What are the Denver Broncos doing?
That’s the question I asked myself over and over again during the Broncos’ infuriatingly inexplicable loss to the Oakland Raiders. How do you lose a game when the opposing team tallies negative yardage in a half of football? Is that even possible?
And, for me, it all kept coming back to one thing: The play calling. I can get annoyed at Demaryius Thomas and Vernon Davis dropping key passes, I can throw my hands in the air when Emmanuel Sanders muffs a punt inside the red zone and I can blame Brandon McManus for missing a game-tying field goal, but in the end, it all comes back to coaching.
And in a game where 27 total points were scored and the Broncos led the majority of the way, here’s my question for Gary Kubiak: How did the team only manage 21 rushing attempts, four of which came from Brock Osweiler and Cody Latimer?
There is no reason why Brock Osweiler needed to throw the ball 51 times yesterday. And I don’t care that Ronnie Hillman and Juwan Thompson were ineffective; they were never given a chance.
Since the day he stepped into town, we’ve been talking about the vaunted “Kubiak Offense.” When Peyton Manning was under center and the offense was faltering, the easiest excuse was that Manning just couldn’t run Kubiak’s scheme — that Osweiler was the best option. Well, here we are, and it sure doesn’t look like Osweiler’s running his offense that much better.
Kubiak’s whole scheme is based off running the ball; the reason why the play-action pass and bootleg are so successful is because the defense thinks you’re running the football. That’s not nearly as effective when you don’t run the football.
From the moment the Broncos took the lead after their first drive of the game to the moment they lost the lead with 14:26 remaining in the third quarter, Denver only ran the ball 15 times, compared to 34 pass attempts. And in that time, the offense went three-and-out six times; on four of those occasions, the possession started with a pass.
In fact, while with the lead, the Broncos passed on 55 percent of their first downs. Now, does that sound like the type of play calling a run-first coach (who has the lead and is looking to put away the game) would endorse? I don’t think so.
And isn’t this the whole reason why Osweiler is supposedly a better fit for the Kubiak offense? Isn’t he the guy who’s supposed to help get this run game going?
If so, then why is he throwing the ball 51 times? That’s more than any one of Peyton Manning’s games this season, and we thought the Broncos were throwing the ball too much with him in the lineup. Now, Kubiak finally gets Osweiler in there and he decides to do the same thing?
Not to mention, of the 37 quarterbacks who have attempted at least 47 passes in a game this season, Osweiler is the only one to not throw a touchdown. And while I understand that he didn’t receive much help, that stat doesn’t really lend itself to the argument that he needs to be throwing the ball more, especially in a game where you hold the lead for the majority of three quarters.
We have seen enough through 13 weeks to know that the Denver Broncos offense is not going to succeed because of their quarterback, whomever that is. Instead, they need to pound the rock, take care of the football and let their defense win the game; there’s no need to be throwing the football on 69 percent of plays when you’re winning the game and have the best defense in franchise history to back you up.
And listen, I understand that Ronnie Hillman and Juwan Thompson didn’t exactly look like world beaters yesterday, but that’s hard to do when you’re touching the ball once a drive. It’s also difficult to judge a back’s performance when they only get 12 and 5 carries, respectively.
So, Kubiak, please do what you do best and run the football. That’s the only shot we have.