Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos offense is too predictable for the playoffs
By Andrew Dill
Don’t get me wrong, I’m about as big as a Peyton Manning fan as you will meet, but the offense he and the Denver Broncos run is flawed once they reach the postseason. During the regular season, team’s are not pressing as much, making it easier for the screen-play to gain hefty yards. As you saw last night in the loss against the Indianapolis Colts, Denver’s offense simply didn’t work. Why? It’s too predictable.
Peyton Manning simply doesn’t have the velocity he once possessed, but he’s still pretty darn good at making the right throw with well-timed passes. That wasn’t the case Sunday afternoon. Manning had two chances to hit wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on the deep-ball but overthrew him each time. Manning was shaky throughout the entire game, completing just 56.5% of his passes (26-of-46) while finishing with a 27.9 QBR (Quarterback Rating).
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Denver likes to run a lot, and I mean, a lot of pick plays. They don’t really test the opposition vertically unless it’s the deep-ball – which is a problem. It’s too predictable. Manning will often settle for the 3-to-5 yard hitch-routes or curl-routes which is fine, but when you need the yardage in the playoffs, you have to take more risks and expand the playbook. It seemed as if they [Denver] ran the same three plays all game long on the offensive end, finishing with just 13 points to show for.
Then another problem is you have a head coach that is as conservative as it gets [John Fox]. It’s simply not a good mix when you have one of the best quarterbacks of all-time mixed with a coach who liked to ground and pound when he was head coach with the Carolina Panthers. You have to trust your guy [Manning] and even take risks. I can’t count the number of times Denver dialed up a pointless third-and-long half back dive, basically telling the opposing team that they can have the ball.
Denver has an abundant of weapons (Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, C.J. Anderson, Ronnie Hillman) which is hard to comprehend with the way they constructed the game-plan. It has been the same plays week-in and week-out which is frustrating to see as a fan. John Fox should be fired. Adam Gase is likely on his way out. Jack Del Rio could be on his way out as well. Denver will likely be looking for a new coaching staff while Peyton Manning ponders returning or retirement.
When it is all said and done, Denver needs to learn to be more experimental when it comes to the playbook. We saw what happened in last years Super Bowl when Seattle’s defense flat-out dominated Peyton Manning and company while they ran their same pick-routes which Seattle stuffed the middle of the field. It’s time to start mixing it up on the offensive end rather than running the same old garbage.