As the second half between the Broncos and New York Jets started in the rain Sunday, head coach Sean Payton provided a glimpse into his mindset.
CBS sideline reporter Evan Washburn asked him on the broadcast what Denver’s offense could hang its hat on for the final 30 minutes given the steady precipitation.
“Well, look, I thought we ran it pretty well,” Payton said. “Field position will be important. Obviously — we kind of think it plays a little bit to our advantage.”
He mentioned third downs and defense, too, but the note about the run game stood out.
Denver did indeed have good-looking rushing stats through the first 30 minutes. So why did it seem like a peculiar comment?
Well, the Broncos didn’t score in the first half. They were averaging 5.3 yards per carry and rookie QB Bo Nix was 7-of-15 passing for minus-7 yards. And yet Payton’s offense had run 16 pass plays against just nine rushes.
That changed after halftime.
The weather dried out and Nix hit a couple of big chunks through the air to Courtland Sutton, but the Broncos also rushed the ball 20 of their 31 second-half snaps.
They ran it from under center, in the gun and from the pistol. They ran outside zone and duo and traps. They ran it once or twice with Nix himself, but mostly with Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin.
They ran it behind an offensive line that played really poorly the first two weeks of the season but has taken tangible steps forward in each of the past two weeks and looks as though it could be primed to round further into form on the upcoming homestand.
“The closeness, the brotherhood we have, the desire we have, everyone wants to win for each other. It feels different,” left tackle Garett Bolles said after Denver’s gut-it-out 10-9 win. “We care about each other, love each other and want the best for each other. We feed off each other. Second year in the offense. We know if those five up front take care of business we can pull out gritty, grimy things like this.
“When we do our job the ball should bounce in our way.”
The group is a veteran one, though less so the past two weeks with Alex Palczewski in at right tackle for Mike McGlinchey (knee). Still, captain and right guard Quinn Meinerz has said repeatedly he wants the offense on the shoulders of the front quintet.
“That’s still a work in progress, but I want it to rest on their shoulders, too,” Payton said Monday. “Especially late in the game.”
Denver ran the ball 16 times for 74 yards before their final two drives — a frustrating three-and-out that could have sealed the game and then eventually two kneeldowns in victory formation.
Before that, Denver was at 4.9 yards per carry on 26 attempts overall.
“Three and 4 yards wasn’t enough in a game like this,” said Meinerz, who got a game ball from Payton afterward. “We really had to lock in and focus when we got those runs called. We were fighting to get 6, 7 yards a carry. When the offensive line is able to get 6 yards a carry, that’s going to make the play caller give us more runs, more runs.
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“We all made it a very focused effort to run the ball in the second half, and especially in the third quarter. And it paid off.”
The group has also been better in protection the past two weeks. Nix was sacked four times in Denver’s first two games. After a second-quarter Week 2 sack by Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, however, Nix has gone 10-plus quarters without being sacked. That’s a stretch of 94 straight dropbacks and counting.
“I think the sacks statistic by and large is more a quarterback statistic than an offensive line statistic,” Payton said, noting as he has several times that Nix was good at avoiding them in college. “… Then certainly with the offensive line, that’s a pretty good front we just played. There were a handful of matchup concerns and protection issues that we discussed.”
The Broncos handled them well. Each game will be slightly different, but keeping Nix clean and committing to the run game would be a good start every week.
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