The Denver Broncos shocked the football cognoscenti by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. Denver has now beaten both Super Bowl participants for their signature wins. Atop the AFC West, 9-2, and the No. 1 seed in the AFC Conference, the Broncos can now look forward to the second half of the season. Coming out of the bye, there are two things the Broncos must implement.
Why the Run Game and Play Action Are the Keys for the Broncos
The Broncos can not waste one of the best defensive seasons in franchise history. ESPN‘s Jeff Legwold chimed in on the situation.
“Nix is obviously uncomfortable at times in the scheme, while his footwork and choices in the pocket aren’t as consistent as they were last season. So, maybe the Broncos can run the ball more, with some play-action, to settle things down or perhaps dial back to a menu of things he is comfortable doing. But the past month has looked suspiciously like all involved on offense are beating their collective heads against the wall,” Legwold wrote.
While the Broncos got the win in Week 11 against the Chiefs, establishing the run is like quotes in a story: It’ll only help the article. Yes, Nix threw for 295 yards, but you don’t want defenses to be able to key in on the pass if the Broncos can’t run the ball without running back J.K. Dobbins, No. 14 in PFSN’s RB Impact Score.
In Week 11 without Dobbins, Denver carried the ball 21 times for 59 yards. This is an inflection point for the Broncos. The Broncos’ offense must double down on what it’s been doing the past month and hope it’s Nix’s growing pains or commit to an inefficient running game.
Out-of-the-box thinking, the Broncos should run RPOs with Nix to combat the inefficient running game. It’ll keep the defense guessing and piggyback off Nix’s 295 passing yards against the Chiefs, a Texans-like defense.
Nix won’t throw for 295 yards every week with that bad of inefficiency from the running game, but the running game won’t be that inefficient with RPOs. It’ll be interesting for Broncos fans to see what the Broncos’ offense looks like coming out of the bye in Week 12. Legwold hit the nail on its head.