to rely on the likes of lance ball and tyler polumbus going forward, we're screwed. . .

[broncofaninfla]

dave krieger
Krieger: Lifeless rush a threat to offense

By Dave Krieger
The Denver Post (dkrieger@denverpost.com?subject=The Denver Post: Krieger: Lifeless rush a threat to offense)
Posted: 08/23/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT



http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2010/0822/20100822__Sack082310~p1_200.jpg (http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=3222903 ) The Lions' Kyle Vanden Bosch, left, and Corey Williams sack Kyle Orton, who admits running is not his forte. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)



Go ahead. Call me Buzz Kill.
After two triple-digit preseason passer ratings and a shiny new contract extension, Kyle Orton is finally getting some love as the Broncos' starting quarterback. The passing game looks better than many of us expected.
But let's also hold second-year coach Josh McDaniels to his own standards. He has said repeatedly that his goal is to produce a tough football team, and that toughness is best measured running the football on offense and stopping the run on defense.
Halfway through the preseason, the Broncos have done neither.
On offense, particularly, you can blame it on injuries if you like. The Broncos had 16 players unable to suit up Saturday night, including left tackle Ryan Clady and running backs Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter and LenDale White.
On the other hand, when Moreno's numbers began to slide late last season, McDaniels said it was not about the back, it was about the blocking. And that, clearly, has been a big part of the issue in the early going this year too.
Justin Fargas, who averaged 4.1 yards per carry in seven seasons with the Raiders, didn't just forget how to find holes, although his 1.4-yard average (nine carries, 13 yards) against the Lions might have made it look that way.
True, Fargas has been in blue and orange less than two weeks. Excuses abound for the struggles of a running game McDaniels hoped to emphasize Saturday night. But once the games begin to count, they won't matter.
"I think we all know we have to get better, and that's the bottom line," Fargas said. "We just have to get a little bit more detailed with what we're doing, work together more as a group and just take a little bit more pride in establishing the run."
The Broncos' overall numbers from Saturday night don't look as bad as they were because Bruce Hall picked up 43 yards on five fourth-quarter carries against defenders you couldn't name on a bet. Through the first three quarters, the Broncos had 13 rushes for 29 yards, or 2.2 yards per carry. That followed 15 carries for 36 yards against the Bengals in the preseason opener, or 2.4 yards per carry.
By contrast, the Bengals and Lions averaged 4.9 yards per carry, accumulating 342 yards on the ground to the Broncos' 111.
"The issue we kept finding ourselves in were second-and-9, second-and-10," McDaniels said. "Our first-down rushing wasn't as productive as we would have liked it to be. We were trying to avoid third-and- long as much as we could, so that kind of kept us out of some second- down run opportunities. But we came in looking to run a little bit more than we did."
Changes in personnel and scheme along the offensive line have been well-documented. Inexperience now dominates, with promising draft choices at center and left guard and a little-known free agent filling in for Clady at left tackle.
"They're young," wide receiver Brandon Lloyd said. "It's going to take a little bit of time for these guys to get adjusted to the speed. And not necessarily the speed of the game — it's the speed of when you get to the line of scrimmage and then making the decision of who you're going to block. And it may change before the ball's snapped, but making those quick decisions is what they've got to get adjusted to."
Orton, who did a lot more running around than he'd like in the Broncos' one-dimensional offense, acknowledged the ground game needs work.
"We'd like to get it going, obviously," he said. "Especially earlier in the game, we'd like to get it going and just kind of help us stay in phase on first down and keep us out of second-and-long and third-and-long situations. But we've got a lot of new faces in there, and it's an area where we need some improvement."
With a starting quarterback who is the first to admit that running is not his forte, the Broncos must be able to use play action to buy time to throw. And play action works only if the running game actually presents a threat.
Blame the early struggles on Fargas and Lance Ball if you like, but no one knows if Moreno's hamstring or Buckhalter's back will be lingering issues. As the coach reminded us quite recently, the running game is mostly about the blocking game. The Broncos have two weeks to get both of them together.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, dkrieger@denverpost.com (dkrieger@denverpost.com) or twitter.com/DaveKrieger (http://twitter.com/DaveKrieger)

[broncofaninfla]

The first half of the next preseason game could be very telling. I hope the kids on the line pull it together and at least one of the RB's step up and show they belong in this league, can produce and stay healthy. Buck and Moreno have injury isues, Denver will fail if they fail get reliable depth behind them. Same goes for the line. I expect them to come out of the gate slow but through time I also expect them to improve.