The Denver Broncos‘ offensive line (and running backs) came to play against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football in Week 7.
Broncos running back Javonte Williams had the first two-touchdown game of his career in a 33-10 win over the Saints, and he went untouched on one of his scores. Williams ended the day with 88 rushing yards and Denver totaled 225 yards on the ground as a team.
That represented the Broncos’ best single-game rushing total in more than a decade. The last time Denver topped 224 yards on the ground was 2013 when they totaled 280 rushing yards against the New England Patriots.
“He had to have been good,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said after Thursday’s win when asked about Williams’ big day. “I didn’t see all of the numbers. We actually were going to come out early, mix in the run and the read option. Bo (Nix) did a great job. We got a penalty called on one that was an impossible penalty. He threw the ball in .5 seconds and we got called for someone downfield (illegal downfield pass). It can’t happen meaning it’s an impossibility. I thought all of that clicked. We blocked them.
“You get a sense right away how you are matching up. Really from the late second quarter on it was pressure. We got a lot more zone tonight from this team maybe to keep more eyes on Bo. He did a good job with his feet. Javonte had some really good runs. When you have a night like that rushing and the time of possession, the script was flipped a little bit from last week. Fortunately from our defense, they got some rest.”
Denver’s big day on the ground was boosted by Nix’s 75 rushing yards, tied for sixth-most by a Broncos quarterback in a single game in franchise history.
“I think it is just an added bonus,” Nix said when asked what his rushing ability adds to the offense.”Obviously, you want to run the ball with running backs in special ways and get behind the o-line. At times, things break down and those hidden yards, I think, are really important. They get extra first downs, and they are ways of sneaking yards in. So, that was good to see, good to use, and we have to continue to do that when it’s there.”
As for Williams, he ended the night with an impressive 6.3 yards per carry average, but he’s still not satisfied with his performance.
“There are still some things that I can clean up and some things that I can improve on,” Williams said. “I am just going to watch the film and get better.”
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