Tag: run game

Sean Payton reveals where Broncos need to improve

Sean Payton wants the Broncos to protect the ball on offense and stop the run on defense in the second half of the season.

Halfway through the 2024 NFL season, the Denver Broncos have a winning record (5-4), but there’s plenty of room for improvement.

During his conference call with reporters earlier this week, Broncos coach Sean Payton was asked in what areas he’d like to see the team improve in the second half of the season. Payton was forthcoming with a lengthy response.

“Great question,” Payton said. “Actually at halftime this past weekend, we were right at halftime of the season I believe. I think back to one important statistic, and that deals with the running game. The consistency of us offensively rushing the football efficiently. Our continued success that we’ve had, prior to yesterday, at defending the run is going to be vital to this team winning.

“We’re minus one right now in the turnover battle. If we’re having that discussion towards the end of the season, that’s not going to be good. So that has to be something in our favor. I start with those two things off the top of my head and understanding our margin for error relative to the giveaway-takeaway ratio.

“When your program is further along and you get to a spot — we did this study the other day and it was pretty interesting — you look at the elite teams in our history, who were the best teams at surviving minus turnovers? One of the Broncos, I think the [2015] Broncos team, was one of the teams listed. Certainly the [2022] Chiefs. These teams, they won 80% of their games when they were minus in the giveaway-takeaway. So obviously, their margin for error was much different.

“I think of the rushing game, both offensively and defensively. I think certainly our return units in the kicking game with Marvin [Mims] and what we’re trying to do from a punt-return standpoint. Then us being able to defend the run. If we’re having problems defending the run, or we’re having problems and not having the ability to blow the game down and play it on our terms, I think it’s going to be challenging for us to accomplish our goals.”

Payton’s comments essentially boiled down to stop the run on defense and protect the ball on offense. The Broncos have allowed 108.7 rushing yards per game this season. That ranks ninth-best in the NFL, but they allowed Derrick Henry to rush for 106 yards last week, and he could have had more if he stayed in the game. On the turnover front, Denver has 13 giveaways (fifth-most) this season — six interceptions and seven lost fumbles.

If the Broncos are going to make the playoffs this fall, protecting the ball and shoring up the run defense will be imperative.

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Saints vs. Chargers may come down to this pivotal stat

With a pair of offensive linemen hopefully returning, the Saints’ ability to open up running lanes should improve. It has to if they’re going to end this losing streak.

One of the biggest flaws of the New Orleans Saints this season has been the struggles in the offensive line.

The Saints are middle of the pack in run blocking this year, currently possessing 16th best run block win rate. Both teams are going to prioritize the run offensively. The Los Angeles Chargers are really good at stopping the run.

Joey Bosa is dealing with an injury, but at best the Saints will still have to deal with Khalil Mack and Bud Dupree. As a team, the Chargers have the 8th best run stop win rate.

Lucas Patrick and Cesar Ruiz may return from injury this week for the Saints. That should help matters. Alvin Kamara started the season on fire, but injuries have made it difficult for Kamara to find running lanes.

Running the football is the identity of this team, and they’ve been unable to do it in recent games. It’s a big reason the offense has stalled out. This week they’re going against one of the best rush defenses in the league.

If trends continue, the Chargers will dominate the trenches which will greatly limit the Saints’ chances of victory.

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Sean Payton praises Bo Nix’s ability to escape sacks and make plays on the ground

“He is tough to sack,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of QB Bo Nix. “He has good ball location. He makes a lot of plays with his feet.”

Bo Nix did not run a 40-yard dash at the NFL combine or at Oregon’s pro day this spring as he was recovering from a minor toe injury. Perhaps because his speed was not measured leading up to the draft, Nix’s speed has taken some fans and pundits by surprise this season. 

The Denver Broncos’ rookie quarterback has had a knack for avoiding would-be sacks and turning them into big gains on the ground. Following a 33-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints in Week 7, Broncos coach Sean Payton praised NIx for his ability to protect the ball and extend plays.

“I had made this comment earlier when we drafted him — when you watch him play, you don’t feel like you are in harm’s way,” Payton said after the win in New Orleans. “He is tough to sack. He has good ball location. He makes a lot of plays with his feet. He has some big play opportunities.

“There is confidence that you get as a play-caller that allows you to be more aggressive. We wanted to come out tonight in that mindset.”

