The Broncos’ path to the Super Bowl runs through a more balanced offense

The Denver Broncos have built one of the more dangerous passing attacks in the NFL. Bo Nix. Jaylen Waddle. Courtland Sutton. Troy Franklin. Pat Bryant. The weapons are obviously there, the production has been elite, and the passing game has been the engine that has driven back-to-back playoff appearances.

But there’s a difference between being a great passing team and being a great team, and Cecil Lammey believes the gap between those two things lives in the run game.

On a recent edition of “Dover and Cecil” on 104.3 The Fan, Cecil Lammey laid out the case for why the Broncos need to find a better balance between the pass and the run if they want to take the final step toward a championship.

Denver led the league in pass attempts last season. That’s a reflection of both the talent at the skill positions and the coaching staff’s confidence in Nix’s ability to carry the offense through the air. But it’s also a reflection of a running game that was never consistent enough to earn a larger share of the workload. The talent is there, the problem has always been circumstance.

J.K. Dobbins is a legitimate top-tier back when healthy, but health has been the recurring asterisk on his career. R.J. Harvey has shown flashes of growth but still tends to bounce runs to the outside rather than trusting his reads. And Jonah Coleman has been a star at training camp, but zero regular-season snaps means the projection remains unproven.

Lammey acknowledged the upside of the room despite its caveats.

“When you can run the ball effectively with J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Jonah Coleman, that’s a hell of a trio at the running back position,” Lammey said.

He then connected the run game to the broader offensive philosophy.

“You’ve got to have that emphasis, because of what it means for the rest of your offense,” Lammey said.

That’s the part of the argument that matters most. Nobody is asking the Broncos to become a run-first team. The passing game is the identity. But when the run game is functioning, everything else opens up. Play-action becomes more effective, the defense stays honest against the run, and the passing lanes that Nix thrives in become wider and more available.

Lammey closed with the specific target he believes Denver should be aiming for.

“This team’s got to run the ball to set up this offense better. And if they do achieve that 55-45, only 45% rushing, 55% passing — it’s about the league average by the way. If they achieve that, it gives them the best chance at winning the Super Bowl,” Lammey said.

That’s an achievable goal. The Broncos don’t need to reinvent themselves. They need to rebalance. A 55-45 split keeps the passing game as the primary weapon while giving the run game enough volume to establish itself as a credible threat. Defenses that have to respect both phases of the offense are defenses that can be attacked from every angle, and that’s the kind of offensive versatility that wins in January and February.

The talent in the backfield has upside. Every name comes with a caveat. But if the Broncos can keep Dobbins healthy, develop Coleman’s camp momentum into regular-season production, and commit to a more balanced approach, the offense that was already one of the flashiest in football could become complete. And a complete offense, paired with the defense Denver already has, is a Super Bowl formula.

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