Welcome to a new series I hope to write regularly (if you guys enjoy it) called ‘The tape doesn’t lie’.

In this series I am going to take a look at different areas of the Broncos game and breakdown some tape to see what is really going on.

This weeks topic: the running game. Dun Dun Duuuuun!

There has been a lot of talk around here lately about the Broncos running game, and for good reason. To put it nicely, it is terrible. I won’t go into all the stats right now but it’s safe to assume they are near or at the bottom of the league in every major statistical category.

What is the cause?

Again, there has been a lot of talk around here about the reasons for the poor running game. Some pundits have claimed it is the opposition stacking the box with 8 players because no one respects the Broncos passing game. Others talk about the poor O line play and there are a myriad of other things people have brought up as reasons for the struggles so far.

So, in an effort to get to the bottom of this once and for all I thought, ‘let’s stop speculating and have a look at the tape,’ because ‘the tape doesn’t lie!’

The play we are going to look at today is a run by CJ Anderson at the end of the 1st Quarter. For context, the Broncos have just moved the ball down the field from their own 28 yard line after the blocked FG attempt by Janikowski. Manning just hit Norwood for 11 yards and the Broncos are on the Raiders 14 Yard line, 1st and 10.

The Broncos line up in a 2 TE ‘pistol’ formation. The play is an inside zone run to the left. I count 7 in the box. The raiders safety at the bottom of the picture is about 15 yards off the line of scrimmage and actually doesn’t have an influence on the play (slow reaction).

After the snap we see the play develop. As you can see the O line moves to the left and the left side of the line gets decent push, especially the center Paradis. Virgil Green gets a good block on Aldon Smith. I have circled in red the spot to watch as the play develops.

Now as the play continues to develop you can see why I asked you to watch that space. Owen Daniels double teams Aldon Smith on the outside, leaving Malcolm Smith free in the giant hole that has opened up between the TEs and the Tackle.

Ryan Harris is playing left tackle and appears to move to the 2nd level missing Smith as well. Now, I can only speculate as to who had what assignment but someone most definitely missed theirs on this play, I’ll let you be the judge. Also note Mack closing on the weak side.

On a positive note Paradis does well and gets up into the 2nd level taking out the LB.

Seeing Malcolm Smith filling the gap, CJ has no option but to cut back. Mack and Smith close fast and CJ takes what he can get.

The play ends with a disappointing 2 yard gain. Daniels releases from his block and No.42 finally reacts to the play and is in the picture ;)

As you can see it’s never as simple as everyone would like to make it seem. There was a blown assignment on this play that if had been executed properly would have sprung a decent gain if not a TD. It takes 11 guys playing on the same page every play to be successful in this league, and let’s not forget the other team get paid millions of dollars to do their job as well !

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this brief look at a Broncos running play. If you enjoyed it or not please let me know in the comments as I hope to bring you a few more examples from the running game over the coming days and try to reveal some of the issues the Broncos are having through tape analysis, because as we all know, ‘The tape doesn’t lie’.