Nix’s rushing ability gives defense’s one more element of the offense to worry about, and it gives Payton another weapon to utilize in his scheme.

“I think that he’s a little bit faster than maybe we anticipated even coming out from a running standpoint,” Payton said Monday. “So it does give you some flexibility particularly on third down or in the red zone.”

Nix has rushed 47 times for 255 yards and three touchdowns through seven games this season. At that pace, Nix is on track to end his rookie season with 619 rushing yards, which would rank second in franchise history only behind Tim Tebow (who rushed for 660 yards in 2011).

Run, Bo, run!

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‘One block away’: Cowboys vow to stick with current rushing attack despite lack of results

From @ToddBrock24f7: Hunter Luepke, Deuce Vaughn, and Tyler Guyton discuss the team’s approach to getting the Cowboys’ run game on track after a terrible start.

The Cowboys’ run game has done next to nothing this season. But to fix it, the team believes it needs to just continue with exactly what they’ve been doing.

Through four games, Dallas has a league-low 301 rushing yards, and a bottom-three mark of 3.5 yards per carry. The team’s leading rusher, Rico Dowdle, is averaging under 34 yards a game. No ground play all year has gone for more than 12 yards.

But don’t expect the team to drastically revamp its approach heading into Sunday’s visit to Pittsburgh, where a top-three run defense awaits.

“We’re one block away here, one block away there,” fullback Hunter Luepke said this week. “It’s just 11 guys working together. We’re close. We’re close. It’s going to break through one of these games.”

Deuce Vaughn agrees, saying the team needs to “keep chopping wood.”

“Coming in here and just working our butts off,” he continued. “Understand that one’s going to pop, and once it does and we start clicking … we’re going to get that confidence inside our room, inside the O-line room, and we’re going to run from there, no problem.”

This week will present a significant problem, though, and he wears No. 90 for the Steelers. Linebacker T.J. Watt is one of the most feared defenders in the game whether he’s trying to stop the run or the pass, and the Cowboys offensive line will have its hands full trying to frustrate him.

But it’s not a one-man show in Pittsburgh. Only two squads have allowed fewer rushing yards in 2024 than the Steelers. And they’re second-best leaguewide in yards-per-carry given up.

In other words, don’t expect a repeat of the 2016 classic in which Ezekiel Elliott piled up 114 ground yards in the Steel City, averaged 5.4 yards per tote, and ran in two touchdowns, including a 32-yard scamper in the final seconds to win the game.

This Sunday will present a tall challenge for the Dallas O-line. Like the committee of running backs they block for, the Cowboys front five maintains that sticking to their fundamentals will be the key.

“Just playing nasty,” offered rookie Tyler Guyton, “and hitting our landmarks the correct way.”

Cutting down on penalties will also help. The Cowboys are among the most-flagged teams in the NFL this season, and offensive holding is by far the biggest bugaboo (11 infractions against). Guyton himself accounts for five of those calls, leading the team.

He knows it has cost the team at inopportune moments, but he knows there’s still plenty of time to reverse course and get back on track.

“We’re four games in. I think we’re still building every single day, every play. I think we’re building toward something,” he told reporters. “I don’t think we’re at our best yet. We’re not, because I feel like I need to do better. And if I’m not at my best, then we’re not at our best. I think we all have improvements to make.”

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So the Cowboys look to keep pounding away with what they’ve been doing on the ground. A healthy mix of Dowdle and Elliott. A few change-of-pace carries for Vaughn. Keeping Dalvin Cook under wraps on the practice squad. Maybe an occasional jet sweep-type backfield play for CeeDee Lamb or KaVontae Turpin. Even deploying backfield options like Luepke into the passing game. (He has twice as many receptions this season as Jalen Brooks.)

Whatever it takes for the team to succeed. Even if it’s not pretty. Even if the conventional rushing attack is stuck in neutral.

These Cowboys will keep at it.

“It’s all about the team winning on Sunday, so it doesn’t matter how many catches I have or whatever,” Luepke said. “If we don’t get it done, it doesn’t mean anything. A win’s more important than anything, in my opinion.”

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Javonte Williams and Broncos’ ground game are back on track

Javonte Williams averaged 4.8 yards per carry in Week 4. “He has the ability to be one of the best in the league,” Garett Bolles said.

