Schlereth: Broncos offseason focus should be fixing line of scrimmage
Feb 4, 2019, 11:02 PM
On Sunday, Tom Brady had statistically his worst outing in a Super Bowl in his career, throwing for just 262 yards on 21-of-35 passing for no touchdowns, one pick, and a passer rating of 71.4.
Yet, by dominating the line of scrimmage of both sides of the ball, said Mark Schlereth on Monday, the New England Patriots came away with a 13-3 win in Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams — with the team’s highest ever margin of victory to boot.
“The New England Patriots absolutely dispensed justice when it came to defending the run. They dominated the line of scrimmage,” Schlereth said. “They dominated the line of scrimmage on the offensive side of the ball. And guess what happens? The quarterback has a bad game. Doesn’t matter. You win. Running backs, maybe not the huge game that you think they’d have, although they did average over five yards a carry. You win.
“That’s what it comes down to.”
So, instead of an offseason focused on who the Denver Broncos will bring in at quarterback or if they can develop a “difference-maker” at tight end or wide receiver, Schlereth said instead the focus should be on following the Patriots’ blueprint and addressing the line of scrimmage.
“… Let’s fix this line of scrimmage, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Let’s fix our offensive line,” Schlereth said.
Like New England luring offensive line guru Dante Scarnecchia out of retirement to fix its offensive line issues, the Broncos have already made major headway in hiring Mike Munchak.
“They went back and got Dante Scarnecchia as the offensive line coach. They lured him back out of retirement, paid him a boatload of money, and said come fix this thing. And guess what? They’ve been to the Super Bowl three straight years,” Schlereth said. “They went out, in Denver, and got one of the best in the business in Mike Munchak.”
But Munchak is just the first step, Schlereth said.
“Now you know what you have to do? You’ve got to get talent. And that should be the focus of the Denver Broncos,” Schlereth said. “Go get some offensive line talent in the draft, in free agency, where you have to find it. Spare no expense.
“Fix your line of scrimmage and win championships. That’s what they have to do next season.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
