As seemingly the entire state of Colorado is in search of answers and solutions for the Denver Broncos poor offensive performances, no unit has been under greater scrutiny than the offensive line. The group has been the team’s Achilles heel for some time now and has made for an easy scapegoat in fans eyes.
Despite all that, the Broncos coaching staff hasn’t been entirely disappointed with their play.
“It’s the same thing I’ve wanted to see since day one,” said offensive coordinator Rick Dennison. “I just want to see consistency, and we have to iron out a lot of things that at times we don’t seem to be doing them right, and at times we seem to be doing very well. That’s what we need to do. We need to keep them off the quarterback, and we need to find some holes.”
The Broncos line inconsistencies are seen in several phases of the game, they’ve struggled to pass protect and create push in the run game. As they try to remedy those problems, the staff has made some personnel tweaks. The latest addition being guard Billy Turner who was thrust into the game against the New England Patriots in rotation with Michael Schofield.
“He did some good things,” assessed Dennison. “Obviously there were a few things that he hadn’t been exposed to as much as the other guys. There’s a learning curve there. He did some good things. He didn’t get noticed in a bad way. That was a good thing.”
It’ll take a lot more than Turner, though, to fix things for Denver. The team has been searching for answers on the line all the way back to last season’s Super Bowl run.
“It’s not really puzzling,” Dennison said of the line continuing to struggle. “It’s just something that we need to work on. I don’t want to say it any differently. We need to be better as an offense, and one of the groups is the offensive line.”
While Dennison wouldn’t fully dig into the group that’s fighting hard in the trenches, he did touch on the work that he and the rest of the offensive staff are putting in to fix things.
“We tend to work together as a staff,” explained the longtime Gary Kubiak assistant. “We’re watching tape. [Offensive Line Coach] Clancy [Barone] and [Assistant Offensive Line Coach] James [Cregg] will talk freely about what needs to happen. A lot of times we’re just not getting it right. I don’t think there’s any instance where I have not worked with them. We’re just working together as a staff and trying to get it right.”
While it’s no comfort to fans who are desperate for answers, the Broncos stance keeps coming down to consistent play, ironing out the issues, and playing a full 60 minutes of high-quality football.
Schematically, of course, the impact of a lacking running game and few run plays period has hurt the hogs up front, as has the loss of added blockers like starting fullback Andy Janovich and injuries amongst the tight ends.
Dennison didn’t point to any of that, though.
“There’s a lot of things to be pointed out, and we point it out with them. We’ll get them right,” the offensive coordinator explained. “We’ll keep working on it, and we’ll keep trying to get them right. We’re not getting them done. At times you see it, and at other times you don’t.”
To the viewing public, the times we’ve seen it have been few and far between, with many more moments of disappointment standing out. While Dennison and Co. have been adamant the group can get it done, time is running out for the boys up front to prove them right.
