Broncos shift to passing lane
Denver redirecting offense to take advantage of talent at QB, receiver
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 08/20/2008 01:43:03 AM MDT
If the playbook hasn't changed, it's been rearranged.
Far more passing plays, from a multitude of formations, have been slipped to the front. Those two one-cut, zone-blocking plays — one starting to the right, the other starting to the left — always will have their place in Chapter 1 of the Broncos' playbook.
It's just that the First Book of Shanahan has become much thicker with diagrams that utilize the talents of a franchise quarterback in Jay Cutler and a freakishly talented wide receiver in Brandon Marshall.
Through the Broncos' first two preseason games, Mike Shana-han and quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates have called 30 passes and 14 running plays for the first-team offense.
And the preseason is when Shanahan usually guards his playbook from enemy film projectionists. There's one more preseason stat worth gawking at: The Broncos' first-string offense scored touchdowns on three of its first four drives.
Could 2008 be the rebirth of the Mastermind?
"I have noticed we've been doing more passing, using more three wides early on," said Brandon Stokley, who as the Broncos' No. 3 receiver would be the first to notice an increase in three-receiver sets. "We have the ability to give defenses tough matchups with our receivers. In this league it's all about making big plays. It's hard to go 80 yards in 12 plays. Teams that make the big plays win the game. And we have difference-makers on the outside."
The Broncos didn't get their first touchdown from outside the 9-yard line last season until their sixth game, and their offense didn't score from outside the 20 until its 10th game.
In reassessing the offense for this season, the Broncos' offensive brain trust first looked at its talent. Cutler was a first-round pick. Marshall plays like he should have been a first-round pick. "Receiving" tight end Tony Scheffler and rookie wide receiver Eddie Royal were second-round picks.
Meanwhile, the Broncos have an undrafted tailback committee of Selvin Young, Andre Hall and possibly Anthony Alridge. All are quick, smaller backs capable of inflicting significant damage in eight to 12 carries a game.
But having stars at the passing positions and complementary-type runners at tailback doesn't logically add up to 3 yards and a cloud of dust.
"Right now a strong part of our offense is the passing game," said Daniel Graham, Denver's "blocking" tight end. "But we're eventually going to have to get the running game going because when it gets colder out here, you'll have to run that ball."
Evolution of balance
Since Shanahan took charge in 1995, the Broncos have been a balanced offense that leaned slightly toward running the ball.
"That's not necessarily true," Cutler said. "Watching a lot of clips from three, four, five years ago, they were in a lot of empty sets. They were throwing all over the place, especially with Elway, they threw their fair share of deep balls and empty sets."
For a third-year quarterback who grew up in the South, Cutler has a decent grasp of Broncos history. John Elway has been retired for almost 10 years, but he did throw the ball deep, sometimes to the far right after scrambling left. Even from 1999-2002, when Brian Griese was the quarterback, the Broncos threw more than they ran, although rarely did a pass go deep.
It was really during the four-year Jake Plummer era that Shanahan reshaped his offense into primarily a run-first, run-on-third-and-3,
Jay Cutler passed for 3,497 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, just his second year in the NFL. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images )
mix-in-the-play-action-rollout scheme. And it mostly worked. The Broncos went 39-15 with Plummer as their starter.
But it was also in the Plummer years that the Broncos reinforced their offensive identity as zone-blocking, one-cut rushing system — an identity that's carried with honor at Dove Valley, even as the current offense is clearly built around a strong-armed quarterback.
"The history of the running game here has been a weapon," Bates said. "It's feared by every defensive coordinator in the league. That does open the passing game up a little bit. Teams are a little more hesitant to pressure us as much as other teams because we run the ball on third-and-5 and get the first down. Some of the passing game is the result of our run game is so good."
From an objective distance, former Broncos guard and ESPN football analyst Mark Schlereth had a different perspective on the Broncos' first two preseason games. He noticed fullback Cecil Sapp and Graham staying in on most plays for extra protection. With the inexperienced Ryan Harris at right tackle and Ryan Clady at left tackle, Schlereth believes the Broncos are throwing more in the preseason because they want to sort out their protection packages.
"I think the Broncos feel pretty confident that they know how to run the ball," Schlereth said. "I think you'll still see the Broncos run the ball 25 to 30 times a game. It just might be three guys who get those carries."
A running game is relative in today's NFL. On average, 55 percent of the league's plays last year were passes. And it wasn't just the losing teams throwing while trying to catch up. Green Bay and Dallas both finished 13-3 last year while employing a 60-40, pass-run ratio. New England, 18-0 until the Super Bowl, threw until it built huge second-half leads, at which point it sometimes mixed in running plays.
Those three teams were quarterbacked by Brett Favre, Tony Romo and Tom Brady, respectively. With Cutler as the Broncos' quarterback, Shanahan can call passes 30 out of 44 plays and score touchdowns three out of four times.
"I don't think we're going to be one of those teams that will drop back and throw every play, like New England did last year," Stokley said. "But as I've been around a year now, I see Jay becoming more and more that guy that can take over a game. He hasn't done anything to make you believe otherwise with those first two preseason games."
