To huddle, or not to huddle? It’s not exactly Shakespeare, but it is the question that was on the minds of Renaud Notaro and Dee White on Mile High Sports AM 1340 as they evaluated the Broncos offense heading into the final regular season game against San Diego and into the playoffs.
White says the Broncos have to stick with the no-huddle offense that worked so well against the Cincinnati Bengals (and previously against the Patriots, Packers and numerous other opponents) if they want to win in the playoffs.
Says White, “If you give a defense time to rest in-between plays, they’re going to be better. Period.”
“You already have an advantage of being the offense and knowing what you’re going to do and the defense has to react … and you’re not allowing them to substitute; that’s the biggest part of it.”
Notaro agrees, although he’s seen signs of stubbornness from head coach Gary Kubiak who was brought to Denver to help reestablish a running game.
“They want to run the football,” says Notaro. “They want to be committed to running the football. But that was not the case last week.”
Indeed, most of Denver’s ball movement and point production came out of the no-huddle offense, which Notaro and White remind us is what Osweiler is most familiar running because of his college days and the Broncos offense over the past three years with Peyton Manning at the helm.
Not only is there a comfort level there, there’s the added bonus of covering up several of the warts along the offensive line in running a no-huddle. Notaro and White point specifically to Michael Schofield, who struggled in the slowdown offense when paired against pass rushers like Khalil Mack and Carlos Dunlap
Says White, “[When] you take an offensive tackle who is pedestrian, or even below pedestrian, and you put him in this type of scheme – this type of system, this hurry-up, this wearing the defense down type of thing, keeping them on their toes at all times, not allowing them to pin their ears back and come after you – that’s going to raise Schofield’s game. That’s going to raise everyone on that offensive line’s game.”
Denver’s offensive line has been a weak point throughout the season, allowing 37 sacks and 89 quarterback hits on the year so far, so anything Gary Kubiak can do to help protect his quarterbacks would be a wise decision.
Listen to the full discussion, plus some New Year’s Eve tips, in the podcast below…
Catch Notaro & Big Dee every Monday-Thursday from 6p-8p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of what’s new and what’s next in Colorado sports.