Denver Broncos current rushing attack needs complete makeover

Travis Wakeman

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Denver Broncos current rushing attack needs complete makeover image

Following a 23-16 Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, many Denver Broncos fans are criticizing the offense of the team, focusing their verbal attacks on the shortcomings of rookie quarterback Bo Nix. But Nix is not the reason the Broncos are losing. 

There are several issues and almost all of them are on the offensive side of the ball. Playcalling and a lack of playmakers on offense are hindering Nix as he navigates through his rookie season, but what about the running game? It has often been said that a quarterback's best friend is a solid rushing attack. Well, that's one thing Nix is not getting. 

The Broncos have been pedestrian at running the ball this season. On Sunday, the team's leading rusher was Nix with 61 yards. The second-leading rusher was Javonte Williams with only 23 yards. 

 

Williams was coming off a solid effort against the Las Vegas Raiders, but he doesn't look anything like a No. 1 running back anymore. Against the Chargers, he was given just six carries. As a team, the Broncos called only 11 running plays that were run by running backs and they averaged 4.0 yards per carry. 

That's a decent average, but it's not nearly enough rushing attempts. The problem against the Chargers was the Broncos didn't have enough plays. They ran just 53 total plays in the game, compared to the Chargers' 75. Because they were trailing the entire game, they were trying to play catch-up by throwing the ball. 

This is not conducive to winning for this team. 

Denver Broncos need to revamp their rushing attack

Sean Payton needs to take a different approach in all aspects of his game plan.

The Broncos need to be the team that controls time of possession. Nix excelled in the short and quick passing game in college and the Broncos don't have him doing that. However, if they can establish the run early in games, nothing will help Nix settle in more than that. 

Williams needs to become less of a focus. The Broncos can use him in certain situations, but Audric Estime should start to get more work. Jaleel McLaughlin should see more than three touches a game and the idea of having undrafted free agent Blake Watson up on gameday, rather than on the inactive list, should be a strong consideration as well. 

Simply put, if the Broncos approach running the ball the way they did on Sunday against the Chargers, they are not going to win many more games this year. If teams can sit back and wait to take advantage of a young Nix, who is put out of his element with poor play calls, then things will continue to look ugly for this offense. 

Losing Tyler Badie hurt, as it looked like he was going to be a sparkplug for this team, but the Broncos need to find that with someone like McLaughlin or Watson and ride the young bruiser Estime while moving Williams to more of a situational role. 

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Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.