Man, if you’re a Broncos fan, you gotta be ripping your hair out watching that run game right now. We’re six weeks into the 2026 NFL season, and Denver’s ground attack is just plain *bad*, sitting at a dismal 30th in the league for yards per carry, clocking in at a pathetic 3.4. Only the Raiders and Packers are even worse. The Chiefs, for crying out loud, are leading the entire league at 5.5 yards per pop.
The Ground Game Is a Ghost Town
It gets worse, folks. When you look at explosive runs, those ten-yard-plus gains that actually move the chains and get you hyped, the Broncos are tied for dead last with four other teams, scraping together a measly nine. The Bills, meanwhile, are just feasting with 31 of them. Seriously, what gives? There’s one tiny bright spot, and it’s so small you might miss it: when they absolutely *have* to get one or two yards on 3rd or 4th down, they convert 77 percent of the time, ten out of thirteen attempts. The Steelers are perfect there, but hey, at least Denver isn’t the absolute worst, right? Speaking of worst, our own Seattle squad is struggling hard in that specific area, converting just two of eight attempts for a sad 25 percent. We gotta clean that up, boys.
Digging Into the Trenches: Is the O-Line Getting a Raw Deal?
So, with a run game that looks like it’s stuck in mud, where does the finger-pointing go? Is it the guys carrying the rock, or is the big boys upfront failing to open holes? The data, surprisingly, tells a different story about the offensive line. According to SISdatahub.com, the Broncos’ offensive line isn’t actually blowing blocks or getting stuffed much at all. They’ve only got ten blown blocks in the run game and a measly two stuffs. That means their blockers are mostly engaging and holding their own. In fact, only 15.5 percent of Denver’s runs this season have gained zero or lost yards, which is actually the 11th best value in the whole league! The Rams are a little better at 11.9 percent, but the Packers are way worse at 24.6 percent.
This tracks with the idea that the OL isn’t getting totally abused, but are they getting any real *push*? Are they moving defenders off the line of scrimmage? ESPN’s run block win rate pegs the Broncos’ team as just average, and none of their individual offensive linemen are even cracking the top ten. However, if an offensive line is truly blocking well, running backs should be getting 2.5 or more yards *before* they even get touched by a defender. This “yards before contact per attempt” (YBC/Att) stat is a pretty good indicator of how much room the line is creating. Guys like James Cook, at 3.92 YBC/Att, and Kenneth Walker, at 3.64, are leading the league, showing what good blocking can do. On the flip side, you’ve got players like Quinshon Judkins and JK Dobbins, with much lower YBC/Att at 1.53 and 1.69 respectively, who are getting hit right at or behind the line of scrimmage often. There’s a strong link there: more yards before contact usually means more successful runs. So, if the Broncos’ run game is so bad, and their offensive line isn’t blowing blocks, it really makes you wonder if their running backs are just not making anything happen after that initial contact, or if the “average” run block win rate isn’t quite good enough to get those critical yards before contact.
It’s a head-scratcher for Denver, for sure. Their run game is flat out terrible, but the blame doesn’t seem to fall squarely on the offensive line’s blown blocks. The real question is, are they getting enough *push* to let their backs hit that 2.5 yards before contact threshold, or are the running backs just not creating on their own? Figuring that out is going to be crucial for them to turn this season around. For now, it’s a mystery in the Mile High City, and it’s keeping them firmly stuck near the bottom of the league in rushing.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Mile High Report.
Leave a Reply