Denver’s the best running team in the NFL, yet, they don’t run the ball enough.
Certainly, that’s one of the easiest ways to fix the Broncos offense, which is currently 26th in the NFL in scoring, at 20.0 points per game.
Granted, they were trailing in the second half of the last two contests, but take the Broncos pass-to-run ratio over those two games for instance; they threw the ball 92 times and ran it a mere 34, that a 73 percent – 27 percent split.
On the season, Denver’s 140 rushing attempts put them in a tie for 18th, lower than the NFL average. And yet, the Broncos’ 5.3 rushing yards per attempt is No. 1 in the league currently.
Phillip Lindsay is arguably the biggest playmaker the Broncos have on the offensive side of the ball. He’s small in stature, but he has big-time ability to move laterally and he knows when to put his head down to get tough yards.
Check out his quickness as he cuts right and around the offensive line here:
How did @I_CU_boy go undrafted? His lateral agility is incredible. pic.twitter.com/XyKPsCsL7I
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) September 11, 2018
In six games, Lindsay has 61 carries for 346 yards and one touchdown on the ground. That’s good for a 5.7 YPC, which is superb for a running back.
Add in his fellow rookie sensation, Royce Freeman, and the Broncos are loaded with talent in the backfield which they aren’t utilizing nearly enough. Freeman is second on the team in rushing with 58 carries for 272 yards (4.7 YPC) and three touchdowns.
Lindsay may be more electric, but when the Broncos need tough yards, they should be handing it off to the bigger Freeman. Specifically, against the Kansas City Chiefs, leading and needing to run clock, Bill Musgrave should’ve elected to hand it off to Freeman three straight times. Instead, he ran once with Lindsay and dialed up two pass plays which were incomplete. That left the door open for the Chiefs, who walked through for the win.
Of course, coming closer to balance in play-calling keeps opposing defenses off-guard, too. And, it sets up the play-action passing game, which is an area in which Case Keenum excels.
In the loss to the Rams, Keenum’s deep passes to Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas deep each came off play-action fakes, which won’t be believed if the Broncos don’t run the ball more often.
For Denver’s offense to improve, it’s all pretty simple; run the ball more, score more, win more games. That is, if the defense can stop the opposing rushing attack.