While it's true that the Denver Broncos have dropped two huge games in heartbreaking fashion the last couple of weeks, the offense has shown us at least one dominant drive a game and has given us some insight into why Denver might have a chance if they make the playoffs.
Against the Los Angeles Chargers, it was their opening drive on offense. Against the Cincinnati Bengals it was how they kicked off the second half to tie the game and set themselves up for success the rest of the game (at least through the end of regulation). And both of these drives featured similar formulas for success.
Run the dang ball.
Against the Chargers it was their ability to run some down hill, gap scheme stuff with Audric Estime that got the offense rolling. Against the Bengals it was Jaleel McLaughlin picking up big chunks on the ground with the zone scheme rolling. But both times the Broncos were picking up chunk yardage on the ground, the offensive line was throwing the defense around and making giant gaps up front.
That's what we'll be taking a look at today. How the offensive line set McLaughlin and Estime up for success and why the zone scheme worked so well against the defense the Bengals were playing. And specifically we'll be taking a look at every run play from their opening drive in the second half.
Game totals
The Broncos ran 20 total designed run plays against the Bengals, not including Bo Nix's QB sneak and any scrambles. They gained 92 yards for an average of 4.6 YPC. They had over two times the amount of rushing yards in the 2nd half as they did in the 1st.
The offensive line provided 42 yards before contact in this game with 33 of those yards coming in the 2nd half. They averaged 2.1 yards per carry before contact in the game and 2.4 YPCBC in the 2nd half.
18 of 20 rushes went for positive yards. They also had one rush go for no gain and just one rush was stopped in the backfield.
Denver ran everything almost exclusively out of Singleback, and in particular in a Tight Twins formation. They ran two plays out of Gun and one play out of Weak and I.
They ran the heck out of Inside Zone on Saturday with their favorite variation being Inside Zone Weak. They also ran Inside Zone Split, a little bit of Toss, and sprinkled in Power, Wham, Outside Zone, and Iso.
McLaughlin got the majority of carries with 10. Estime was close with nine carries and Marvin Mims had just one.
Eight of McLaughlin's 10 carries was some variation of Inside Zone and they also had him run a Toss and Outside Zone. All of his carries were out of Singleback and all of his carries went for positive yards. He was also provided with 3.9 YPCBC (39 of his total of 69 yards).
The Broncos were a bit more around the play sheet with Estime in the backfield. They ran him out of Singleback, Gun, Weak, and I and he also ran five different plays which were Inside Zone Weak (5), Iso (1), Toss (1), Power (1), and Wham (1). He gained 24 yards on nine carries (2.4 YPC) and was only given 0.6 YPCBC (0 total YBC in the 1st half and 5 in the 2nd).
Opening drive of the 2nd half totals
The Broncos ran seven times on this drive and gained 45 yards (6.4 YPC). The offensive line provided 29 YBC (4.1 YPCBC).
All but one play was out of Singleback with the other being out of Weak.
McLaughlin took five of the seven rushes with Estime and Mims getting one each.
Four of the runs were a variation of Inside Zone with them running IZ Weak twice and IZ Split twice. They also ran Toss twice and Outside Zone once.
This drive also featured the one run all game that went for a loss.
This drive was money. And it was because of the movement the offensive line was getting up front. The four man front that the Bengals were running hardly got in the way. And the slants the defensive line was running ended up working in Denver's favor most of the time.
The heavy use of IZ with McLaughlin leads to a lot of success and Jaleel's vision has gotten very good over the course of the season. I think it actually has been his biggest improvement this year.
All of the IZ also enabled the offensive line to show off their chemistry as these plays were heavy with double teams and they executed them very well. Working with his guards also allows Luke Wattenberg to mask his shortcoming when having to go against a head-up or slanting defensive lineman.
A quick note about the film. I know I normally use the end zone view, and typically I prefer it, but the sideline view makes it easier to see the displacement the offensive line is getting so I'll be using that instead.
