The theme of this season was set after Week 1.
It’s been consistent ever since. I was the first to mention it after that pulsating win over the Baltimore Ravens. I carried it through in some form or fashion the next three weeks.
There’s a slight twist in the 16-10 win over the Oakland Raiders. The Denver Broncos’ “kicking and screaming” is both a great and horrible narrative. It’s something the offense must do to get any positive plays or yardage at this point. No doubt there have been a few drives mixed in where the Broncos gave some semblance they could get it together.
The rest of the time?
Denver’s offense have to kick and scream to get anything – if it can get that. For the most part, two yards rushing seems about the max that the offensive line is capable of. Need to run out the clock? The Broncos offensive line will get two yards. Need 10 yards? They’ll get two.
The defense and special teams should by all means keep kicking and screaming until February. The offense just needs to stop being a part of that. No more kicking and screaming. Simply stated: Do your job.
Regardless of the numbers people throw out, no matter how many people say Peyton Manning is “finished,” until the offensive line run blocks, this offense will continue to struggle. Hence why opposing defenses are playing to stop the run. They want Manning to beat them because they don’t think he can anymore.
After five weeks, Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison need to figure out how to run the football. Unless this offense can run the ball effectively and get balance, this is the norm. Teams will continue to stack the box with eight or nine guys to stop Denver from running the ball.
For longtime Broncos fans, this isn’t anything new. Back in the Orange Crush days, all the offense needed to score in order to win was 17 points. If Craig Morton and the Denver offense could muster that, Tom Jackson, Randy Gradishar and the rest would win the game.
Funny how that’s playing out again for the Broncos, only this time with Manning as quarterback.
Denver has to figure out the mess with the offensive line. We get it. The offense is a work in progress. There are new additions to the offensive line and those guys are learning each other and the system. C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman need to figure out how those guys block. Opposing defenses are making it tough for the Broncos to run the ball because they want Manning to beat them with the passing game. To be fair, two touchdowns were dropped by Hillman and Demaryius Thomas.
Still, at some point there has got to be improvement. The Broncos offensive line has to figure out the run blocking. After all, it’s about to be Week 6 of the season. If the Broncos can’t run the ball by now, one has to wonder if they will be able to since teams will continue to play to stop the run.
The Denver offense needs to be able to run the ball when opposing teams know they’re running it.
The theme of this season is clear. It’s time for it to not ring true with the Broncos offense.
