By Nick Gustafson
McDaniels marched into Denver this spring, full of confidence and boasting of an offensive mind that would revolutionize the game of football. 14 weeks into the season and with a majority of the offense’s stars returning, the Broncos have fallen well below last years rankings. There’s nothing revolutionary about taking last year’s 2nd ranked offense in the NFL and turning it into this year’s 17th ranked offense. McDaniels does deserve a ton of credit for what he has done with the team as a whole, but where is this offense he promised?
A year removed from designing the record breaking offense of the Patriots, most expected that McDaniels would bring with him that high scoring and exciting mindset. With the weapons that the Broncos had on offense similar results were expected, but that has been far from the case. The Broncos offense has been less productive than your local politician this year. Even with the bevy of talented receivers and our number one draft pick at running back, the Broncos rank 25th in plays over 20 yards. That amounts to a slow moving meticulous offense that can’t afford a small setback, not exactly a great plan for a group still learning on the job.
It is well known that McDaniel’s offense is very complicated and changes each week with every new opponent. Is it possible that the offense is too complicated? Perhaps on occasion it would be better to just line up and try to out muscle or outplay your opponent rather than out think or confuse them. Sure being prepared and knowing the tendencies of your opponent can’t hurt, but at times it comes down to just lining up and beating the guy in front of you. Its time for the Broncos to go out and dictate what is going to happen on offense rather than allowing the opposing defense to call the shots.
The Broncos have been awful in short yardage situations this year and McDaniels seems to make illogical play calls when those situations arise. Too often he tries to trick or surprise his opponent by lining up in a 3 receiver formation and then running the ball. More often than not, especially versus the Colts, the Broncos are unsuccessful. Those are just the type of scenarios when the Broncos need to line up in a heavy front, put Spencer Larson at Fullback and Peyton Hillis at Tailback and let them and the offensive line earn their paychecks. Knowshon Moreno is a good running back that has what it takes to be great, but when it comes to short yardage situations he lacks the straight ahead, hard nosed running ability that the Broncos need to pick up those tough yards.
Peyton Hillis was just that running back for the Broncos last year, but it took injuries to other players in order for him to get his chance. This week versus the Raiders may be a very similar situation for him. With Correll Buckhalter nursing a sprained ankle and the recent failures in short yardage situations, this may be the week that Hillis gets to display his talents once more. If he can impress with the few touches that he gets, Peyton Hillis may just be the spark the Broncos offense needs to get going down the stretch. Don’t be surprised if you see the Hillis and Larson combo in the backfield in short yardage situations during this week’s Raiders game.
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