The offensive line actually does a pretty good job handling their assignments with Bolles, Powers, and Meinerz getting attached to the first-level defenders and Wattenberg and McGlinchey get sticky on the backers.
In particular I really like what Meinerz does here. He washes down the slanting DT and keeps his playside hand on the side of the DT, preventing the DT to fight back into the pressure, which is what they're taught to do.
The main issue on this play is that with the DE slanting away, this ends up being a tough block for Trautman to have to make. He makes the right choice of attempting to just wash the DE across the play, but he's already too far into the backfield.
Nice move by McLaughlin to pick up a few yards on this one though.
I like this play that Payton calls. It's a Toss to Estime but the point of attack is still between the tackles, but it gives a big, strong guy Estime a little bit of steam and space to hit the line of scrimmage with.
Meinerz does a good job of moving the DT even with him showing off a great example of how to anchor as a defensive lineman. Wattenberg looks good getting up to backer and moving his guy down the field a little bit too.
Once again the issue they run into is the slanting DE being almost too much for Trautman to handle as he can't get his body across the DE's. It's a touch block but Trautman does a decent job, all things considered.
It's usually a good sign when the offense blocks up everyone in the box and forces the safety to have to crash down to make the play.
The slant away from the TE side that the Bengals are employing finally works in Denver's favor when they run this Zone Split. Trautman and the rest of the guys up front get excellent lateral displacement. And even though you typically leave the backside end man on the line of scrimmage for the player that pulls back across the play, that DE slants inside, leaving nothing but a ton of space on the edge.
McLaughlin runs right through the hole that Bolles and Trautman make, not being touched for another eight yards before he's finally taken down.
I hate this play and hope Denver never runs it again. At least not until next season.
Every run that they've ran with Mims in Singleback has been a toss to him. We know that, and opposing defenses especially know that. And you can see the backers cheat pre-snap to the strong side in anticipation of this.
They actually do a decent job of blocking this up and Mims likely has 5-6 yards if he keeps going outside, but it's hard to have a successful play when the entire defense is shifting to the play side and crashes hard. It's also hard when your center gets too far upfield, rather than getting more across the field, and is unable to cut off the backer that makes the tackle.
Payton needs to put in a naked boot to the left with this same look and they'll have 15+ yards every time.
If you have a play that works, go back to it. Even it it's on the same drive.
The heroes of this play is the left side of the offensive line. Bolles completely walls off one of the better DEs in the league this year while Powers and Wattenberg demonstrate essentially what is perfect technique on a deuce block. The way Wattenberg disengages from the block by throwing the DT across Powers' face and then goes to the backer is awesome. I love it.
These blocks are why McLaughlin isn't touched until he's already eight yards down field.
Now that the Bengals have been gashed twice on this drive by Inside Zone Split, they play a base defense up front and don't slant. And now the Broncos switch things up and run to the weak side and gash them anyway.
McGlinchey gets a money out block on the DE and Meinerz does a great job of feeling where the DT is trying to go and washes him across the field and right by where the hole opens up. And maybe the best part of this play is Wattenberg hitting a backer into one of his own guys.
Easy gain for a speedy guy like McLaughlin to pick up as he gets 11 yards before contact.
The Bengals finally learn their lesson on this drive and slant away from the TE and bring two backers on a blitz to the strong side. This disrupts the offensive line, not allowing for them to get much vertical displacement. And the key missed block here is the one by Meinerz. He's not able to get across the A gap quick enough as he doesn't gain much ground with his first step, and that allows the backer to get by him. At least by him enough to disrupt the flow in the backfield and forces McLaughlin back to the right, right into the blitz.
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the defense.
I love the look the Broncos were getting out of the zone-scheme this week, and on this drive in particular. It's a great way to deal with a defense that wants to be heavy on their slants up front.
Now if Denver encounters a defense like this again, they need to have some naked boots and play actions ready. And throwing in at least a couple of RPOs a game would go a long way in terms of keeping a defense at bay and guessing.