After struggling through the first three weeks of the season, Javonte Williams and the Denver Broncos‘ ground game finally got back on track against the New York Jets in Week 4.

Williams rushed 16 times for 77 yards against the Jets, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Jaleel McLaughlin added nine carries for 46 yards (5.1 YPC). That’s the kind of production Denver hoped to see from its backfield this fall.

Bronco coach Sean Payton credited the offensive line following a 10-9 win over the Jets.

“Well, I thought the key started up front,” Payton said Sunday. “We got to some six holes, seven-hole wide zones, we got to some duo schemes, we brought them. We knew analytically this was a team that’s better in coverage and you had a little bit more susceptible, if you will, in the run game. Know we hit a couple traps, I could tell the lineman felt like at halftime that, ‘Hey, just keep [running ]’ – well that’s easy too when it was as wet as it was. Ultimately though when it dried up, we were going to have to make a play or two in the passing game. But those guys up front, I think were the key.”

Garett Bolles, Denver’s left tackle, is always eager to open up running lanes.

“He’s a special back,” Bolles said of Williams. “He has the ability to be one of the best in the league, but we need to open up holes and show his talent and that’s what we did today. I’m just grateful for Ben (Powers), Luke (Wattenberg), Quinn (Meinerz), ‘Palco’ (Alex Palczewski), everybody that we had up front we just grinded it out and our backs found the running lanes and hit the holes, and we knew what we needed to do today.”

The Broncos finished the day with 126 rushing yards, their second-best total of the season. Sunday was a step forward, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

“I thought Javonte and Jaleel played well yesterday,” Payton said Monday. “Meinerz got a game ball. I thought we were physical. It was a messy first half. It was difficult with the conditions, and yet that’s just the way that game unfolded. That’s still a work in progress, and I want it to rest on their shoulders too. Especially late in the game.

“We [had] a chance late in the game really with the final play on third down. Before we attempt the field goal, we can ice it there with a quarterback kind of crack sweep and we just didn’t get the blocks we needed. We’re building on that, and I think it’s going to be important for us going forward.”

Up next for Denver is a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders, who have allowed 137.5 rushing yards per game this season. Williams and Co. will look to keep the momentum going in Week 5.

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Antonio Pierce plans ‘a lot of changes’ to try and get Raiders NFL-worst run game going

With by the league’s worth run game, there are ‘A lot of changes’ in the works for the Raiders

You simply won’t see a worse run game than the one the Raiders are attempting to deploy this season. What they’re doing in just not working. So, what’s the problem? Is it scheme? Personnel? Both?

It could be both, sure. But if you look back at the line last year and this year, it wasn’t that much different personnel wise. And they were running the ball really well late last season with Zamir White. Now? Abysmal.

White averaged nearly 100 yards per game over the final four games last season behind much of the same offensive line (only one guard and one tackle have changed). He has 102 yards in the first the weeks combined this season and he had just 14 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Panthers.

“Last year is last year. We are where we are now. Worst running team in football,” said Pierce. “That’s not something I’m proud of, our staff’s proud of and I’m sure our team is not. And again, we’re going to get in here and chip away after we make the corrections from today and be honest with one another.”

Pierce would not rule out a change is blocking scheme, saying “I think there’s going to be a lot of changes.”

As far as personnel, rookie tackle DJ Glaze most of game at right tackle after the injury to Thayer Munford. That didn’t seem to change anything in terms of the run game issues. They put rookie guard Jackson Powers-Johnson in for a time and that didn’t seem to make a difference either.

They had a total of three first downs on the ground in the game Sunday and didn’t have a single first down in the second half.

And then there’s this:

https://twitter.com/austingayle_/status/1838004575678476584

At this point either they need to change back to the scheme that works with these guys or just stop running it.

Javonte Williams says Broncos are ‘going to get it right’ on the ground

“It’s a long season, and we’re going to get it right,” Broncos RB Javonte Williams said of the team’s struggling ground game.

Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams had a day to forget against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, rushing 11 times for 17 yards (1.5 yards per carry). Through two games, Williams has 19 carries for 40 yards.

Overall, the Broncos are averaging 3.7 yards per carry this season, but that average is inflated by the small sample sizes of Audric Estime (2/14) and Tyler Badie (1/16). Denver quarterback Bo Nix (9/60) is the team’s leading rusher.

