Broncos risers and fallers after preseason win against Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos faller no. 1: Running game (on both sides)

Offensively, the Broncos really struggled to run the ball from the very first snap of the game for that unit. Mike Boone was swallowed up by Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Neville Gallimore for a huge loss on the Broncos’ first attempt at a wide zone play to the left side of the line. It wasn’t that Boone or any of the backs really did anything wrong, but the Broncos just weren’t winning in the trenches here.

That extended to the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys averaged 5.1 yards per carry in this game and the Broncos’ defensive linemen were pretty consistently just getting driven backwards off the ball. The Cowboys had about 100 holding penalties in this game, but even without their infractions, the Broncos couldn’t really find an answer for stopping the run.

Denver Broncos riser no. 2: Alex Singleton/Justin Strnad

After the injury to Jonas Griffith, it was really great to see both Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad go out there for the Broncos and really do some nice things.

Both Singleton and Strnad showed off their sideline-to-sideline range but Strnad was able to play a little more extensively in this one and he showed some really nice things in this game attacking the line of scrimmage and making plays in space.

Not that anyone wants to have to see these guys out there starting with Jonas Griffith’s elbow injury, but both players showed some positive signs which is great news, especially in light of that particular potential loss.