Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay called out the consistency and trust the team currently has in the run game at his media session.
Frustration is certainly mounting with the Denver Broncos after a ninth-straight loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Some players have been around for all nine losses while others like running back Phillip Lindsay have only been around for four of them. With that said, in addition to losing far too many games for anyone’s liking, Lindsay expressed his thoughts and maybe even a bit of frustration on the lack of consistency with the Broncos’ running game lately.
We highlighted the Broncos’ running backs among the players we’re most excited to watch against Detroit. The recent struggles in the run game are a major reason why.
Check out Lindsay’s whole session with the media.
"“Obviously, it’s the consistency. It’s hard to get anything going with your offensive line and with your running backs when you only, as a whole, as a total—we had what, 13 carries? It’s just about being consistent. That’s what it is. That’s all I can say about that.I think it’s just about trusting. It comes down to it because it come down to it’s a whole thing about trusting the running backs, trusting the offensive line and trusting the tight ends. That’s what it’s about, but the fact is that you can’t expect for your offensive line to move out if they’re only getting run carries—one, two or three in the first quarter and one in the second. You have to be consistent with what you’re doing with everything you do. That’s in life in general. Just stay consistent in everything you do.”RB Phillip Lindsay (via Broncos PR)"
Lindsay is certainly not the first player this season to express a bit of frustration with first-year offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, whose play calls have been outstanding at times but his game flow, or as Lindsay says here ‘consistency’, has not always been on point.
It’s hard to fault him for throwing the ball a ton against the Chiefs since the Broncos were down 12-0 pretty quickly, but 13 carries for the backs? That’s definitely not a good enough balance.
Speaking about the offensive line, head coach Vic Fangio said the Broncos need to ‘run the ball better’.
The Broncos do have to run the ball better or they are going to get Drew Lock hit more often than anyone wants to see it behind an offensive line that is patchwork on the right side.
The offensive line or lack of trust in the offensive line is part of the reason why Denver’s running game has struggled some this season. The Broncos rank 18th in the NFL in rushing yards, 16th in attempts, and 20th in yards per carry as a team.
Last season, they actually ranked 12th in the NFL in yards and 4th in yards per attempt while ranking 21st in attempts.
Lindsay is averaging fewer yards from scrimmage per game than he did last season, but not by a whole lot. He’s already over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and he and Royce Freeman are actually on pace to break the mark they set last year from yards per scrimmage, but obviously they’re both playing more games than they did as rookies.
It does feel like Lindsay and Freeman have had a less significant impact on games than they did a year ago, and perhaps Lindsay is right — perhaps a consistent commitment to the running game is the key. It’s hard for the Broncos to run against constantly stacked boxes, and committing to the run when you need to pass is obviously foolish, but something has to give.
There are a lot of moving parts in Denver’s offense right now, and the team is lacking consistency because of those moving parts. But the more Drew Lock plays, the easier I think it will be for the running game to find balance.
Hopefully, the backs can find a way to break free and find that consistency in these final two games of the 2019 season.