One of the many culprits in the Denver Broncos’ shocking loss to the injury-ravaged New York Giants on ‘Sunday Night Football’ was the Broncos’ surprising inability to stop the run — in fact, even slowing it down proved a challenge, despite the fact that the Giants had a depleted passing attack after being ravaged by injuries last week.
The Broncos entered Week 6 with the NFL’s best run defense by far, limiting teams to only 50.8 yards per game. The feat was especially impressive, considering the Broncos had faced four of the NFL’s best running backs in their first four games of the season.
Without primary running back Paul Perkins, the Giants’ offense was seen as a minimal threat to the elite Broncos run defense.
Then came a little-known running back by the name of Orleans Darkwa, who gashed the Denver defense for 117 yards on 21 carries; many of them all but effortless. Darkwa’s average rush of 5.6 yards on Sunday is more than double the yards-per-attempt average allowed by the Broncos in their first four games (2.4). The Giants would finish the game with 148 yards rushing, almost triple the amount the Broncos’ opponents had averaged so far in the season.
Darkwa set the tone early, taking an early-second quarter handoff right up the gut of the Broncos’ defense for a 47-yard scamper that led to a deep red-zone opportunity for Manning and the Giants.
Missing three of their best playmakers on offense, the Giants came out looking to heavily lean on the running game to keep the ball in their possession for as long as possible, while also limiting how often quarterback Eli Manning was forced to challenge the ‘No-Fly Zone’.
The Giants were able to execute this perfectly, as Darkwa consistently ripped off chunks of yardage against the Broncos front seven, despite their own offensive line woes. The retooled Giants’ line manhandled the Broncos’ defensive line, opening up massive holes up front, while also preoccupying linebackers Brandon Marshall and Todd Davis with extra linemen blocking downfield.
Davis and Marshall were challenged by Darkwa and the Giants’ backs all night, as the defensive line did little to penetrate the backfield and were unable to disrupt running lanes created by the Giants’ offensive line. With the middle linebackers struggling with shedding blocks, safety Justin Simmons lead the team with 11 tackles. The stat is a tad misleading, as Simmons was often the last line of defense from a back or receiver taking a play the end zone.
Next week, the Broncos will travel to Los Angeles for an AFC rematch against the division rival Los Angeles Chargers. In Week One, Chargers’ starting running back Melvin Gordon was held to 54 yards as the Broncos kept the Chargers’ rushing offense in check.
Now, fresh off of a loss to a previously winless team, there can be no better time for revenge than right after a loss of this magnitude, which is exactly what the Chargers will plan to do. If the Broncos are going to remain relevant in the AFC playoff picture, they must get back to performing like an elite defense, particularly against the run.