Evans: The Broncos offense and envying the Patriots

At the risk of getting knocked “out of the circle” (Stink style), I looked at the New England Patriots offense Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens with a high amount of envy.

The Patriots did so many of the things I’m begging to see from the Broncos offense. Let me try to list them. Up-tempo, no-huddle, and regular huddle. Regular huddle and walk to the line of scrimmage. Regular huddle and sprint to the line of scrimmage with a quick snap to catch the defense off guard.

I saw plays changed at the line of scrimmage to gain favorable matchups. I saw a flea-flicker. I saw creativity, deception, and a change of tempo. I saw the quarterback under center. I saw him in shotgun. I saw him under center, then change the play and move back to shotgun.

Contrast that to what I see week after week with the Broncos offense: huddle up, walk to the line of scrimmage, and run the play as it was called in the huddle with very few changes.

I see a Broncos offense that looks the same every week. I see the same philosophy of “establishing the run.” I don’t see no-huddle. I don’t see hurry-up. I don’t see flea-flickers. I don’t see imagination. I don’t see creativity. I don’t see aggressiveness.

What I respect about the New England offense is it is game plan-specific. Each week they look at the opponent and devise a game plan based on what they perceive to be weaknesses and favorable matchups. They are prepared to throw the ball 50 times one week and run it 40 the next.

The Broncos come out with the same ideas each week regardless of the opponent. That’s OK if you have the better players. Then you can run the same thing over and over again, and it won’t matter because you’re just out-executing the other guys.

But this Broncos offense doesn’t have the better players.

Sure, Denver will have games like the Tennessee game where they only run nine times and throw it 50. But that wasn’t by design. It was because the original game plan had to be scrapped.

The Patriots will devise a game plan where they only run it nine times and throw it 50. And guess what? It will work.

I would love to see Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak acknowledge he has to coach to what he has (or doesn’t have) rather than coaching to what he wants. And that also includes showing more faith in and giving more responsibility to quarterback Trevor Siemian.

I understand that’s putting a lot on the kid’s plate. Calling more plays at the line of scrimmage. Trusting him to correctly recognize what the defense is showing and make a change. Believing he can handle a quicker tempo and still be able to make the plays.

But, what is the supposed one undeniable strength Siemian possesses? It’s his smarts, right? So let him show us how smart he is. The upside is tremendous. The downside isn’t really all that bad.

After all, how much worse can this offense get?