Broncos will try to make “hot hand” approach work on the ground

LAS VEGAS — Aptly for a team playing in a stadium located amidst a sea of casinos, he Denver Broncos are riding the hot hand — at least on the ground.

“I think that’s a good way to look at it,” Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Thursday.

Two weeks ago, the sizzle came from Audric Estimé, which is why he saw a flurry of carries on the final series that — were it not for a blocked field-goal attempt — should have given the Broncos their first win at Arrowhead Stadium since September 2015. Last week, it was Javonte Williams getting more carries as the game progressed. It would surprise few if Jaleel McLaughlin had his day coming at some point before the end of the season.

That’s life in a “hot hand” running game.

“Yeah, I would never know going into a game,” Lombardi said. “I mean, you know, there are a handful of plays where we’re like, ‘Hey, we want Javonte in on this play’ or ‘We want Audric’ or ‘We want [Jaleel].’

“But a lot of it is [running backs coach] Lou [Ayeni], deciding who’s in on this series, who’s in on this play. And I think I said last week, if guys are hitting 8-yard gains, 5-yard gains consistently, it’s easy to keep giving them the ball.”

Then it becomes a matter of how the running backs handle it. They’ll awaken Sunday morning not knowing exactly what their role will be, since their performance early is likely to determine their use late.

So, how do the running backs avoid pressing when they get those early chances?

“No matter how good or bad the last play is, I gotta focus on that play because I don’t know when my next play is gonna [happen],” Estimé said. “So I try to maximize my opportunities when I get there.”

And he knows he must always “stay ready,” as he said.

“Come in every day like you’re going to be the starter, even if you’re not going to be the starter,” he explained this week.

Meanwhile, something remains missing from the Broncos since Sean Payton became their head coach: a 100-yard rushing game from any of their runners — and the three-pronged “hot hand” approach may not provide an immediate change.

 

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1

Number of teams without a single 100-yard game on the ground over the last two seasons. That team, of course, is the Broncos, who have gone 28 games without a 100-yard rusher.

The average team has 4.66 100-yard games over the last two seasons. Dallas and New England are the closest teams to Denver with a single 100-yard game apiece in 2023 and 2024. Overall, there have been 149 100-yard games around the NFL since Latavius Murray hit the century mark in Jerry Rosburg’s only win as Broncos head coach — a 31-28 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Jan. 1, 2023.

41

Years since the Broncos had a longer gap between 100-yard rushers. The 28-game gap is the fourth-longest in team history and the lengthiest since a 36-game stretch that began after Otis Armstrong’s 106-yard day against the New York Giants on Oct. 26, 1980 and ended when Sammy Winder rushed for 119 yards in a 22-7 loss to the then-Los Angeles Raiders on Sep. 25, 1983.

1.41

That is the average number of sacks per game recorded by Las Vegas edge rusher Maxx Crosby against the Broncos. In the 42-plus seasons since the sack became an official statistic in 1982, that is the highest per-game sack rate of any player who has played at least five regular-season games against the Broncos.

Per data compiled through Pro Football Focus, Crosby is one of just six players to average at least 1 sack per game in five contests against the Broncos. The others are Clyde Simmons (1.2), Justin Houston (1.1), Reggie White (1.1), Chris Coleman (1.07) and current Chiefs edge rusher George Karlaftis (1.0).

Surprisingly, this not include former Chiefs edge rusher Derrick Thomas; the late Hall of Fame averaged 0.82 sacks per game against the Broncos from 1989 through 1999. Thomas holds the record for most sacks against the Broncos — 18 — with Houston second (16.5) and Crosby already at No. 3 with 15.5 sacks in just 11 games.