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A weekly look at what the Denver Broncos must fix:
Even as they pile up the touchdowns and prepare to face a New York Jets secondary with plenty of question marks, the search for some kind of consistency in the run game is still on for the Broncos. In four games, they have had 24 carries -- or 24.2 percent of their season total -- go for either no gain or negative yardage.
The split is 11 carries for no gain and 13 for negative yardage. Montee Ball, in particular, had four carries that went for no gain against the Indianapolis Colts, three for negative yardage against Seattle and two for negative yardage against Arizona.
Against the Cardinals’ active front Sunday, the Broncos had particular problems with Calais Campbell inside, especially when he was splitting the gap between center Manny Ramirez and left guard Orlando Franklin, as he did to tackle Ronnie Hillman for a 1-yard loss late in the second quarter.
The bulk of the negative plays against the Cardinals came when the Broncos were in a three-wide receiver set with Julius Thomas in at tight end. In that scenario, Thomas is often asked to work at the point of attack. While Thomas is nightmare matchup in the passing game, defenses target him at the point of attack in the run game.
Cardinals defensive end Matt Shaughnessy consistently overwhelmed Thomas in one-on-one situations in the run game. Shaughnessy beat Thomas to get Ball for no gain in the second quarter, beat Thomas again later in the second quarter to force Ball back inside -- where he was tackled for a 2-yard loss -- and again in the fourth quarter to tackle Hillman for no gain.
In short, an offense built for next-level performance in the passing game still leaves too many gaps up front when they switch to run mode, especially when they work out of their favored three-wide set.
FULL ARTICLE: http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post...-lie-broncos-3
Even as they pile up the touchdowns and prepare to face a New York Jets secondary with plenty of question marks, the search for some kind of consistency in the run game is still on for the Broncos. In four games, they have had 24 carries -- or 24.2 percent of their season total -- go for either no gain or negative yardage.
The split is 11 carries for no gain and 13 for negative yardage. Montee Ball, in particular, had four carries that went for no gain against the Indianapolis Colts, three for negative yardage against Seattle and two for negative yardage against Arizona.
Against the Cardinals’ active front Sunday, the Broncos had particular problems with Calais Campbell inside, especially when he was splitting the gap between center Manny Ramirez and left guard Orlando Franklin, as he did to tackle Ronnie Hillman for a 1-yard loss late in the second quarter.
The bulk of the negative plays against the Cardinals came when the Broncos were in a three-wide receiver set with Julius Thomas in at tight end. In that scenario, Thomas is often asked to work at the point of attack. While Thomas is nightmare matchup in the passing game, defenses target him at the point of attack in the run game.
Cardinals defensive end Matt Shaughnessy consistently overwhelmed Thomas in one-on-one situations in the run game. Shaughnessy beat Thomas to get Ball for no gain in the second quarter, beat Thomas again later in the second quarter to force Ball back inside -- where he was tackled for a 2-yard loss -- and again in the fourth quarter to tackle Hillman for no gain.
In short, an offense built for next-level performance in the passing game still leaves too many gaps up front when they switch to run mode, especially when they work out of their favored three-wide set.
FULL ARTICLE: http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post...-lie-broncos-3
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