There is a formula to success — but in the NFL, those formulas change every week.
Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy is the chemist tasked with figuring out the formula that will result in the Broncos getting into the end zone and onto the scoreboard, and re-formulating it for the next game.
The Broncos have had success on the ground, pounding the run through the first month of the season. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders haven’t seen the ball as much as they have in the past, but that doesn’t mean they’re unhappy with what’s transpiring in 2017. As long as the Broncos keep winning, Sanders knows that the ball will find them eventually.
“We haven’t said anything,” Sanders said, in regards to the wide receivers asking for the ball more. “We know that it’s going to come. Hopefully it comes this week, but we’re 3-1 right now. It’s four games in. We have 12 games left. Obviously, the goal is to get 1,000 yards. I still think that is very attainable. I’m not pressing the panic button at all.”
Sanders has 20 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns through four games while Thomas has 18 receptions for 247 yards.
While running the football has been successful for McCoy and the Broncos, he knows that there were a few missed opportunities to get Sanders and Thomas a little more involved through the first four games.
“We’ve done a great job running the football up to this point in time and I’ll say it: we’ve missed too many opportunities to get those guys the ball for one reason or another,” McCoy said. “They’ve made some mistakes too, they’ll tell you that. They can do some things differently. It’s all of us in this together. When you have the roster we have, you’re trying to get everybody the ball. The great thing about those two guys is they just want to win, number one. Everything in the passing game — everybody knows [it] goes through those two guys.”
While getting everyone involved would be ideal, McCoy’s first priority is to help his offense score enough points to win football games. He knows all too well that when something is working, you should stick with it. McCoy was the offensive coordinator for the Broncos’ Week 10 match-up against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011 — in which the Broncos ran the ball a whopping 55 times and only completed two of their eight passing attempts.
The Broncos still won the game, 17-10.
“There’s a formula on how to win right,” McCoy recalls. “They can’t stop it. I’ll never forget, I think we had to run it 23 straight times in a row, and John Fox made the comment about, ‘Hey, you might want to throw it.’ I said, ‘I’m thinking they can’t stop us, let’s go 33 snaps in a row.’ We threw it shortly thereafter.”
The Broncos are finding a way to win at the moment, and just because the receivers aren’t as involved now, McCoy knows that they winning formula will go through them as the season progresses.
“The great thing is we have two of the best players in the NFL,” McCoy said. “It’s a lot of fun to work with. They’ll make plenty of plays throughout the year.”
