In the comments section of my latest No Bull Review, we talk about the offensive line’s play and how it’s been a little subpar compared to what we saw from them last season. I think that point is worth dissecting a bit, because the media and community have been harping on Davis Webb and Bo Nix quite a bit without noticing the problem in the trenches until recently.
It’s early in the season – remember that
As a fan, I think it’s worth a reminder that every season there’s a reset button that gets hit. Teams have fewer preseason games to play, more restrictions on how much practice time players can participate in, and don’t really face off as much until the season is over.
Tackling is a good example. Our defense looked like a bunch of noobs in Week 1 against the Chiefs. But since then, we haven’t seen anything like that level of incompetence from the defense. They use smarter angles and make sure to finish.
I think some fair criticism can be laid at the feet of the coaching staff at this point, but it’s not like Sean Payton hasn’t been constantly talking about these things over the past few years. He and his staff are aware of these issues and know they can do a better job.
It’s easy enough to look at the last game we played and say, “Wow, this Denver offense in the first half.” Then talk about the new playcaller’s big media stories or how Bo Nix is not good, blah blah blah.
I’m sorry, but NFL football is more nuanced than that. That offense had 11 players who had to commit to make plays. 3rd downs are key, and they really had trouble making those downs. If you really want to get to the root of guilt problems, you’ll need to dig a little deeper.
Is it because Webb is annoying at calling plays?
He is a new playcaller for sure. He has actually made mistakes in every game this season. I also didn’t like some of his play calls (not that that matters…what Dragonslayer69 thinks in his Mom’s basement eating Cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew is about as mean as Chris Collinsworth’s pass interference calls).
You know who else keeps calling plays wrong? Sean Payton in every game I’ve watched since he joined the Broncos. Sean calls too many screens. He also ran away quickly and forgot to come back. He’s also one of the best play callers this league has ever seen, with rocks the size of boulders.
Always keep in mind that our human brain is designed to hold on to negative things and ignore good things. So yes, you might think Davis Webb was bad because of some play calls you’ll remember as bad. But let’s dig deeper and be better analysts here in Broncos Country. Note the good things Webb called. He has had more good calls than bad and will likely only get better with experience.
The offensive line has some work to do
A lot of the problems we see from this team in early games have to do with how the offensive line performs. We’ve seen right tackle Mike McGlinchey own up a few times earlier, costing him undue pressure.
We found the line to be pretty tough on run blocking as well. At the end of last season, I was harping on how often I see big holes for our backs who either can’t see them or can’t get past an arm tackle to use them to any great effect. I don’t see the same big holes so far this season. I also remember not seeing much of them last season.
It takes good blocking from the line and good running from the back for the run game to really have an impact.
The running back doesn’t look good
Honestly, we were unlucky with injuries early this season in the running back room. Jonah Coleman has a high ankle sprain, JK Dobbins has a hip and hamstring issue, and RJ Harvey also has a hamstring issue. Fortunately, none of these are major.
That said, Dobbins looked like a shell of his normal running self last week. I don’t think he’s anywhere near 100%.
We already know that RJ Harvey isn’t the back you think of as a bell and running between the tackles over and over again. That is not his forte.
I’m really excited about Coleman, but that ankle is holding him back from being the guy to step up and help get the offense going.
Without a good run game, the pass game gets extra pressure
Until this team figures out how to run the ball effectively, they will struggle to pass well when they need to early in games.
In each game, your team usually scripts a bunch of plays. All of this helps inform the offense about how the opponent will play them. So early in football games, there are more questions for your playcaller and quarterback. They don’t have as many reads as expected, so the play calls, pre-snap reads, and post-snap read time required are tighter.
But a run game that peels off 4-6 yards a pop will solve all of some of those problems. This forces defenses to get out of their 2-high shells and drop the help to stop the run. For some opponents, it will also mean more man looks in the passing game. That makes reading easier. This makes it easier to complete passes if we get mismatches (which we do often and constantly…thanks, Payton and Webb).
The first thing the team needs to do is address run-blocking problems the same way they addressed tough tackles earlier this season: drill it. Spend time in your week doing the boring work of blocking your run plays and teaching techniques.
Don’t force it, but make your back healthy. This is a no-brainer step and one that you can’t really do anything to speed up. Our training staff is one of the best in the league, so I know they’re done getting our guys right.
Finally, shake up the early game plan a bit. Often, early calls pass 5 yards deep at most. We are running on the first down in the predictable personnel group. Let’s design some intermediate quick throws as our early play to help set up the run. Quick outs and slants come to mind here. Play action on some of those early downs that teams let in as a run.
What does Broncos Nation think?
Hit the comments and let us know what you think of the issues. Is Bo Nix just a little early? Do we have a right back? Should we all come out of the gate not giving a damn, like Smokin Jay Cutler?