Here's what I have become to learn about Manning - he is a one-trick pony. he thrives in the shotgun, but that historically has severely limited his teams running attack.
The last time a Manning led team was even average running the football was 2006, when they were 16th in terms of yards per attempt. The last time Manning's RB had >1100 yards was in 2005 (Edgerrin James).
IMO, the strength of Mannings personality, coupled with what he can do from the shotgun, has seduced every coach he has ever had into a very one dimensional offense. It leads to the "Star Wars" numbers in the passing game, but as we all know, one dimensional offenses tend to come up short in January.
It really is odd how Manning can't play from under center.
Kubiak is the first coach to identify this and try to work around it - amazing no one else figured this out.
I'd go the opposite way and say that everyone Manning has ever worked for figured it out and Kubiak is the first one who didn't get it. Of course Manning is better in the shotgun. He's done it his entire career. He's an offensive genius who's been an all-time top five quarterback without an ounce of athleticism. He doesn't like having to drop back before throwing, thus taking his eyes off the defense. Plus, it takes him two seconds to back up and get to where he could have been 10 seconds before the snap.
Does that hurt the running game? Of course. To a degree. But I seem to recall a lot of great games by Denver backs the last few years. As I do the old Colts teams. I also recall Marshall Faulk being fairly successful with Kurt Warner working from the shotgun. THAT'S what Kubiak needs to figure out. Trying to teach an old dog a new trick was one of the dumbest coaching moves in league history.
disagree strongly. Mannings playoff failures are well documented. I'm proposing that these have been, in a large part, because his teams are one dimensional.
"Lots of great games by Denver backs the last few years" - do you mean late last season, when the only way the Broncos could manufacture any offense was by putting 6 or 7 OL on the field? Do you mean that game in NE when moreno had a huge game, because the Patriots sold out to stop Manning and eventually won in OT? The games that stick in my craw were the 2012 Ravens playoff game - 125 rushing yards on 41 attempts (3.05 YPA), and the 2013 SB ( 27 rushing yards on 14 attempts (1.93 YPA).
"the old Colt teams" - the last time the Colts had an NFL average running game w/ 2005...these are teams that routinely won 12 or more games, and in theory, the threat of Manning/Harrison/Wayne should have really opened up running lanes, yet they were never even NFL average in terms of yards per carry.
"Marshall Faulk and the Rams" - in 1999-2001, the Rams were the #1 or #2 running team in the league (y/a). Not sure how often Warner was in shotgun, but clearly they were effective. Manning's teams have never been that effective.
Kubiak/Elway know that the Manning shotgun offense is a recipe for a quick exit in the playoffs. That has to change.