To say the Denver Broncos have been a disappointment offensively in 2022 would be the understatement of the year. It wasn’t abnormal for people to think that it could take time for the Nathaniel Hackett offensive system and a new quarterback with new weapons to mesh. That was widely expected. But to see the Broncos be historically bad offensively?
That has blindsided everybody. Things have been so bad offensively that the Denver Broncos have changed play callers after nine games. They are trying anything and everything they can at this point just to be able to execute simple stuff on that side of the ball, and nothing is really going well.
What individual aspects of this offense stand out as the most disappointing through 10 games? Let’s take a look at the top four.
Denver Broncos running game has been horrendous in 2022
It’s no secret at this point that the Denver Broncos are struggling to find their footing in the running game. The Javonte Williams injury certainly has something to do with it, but the Broncos were struggling to run the ball even when Williams was healthy. This team still doesn’t have a single run of 20 yards or longer in the entire 2022 season.
Denver Broncos running game rankings through 10 games
- Yards: 25th
- Touchdowns: 28th
- Yards/Attempt: 28th
What was the point of the Denver Broncos bringing Melvin Gordon back into the fold as a free agent this offseason? Well, for one thing, they opted to completely pass on the running back class of 2022, which looks like a pretty obvious mistake in hindsight. For the longest time, I had personally advocated for the Broncos to take multiple backs in 2022 for a couple of reasons.
First of all, the team experienced unprecedented good luck when it comes to the health of their backs in 2021. Second, I didn’t love the idea of relying on Mike Boone as a potential key contributor to the offense given the injuries he dealt with in 2021.
Here we are 10 games into the 2022 season, and Javonte Williams is hurt, Mike Boone is hurt, Melvin Gordon has just been cut, and Latavius Murray (who is 32 going on 33) looks like he’ll be the team’s top back the rest of the way this season.
Where is the success in the wide-zone offense we had heard about and talked about all offseason? Why is nobody having success running the ball with this team? Even under Pat Shurmur, the Broncos ranked 10th in the NFL in yards per rushing attempt and a respectable 13th in yards last season.
This year’s running game has been horrific to watch, not explosive, not effective in the red zone, and the team has virtually no balance on that side of the ball because of it.