By the end of the first half all of us were screaming at our TV’s for the Denver Broncos to run the dang ball. After the game we found out that it was partially Bo Nix to blame for a lack of run plays in the first half (he would check out of many of them), but Sean Payton did take the majority of the blame. And we also saw this type of play calling last year. A lot of passing.
But this year should be different. The Broncos actually have a legitimate backfield at their disposal. That was made very
apparent in the second half.
And that’s what I want to take a look at. The second half felt a lot more productive on the ground. Why is that? I’ll attempt to answer that question.
Stat crunch
*All stats are for designed carries by Harvey and Dobbins only*
The Broncos running backs ran the ball 22 times on Sunday for a total of 133 yards (6 ypc). In the first half they had seven rushes for 24 yards (3.4 ypc) and the second half had 15 rushes for 109 yards (7.3 ypc).
JK Dobbins took the larger load with 16 carries (four in the first half) and RJ Harvey had six carries (three in the first half).
Denver mostly ran out of Singleback (nine times), but they also line up in the I (five times), Pistol (five times), and Gun (three times). Singleback was their primary formation in either half, but the I formation brought them more successful rushes (any rush of four or more yards) of any formation in the latter half. Gun was essentially useless, and Pistol produced Harvey’s 50-yard carry.
The Broncos had nine successful rushes out of their 22 carries (41% success rate). Two of them came in the first half (29%) and seven of them came in the second (47%).
Both of their carries in 21 personnel went for eight yards (100% successful rush rate), and each half featured one rush out of that personnel package. 11 personnel had three successful rushes on seven attempts (43%) and all of those came in the second half. 22 personnel was their third-best package with two successful rushes on five attempts (40%). All rushes out of this personnel package came in the second half, all of them were with Dobbins, and it also accounted for their sole rushing touchdown.
Play-wise, Inside Zone ruled their scheme, with Inside Zone, Inside Zone Swipe, and Inside Zone Lead accounting for 59% of play calls. They netted them 55 yards (4.2 ypc) and accounted for seven successful rushes. Most of these came in the second half.
In the first half the most rushes they had on a single drive were two, and this happened twice. In the second half the most rushes they had on a single drive were four, and this happened twice.
In general
The Broncos didn’t switch things up much from the first to the second half. They game plan stayed the same. They were going to stay mostly out of Singleback in 11 personnel, run a lot of Inside Zone (Swipe and Lead), and they were going to primarily stick with Dobbins.
And while they did actually stick to running the ball on a given drive in the second half it only netted them 11 yards on the first drive and 16 on the second. However on that latter drive it was near the end of the game in obvious run situations and up until the last rush when they last three yards, they had 19 yards on three carries. I’d count that as a success and their best rushing-drive of the game.
Besides that drive, their runs were sporadic, which resulted in sporadic success.
They had three rushes that broke 10 yards. Two of those came out of the I on Inside Zone Lead and Power Lead. With these personnel packages the Broncos actually got on the Tennessee Titans defense pretty well. Dobbins was impressive in this look and he ran with some serious strength.
I’d credit these big rushes to, of course, a solid execution of the scheme by the offensive line, and these new running backs made a world of difference. Harvey was making some great cuts on his big run and Dobbins lowered that nasty stiff arm on his touchdown run. They weren’t making these plays last year.
I loved the play calling for the offensive line as well. They were putting together some strong double teams and were able to move the line of scrimmage, usually. Both Bolles and McGlinchey were solid on the edges, and the constant double teams helped to cover up the weaknesses of Wattenberg and Powers. However, Wattenberg did not have a good game, and Powers was only decent. Now just in the execution of run blocks, it felt like Wattenberg made some mistakes in making the proper Mike call, among other mental cues.
But just by looking at the numbers, the Broncos didn’t change things up at halftime. Their scheme stayed the same. Their successful rushes in the second half were some of the same play calls they had in the first half, except those ones didn’t go for four or more yards.
But those bigger and better numbers come from the fact that they had 15 rushes. If you keep running the ball, then obviously it increases the chances of busting a long one. Given the talent of this offensive line and running back group, I’m sure they’ll be able to manage at least one of these big runs a game.
The specifics
Let’s take a look at some of their most successful rushes and see what we can gleam from it.
Inside Zone – Pistol Strong – 21 Personnel – Gain of 8
RJ Harvey’s first career carry goes for a solid gain a the Broncos get the interior double teams rolling with this Inside Zone call. Bolles actually does a great job getting on his horse to cut off #98, allowing for Powers to get up to backer. Meinerz does a good job staying head up with the backer as he tries to adjust to Harvey and McGlinchey makes a solid wall on the outside.
Harvey does a good job of brushing off initial contact and he moves with precision through the blocks. No back, maybe besides Jaleel McLaughlin, would be able to pull this off last year.
Trap – Pistol Tight – 11 Personnel – Gain of 50
I’m pretty sure there was a mistake made in the blocking of this play. With the move the TE throws, the jab step towards the DE, it appears like this is Long Trap, but either McGlinchey or Trautman fail to get a good block on the playside DT, forcing Meinerz to have to block him rather than the DE. But this works out because the DE is unable to get around the DT, opening up a big hole for Harvey.
And just like the last play, Harvey slices through the blocks, works his way up field, and then makes a man miss, en route to a big gain. There’s no way the Broncos pull this off last year with their talent pool.
Inside Zone Lead – I Heavy – 22 Personnel – Gain of 19, TD
The first rushing touchdown of the year goes to JK Dobbins as he takes this smash-mouth-type-of play 19 yards to the house, with the rush being capped off by a nasty stiff arm on the safety.
Everyone across the board throws a great block. The double teams between Powers/ Wattenberg and Meinerz/ McGlinchey are handled well. This play gives me a lot of hope for Wattenberg. In fact I don’t remember a block that looks better than this one. And I know he gets some help from Powers, who does deliver a nice shot, but Wattenberg manages to get a guy like Jeffery Simmons to the ground. This is great.
Power Lead – I Heavy – 22 Personnel – Gain of 12
Here’s one of my favorite play calls: Power out of the I formation. This is football right here, and the Broncos execute it very nicely.
The down blocks are money across the line, including Powers helping McGlinchey to wrangle the slanting DE, smashing him square in the ribs. Bolles gets his guy securely out of the gap and Meinerz chunks the linebacker out of the way.
And to top it off, Dobbins makes a clean cut to make the first safety miss.
Final thoughts
The Broncos know what they’re about when it comes to the run game. They’re here to run the heck out of Inside Zone and bring the power with the 22 personnel. And when they can get their play calling to consistently pound the rock (helps by stopping Nix from checking out of a run every time), they’ll be able to make things happen. When watching the film, I actually like a decent amount of what they did. They took very little negative plays on the ground, and the Titans boast one of the better defensive lines in the league. They just need to keep chopping.
My biggest takeaway though is just how much better the Broncos running back room got this offseason. There is a night and day difference between this year and last, and it gives me tons of confidence as we head into Week Two and beyond.
