Marc Mariani’s muffed kickoff return. Often times, we have a tendency to overlook a team’s glaring holes when they come away with a win. I’m sure Josh McDaniel’s won’t do the same, as the Broncos head coach needs to realize his team has to run the ball more effectively if they want to win more games.
Knowshon Moreno was inactive once again for Denver on Sunday as he continues to nurse a hamstring injury. As a result, Correll Buckhalter and the newly acquired Laurence Maroney split the rushing responsibilities. Here’s how the tandem did:
Maroney – 11 carries, 5 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 fumble
Buckhalter – 6 carries, 3 yards, 0 touchdowns
For those of you math geniuses, that’s 0.45 yards per carry for Maroney and 0.50 yards per carry for Buckhalter. Not including Kyle Orton’s scrambles, the Broncos ran the ball 17 times for 8 yards — an average of 0.47 YPC.
It’s not like the Titans are run-stopping machines. Coming into Sunday’s game, they ranked 17th in the NFL against the run, so they’re right in the middle of the pack. It’s also not the case that the Broncos were down so much they had to throw. The game was close from start to finish, they just couldn’t establish any type of run game.
When Denver traded for Maroney and Moreno went down, we wondered if it would create a situation where Maroney could become a viable fantasy option. Less than one yard per carry certainly isn’t going to get it done. The Broncos can either change their game plan or simply cross their fingers and hope Moreno heals quickly. Otherwise, a team that was once known for being able to make a 1000-yard runner out of anyone is in danger of becoming extremely one-dimensional.
