In total yards the Bronco' have been ranked:2007 - 9th2006 -8th2005 -2nd2004 - 4th2003 - 2nd2002 - 5th2001 - 10th2000- 3rdI think that is petty amazing that they have been a top 10 rushing team for the entire 21st century. I don't see how 2005 was a resurgence when it was the 4th top 5 rushing performace in a row.That being said the rushing offense has been declining the past 2 seasons and their key Olinemen are now old. Nalen will be 37 when the season starts. You really think he has anything left? I think the decline continues and the Broncos rushing offense falls out of the top 10 for the 1st time since 1999.
The "decline" is superficial only. Denver ranked 28th in the league in points allowed this season, marking the first time they've finished out of the top 10 since 2002. They were getting blown out more than they have in a long time, and so they were forced to abandon the run. They finished the year with 429 rushing attempts, by far the lowest total of Shanahan's tenure (the second lowest total was 457 in 2002, and Denver was over 500 attempts in each season 2003-2005).In terms of yards per attempt, Denver has finished 5th, 9th, 4th, 8th, 4th, 3rd. I see no decline there at all, just a little bit of random variation.Also, 2005 was a resurgence in the offensive line play. Looking at year-end ranks wouldn't show that- the way to see it is either by watching the line play that season (which was stellar), by looking at advanced metrics like DVOA or success rate, or by looking at the raw numbers compared to the best rushing seasons in Denver history. The three most impressive rushing seasons of the Shanahan era are 1998 (525/2468/26, 4.7 ypa), 2003 (543/2629/20, 4.8 ypa), and 2005 (542/2539/25, 4.7 ypa). In 1998, Denver got a 2,000 yard season out of Terrell Davis. In 2003, Clinton Portis was busy earning the richest RB contract in the league. In 2005, on the other hand, Denver's production came at the hands of Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell, two guys who were both dumped within 2 years. The line that season was PHENOMENAL. Lepsis, Nalen, and Hamilton all might have been the very best player at their position in the entire NFL that year.Anyway, Denver's key linemen may be getting old, but the system is still in place, and the running game will still be successful. Denver was successful running this year without Hamilton and Nalen. It was successful running last year without Lepsis. Its next generation of linemen all have another year under their belts, more time to build chemistry and improve their technique. People have been looking at the numbers and predicting the demise of the Denver running game for years now (first when Gibbs retired around 2000, then again after the injury-wrecked 2001 season, then again when Portis was traded, and again when Gibbs left his consultant role for the Falcons in 2004 or so, and again every year after that on the basis of the linemen getting older and this idea that every year we're one year further removed from Alex Gibbs' influence). I suppose if everyone keeps predicting the demise of Denver's running game every year, sooner or later they're finally going to get it right... but I personally believe they're going to have a lot more years of getting it wrong in the meantime.
