Upon Further Review: What is Broncos’ identity in run game under Sean Payton?

SEATTLE — The Broncos’ first offensive snap of the 2024 season was straight out of a power football fever dream.

Quarterback Bo Nix under center. Running back Javonte Williams behind. Just one receiver in the formation but three tight ends.

Set up at the Seattle 20-yard line, Williams blasted for 9 yards as he wound back behind the left side of the offensive line and past an effective kickout block by tight end Adam Trautman.

Instead of stamping an early identity, though, the first play ended up fleeting in a 26-20 loss to the Seahawks. Rather than sticking to the run game when it worked early, head coach Sean Payton and the offense got tilted toward throwing the ball even before they fell behind and ultimately ended up with 49 drop-backs against just 20 non-quarterback runs.

“Heck no,” Payton said afterward when asked if that was the plan going in.

Denver churned out 5.1 yards per carry on its first nine Week 1 attempts. The Broncos held the lead at halftime despite failing in the red zone three times and generating just 27 total yards on their three field goal drives.

Instead of committing to the run game with the lead and a rookie quarterback in a hostile environment, the Broncos lost their way.

Instead of imposing their will behind a big, expensive offensive line, the Broncos were dictated to by a first-time head coach.

So perhaps the better question as it pertains to the Broncos run game isn’t if a 29% designed run rate (20 non-scramble runs on 69 offensive plays) was the plan against Seattle, but rather: What’s the plan going forward? What do the Broncos want their run-game identity to be? And do they have the stomach — or talent — to forge it?

“We’re not just going to be a spread, shotgun, RPO offense only,” Payton said Monday, referring to run-pass options. “There’s times when I don’t want the ‘P’ in the RPO. There’s times when you want to be able to control the game and run it regardless of the front and the coverage.”

Denver’s run-game efficiency was at best hit-and-miss. That despite entering the season with an offensive line with four starters who are making $12 million or more this year and own four of the 11 highest salary cap charges on the roster.

Right guard Quinn Meinerz said his unit has to protect Nix better when he drops back to pass, “but also create a good run game for him as well so we can marry all these things together instead of having to drop back 40 times.”

Added Payton, “One of the key things that was important in this game was winning the run-game battle, and we weren’t able to do that. We struggled. Efficiency on first and second down was one of our keys to victory and we were anything but.”

With the ball and a 13-9 lead to open the second half, Jaleel McLaughlin was dropped for minus-4 on the first play. Three-and-out.

On the next drive, McLaughlin ripped off a 15-yard run — the Broncos’ longest rush of the day — so Payton went back to the well. Except Audric Estime picked up 2 on first down and McLaughlin was stuffed for minus-3 on second-and-8. Drive scuttled. McLaughlin fumbled on a third-and-11 reception to make matters worse.

“There’s always that balance of, man, we’re attempting to and then it’s hard to keep (doing it),” Payton said. “And so whether it’s base personnel, we’re going to look at the tape and we’re going to say this and that, but we’ve got to evaluate — us as coaches — we’ve got to evaluate the run plan and why it wasn’t as effective as we would like.

“It’s going to be hard to play quarterback, period if that’s the best we can do running the ball.”

In Payton’s tenure, the Broncos have been a purveyor of much and master of little in the run game. They’re some inside zone and some outside. Some gap and some duo. The occasional designed quarterback stuff, though none Sunday with Nix.

But in gotta-have-it moments or in that moment when they have a chance to take control of a game, they’ve rarely accomplished it. There’s a reason the team was so ebullient after a 29-12 win over Cleveland last year. They dominated a tough, physical, eventual playoff team and imposed their will while bulling to 162 rushing yards.

How many other times has that happened? Sunday was the eighth time in 18 games under Payton that the Broncos have failed to hit 100 rushing yards in a game.

They’ve still got time to make strides this fall, of course. Payton often talks about the race through the first quarter of the season as the period in which teams make the most strides in determining who they are and how to maximize that.

Whether the Broncos figure out what they want to be about on the ground will go a long way toward setting the ceiling and the floor for 2024.

One small thing to like: DE Zach Allen didn’t light up the box score, but he played 65 of 67 snaps, generated a pair of pressures, tackled RB Zach Charbonnet for a safety and overall he looks set to benefit significantly from Denver’s overhauled defensive line.

One small thing to dislike: Nix looked like he started to back out from under center Luke Wattenberg early on a first-and-goal snap from the 9-yard line on the Broncos’ best early scoring chance. The false start cost Denver 5 yards after a muffed punt and JL Skinner recovery set the offense up beautifully. The offense went three-and-out and settled for a FG and an 8-3 lead.

One number that jumps out: Just 12 offensive snaps for Marvin Mims Jr., the 2023 second-round pick. That was fifth-most among receivers for the Broncos. Matchup-driven or a continuation of his relatively quiet camp?

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