Under-the-Radar Stud No. 2 – Gary Kubiak
One of the predominant storylines playing out on social media as the middling Broncos offense saw drive after drive after drive fail to convert on third down was Gary Kubiak’s uninspired and overly conservative play calling. “How many second down runs are we going to have?” one person asked me. “It’s too predictable.”
That line of thinking doesn’t give Kubiak enough credit, though. Yes, the plan late in the game became “Give it to C.J. Anderson and hope like hell he hangs on to it,” but Kubiak really didn’t go so run heavy until Peyton Manning had committed his second turnover of the game – a fumble that occurred when trying to pass on a third down. That score brought Carolina within six points of Denver at the time.
Credit Kubiak for knowing that his offense was more of a liability than an ally and for not putting Manning in the position to turn the ball over again. Plus, his play call on third and goal that targeted Demaryius Thomas and drew a holding call led to the eventual nail-in-the-coffin touchdown.
Kubiak’s offense hasn’t been as advertised, but the man himself was smart enough to know when to simply trust his defense.
