Here’s the one number the Broncos offense must hit to win Thursday

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The only statistic that interests Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello is the W-L record.

“One of the things I’ve personally prided myself on — this is even in college — is [that] I’m not the head football coach; I’m the offensive coordinator, but I’ve never called a game like a coordinator trying to rack up stats,” he said. “I’ve always called a game to win the game. And that’s it.

“And I always try to think like the head coach wants. And whatever that requires, I’m going to do and I’m going to have our offense committed to doing that. And in the end, I think that’s what it takes to win in this league.”

That’s noble. And there was nothing statistically enrapturing about the Broncos’ offense in their two wins this month — at least, aside from the first quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers, when it bolted to a pair of touchdowns.

Since then, there has been little on which the offense could build its resume aside from the “W.” The Broncos have converted just three of their last 23 third-down attempts. They have three giveaways and just one touchdown in the last seven quarters. Half of their last 20 non-kneeldown possessions ended without a first down.

But with the defense choking the life from the Los Angeles and Tennessee attacks, it didn’t matter.

“Again, we’re always trying to play complementary football, so however we’ve got to win, we’re going to do what we have to do,” Scangarello said. “So that’s take care of the football, and if it’s grind-it-out like last week and run the ball and know that your defense is playing well, then we’ll do it that way,

“And if we have to score points because they pose a different threat, we’ll adapt to that, but, yeah, we have to do our part if we’re going to beat a really good football team like Kansas City.”

That means grinding it out — but being productive while doing so.

A parade of three-and-outs and short series Thursday night will doom the Broncos to their eighth consecutive defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Which leads to this:

Even though racking up statistics is neither the specialty nor the desire of Scangarello, there is one number that is worth shooting for that can pave the path to the Broncos’ first win over the Chiefs in 1,491 days:

35 minutes of possession.

Consider these other numbers for opposing offenses since the start of the 2018 season, when Patrick Mahomes was named the Chiefs’ starting quarterback after a one-game cameo in a meaningless regular-season-concluding game at Denver in 2017:

• 30 points: Hey, it helps to get 30 against the Chiefs, but it’s no guarantee. Teams that reach 30 points against the Chiefs are 5-3 in the last two seasons.
• 150, 175 or 200 rushing yards: It’s not enough to rack up the yards on the ground against Kansas City’s struggling defense. In the last two seasons, teams that rush for at least 200 yards are 1-1 against the Chiefs. When getting to 175 yards, they’re 4-5. When hitting 150, they’re 5-7.
• Zero turnovers: A fat lot of good that does. Teams that haven’t given away the ball against the Chiefs in the last two seasons are 1-3. Even having one or fewer turnovers leaves you 3-8.
• 6.0 yards per play: That can be a ticket to success in many games, but against the Chiefs the last two years, it’s only led to four wins in 12 games. The Broncos averaged 6.5 yards per play in Week 4 of the 2018 season against Kansas City and still ended up with just two touchdowns, 23 points and a loss.
• 30 first downs: This is getting close — but it’s part and parcel of controlling the football. Teams that hit this benchmark are 5-2 against the Chiefs during the last two seasons, including the Texans last week.

Control the football, and you can beat the Chiefs.

Teams that hold the football for at least 35 minutes of the game are 5-0 against them the last two seasons. Everyone else is 2-17.

Houston and Indianapolis played the clock-churning game perfectly in the last fortnight. In Week 5, Indianapolis ran 45 times — or on 60.8 percent of their snaps — and even though the Colts averaged a pedestrian 4.0 yards per attempt, they drained the clock and played keep-away to perfection.

Seven days later, Houston was more efficient on the ground — averaging 4.7 yards per carry — and ran nearly as often as it passed (41 runs, 44 pass plays). But because DeShaun Watson completed 71.4 percent of his passes, the clock rarely stopped when the Texans kept the football. Two-thirds of their nine non-kneeldown possessions saw Houston run at least 10 plays.

This is exactly what the Broncos offense must do to win.

Run the clock. Dictate the tempo. Run the ball.

And make Mahomes stand there and watch it all.

“It’s about protecting the ball, it’s about staying on the field and you have to be great in situational football,” Scangarello said.

Thursday, we’ll learn if the Broncos can do it.