“It does not turn around overnight,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said Sunday when asked about the team’s struggling rushing attack. “It has to be something that we are all committed to even before the players come in and get the plan. In other words, what scheme fits our players and what scheme fits our quarterback? I think that is going to be important.”

Zebra Technologies, the company behind the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, noted that Williams faced a “stacked box” on 63.64% of his carries in Week 2. No other running back in the league faced a stacked box on more than 50% of their carries.

That stat clearly indicates that Pittsburgh’s defense did not respect Nix and sold out to stop the run. Unless Nix becomes a threat to beat defenses through the air, opponents will continue focusing on shutting down Denver’s ground game.

Even against a stacked box, Williams wasn’t blameless for his poor production. The running back missed “a cut or two” against the Steelers, according to Payton. The coach wants to see more from the RB going forward. Williams knows there’s work to be done to get back on track.

“First off, I want to give credit to Pittsburgh; great defense, great coach, all that,” Williams said after Sunday’s game. “As far as us and the run game, we just have to stay more consistent and just keep our head down and keep getting to it.

“We’re all professionals. Our whole [offensive] line is professional, running backs, quarterbacks; we know how to run the ball and get things done, but you got to go out there and show it.”

The Steelers have allowed 153 rushing yards through two games, the fifth-lowest total in the league. This week, the Broncos will face a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that has allowed 277 rushing yards (14th-most). Perhaps brighter days are ahead for Williams.

“I’m not worried about the offense or the team at all,” Williams said. “It’s a long season, and we’re going to get it right.”

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Broncos need more from their ground game to support Bo Nix

“It’s going to be hard to [play] quarterback period if that’s the best we can do running the ball,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton came to the defense of Bo Nix after the rookie struggled in his NFL debut, with the coach noting that the team’s rushing attack did little to help the young quarterback.

“[W]e’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,” Payton said after a 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. “It’s going to be hard to [play] quarterback period if that’s the best we can do running the ball.” 

Jaeel McLaughlin led the team with 10 carries, but they only went for 27 yards, an ugly 2.7 yards per carry average. Javonte Williams turned eight rushes into 23 yards (2.9 YPC) and Audric Estime had a small sample size of two carries for 14 yards (and one lost fumble). That’s not going to cut it.

“[F]or any quarterback playing, we’ve got to be more effective running the football,” Payton said. “If [you] take away his scrambling yards, I think we’re like somewhere [around] 60 yards rushing to their 140, so not nearly good enough.”

Nix ended up being the team’s leading rushing in yards with 35 on five carries. He also rushed for a touchdown late in the game.

“[T]here’s a couple of runs that we’ve got to see better vison-wise from the running back position,” Payton said Monday. “Audric has one, where I don’t know that his eyes are in the right spot, but he’s got a chance for a much bigger play. Javonte has one, so overall we’ve got to improve in that area.”

If the offense is going to have more success going forward, Nix will need more support from his backfield.

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Broncos have run game and defense in place to support Bo Nix

A strong run game and good defense are a QB’s best friend. “Not just for a rookie, that’s for Peyton Manning, Tom Brady,” Sean Payton said.

The Denver Broncos are setting Bo Nix up for success in his first season.

The Broncos turned down trade offers for No. 1 wide receiver Courtland Sutton, and they gave a massive contract extension to star guard Quinn Meinerz. Denver running back Javonte Williams is now fully healthy, Jaleel McLaughlin is back and the team added rookie Audric Estime to the mix.

On defense, the Broncos beefed up their front three by bringing in John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach this spring.

The pieces are in place for Nix to be supported by a punishing rushing attack and strong defense, two best friends of a young quarterback — or any QB.

“That’s the case — that’s not just for a rookie, that’s for Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or any of our great quarterbacks,” coach Sean Payton said ahead of the team’s preseason finale last week. “They themselves would say, ‘Man, if we’re struggling on defense, and we’re having trouble running the ball, it becomes harder to play that position the way you want to play it.’

“That’s what we’re in the midst of doing right now. We’re still trying to get the consistency we want in the run game. We have another weekend relative to a preseason game and practices to work on that, the same way defensively. I think we’ve played the run pretty well, but it’s a work in progress.”

Denver ranked near the middle of the NFL with 106.5 rushing yards per game in 2023. After a slow start, the defense finished well last season. Following the additions made this offseason, the Broncos believe they have a good supporting cast in place for Nix.

It’s still a work in progress, as Payton noted, but the run game and defense seem to be trending in the right direction.

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With pass game sputtering, Packers miss opportunities to run ball vs. Giants

The Packers couldn’t get the pass game rolling and probably should have leaned more on the run vs. the Giants.

The Green Bay Packers run game was again finding success between the tackles and could have been relied upon more heavily against the New York Giants.

Now, it’s not as if the Packers didn’t run the ball or gave up on it. They finished the game with 23 non-Jordan Love carries, with AJ Dillon and Patrick Taylor totaling 19 of those. However, there was the opportunity for it to have played a bigger role with how the game unfolded and the fact that even when losing, Green Bay was never down more than one score.

On 15 carries, Dillon averaged a modest 3.5 yards per carry. Not great by any means, but he was generating were positive plays. Patrick Taylor would carry the ball four times and total 30 yards, an average of 7.5 yards per attempt. Collectively, the two averaged nearly 4.5 yards per attempt between the tackles.

“I thought all-in-all, for the most part, if you look at the run efficiency, I think we were pretty solid,” said Matt LaFleur on Tuesday. “I think there were some more opportunities out there where we could have ran the ball, especially downhill runs seemed to be pretty effective. We were getting some movement up front and I thought our backs were running hard.”

As we saw against the Kansas City Chiefs last week, and in general over the last month, success on the ground doesn’t have to include ripping off 10-plus yard gains regularly. Even regular rushes at four or five yards a pop are effective by keeping the offense ahead of the sticks and forcing the defense to defend both the run and the pass on a given play. It also takes some of the playmaking burden off the passing game by setting up play-action and downfield opportunities.

This is a New York defense that entered Sunday’s game allowing 4.8 yards per carry as a team and ranked 29th in ESPN’s run-stop rate metric. In recent weeks, New England rushed for 147 yards (4.7 yards per rush), Washington 174 (6.1 yards per rush), and Dallas 168 (5.1 yards per rush).

That, coupled with the fact that the Green Bay passing game was disjointed and struggled to find consistent traction for much of the game, perhaps should have resulted in Matt LaFleur leaning more heavily on the run, rather than Jordan Love throwing nearly 40 passes.

Along with running between the tackles, the Packers continued to be very active in getting Jayden Reed designed touches behind the line of scrimmage. Reed finished the game with four carries that came with mixed results. When Reed had the ball in these instances it was either boom or bust with a big gain or nothing at all. In part that was due to missed blocks, but as LaFleur said on Tuesday, the Packers have to be more picky about when they use those play calls as well with New York all over a few of those runs.

“There’s going to be plays that work and some that don’t. Some of the jet sweeps, there’s an option for a handoff or you flip the ball or hand the ball off to the receiver. Obviously it worked the first drive. It always comes down to how wide is that end. A lot of the times, what is the structure behind it? I think we’ve got to be a little bit more picky when we do that.”

Even with some success on the ground, the Packers leaned on play-action less than what they had been during their recent stretch of strong play. From Weeks 9 through 13, nearly one-third of Love’s pass attempts came off play-action and ranked eighth in dropback rate. In Week 14 against New York, he and the offense were below-league average in terms of usage at 22 percent, according to PFF.

It’s not a coincidence that as the run game has been picking up steam, so has the passing game. During the Packers four game losing streak, as a team, they averaged just 4.1 yards per rush. But in the previous five games before New York, the Packers were up to 4.7 yards per attempt, including any scrambles by Love.

With all that said, this isn’t to say that a more balanced run-pass mix would have changed the outcome of the game—who knows? This is an element for the Packers that is still very much a work in progress. Green Bay’s run game has been more effective, but still far from dominant. However, as LaFleur acknowledged, there were more opportunities out there to run downhill and it could have helped shoulder some of the burden on offense with the passing game sputtering.

“I think there was some good,” added LaFleur. “I think there were some things we could have done a little bit better. Give them credit, there’s some guys inside that are big, physical dudes. Obviously, Dexter Lawrence, I think he’s as good as anybody in this league. Some of the finishes you’d like to be a little bit better. We fell off some blocks late.”