Please, somebody remind us again why the Broncos went to the trouble of trading for Javon Walker?
For as infrequently as Denver throws the football to Walker, maybe they should buy him a folding lawn chair, so he has a comfy place to sit on the field. Being paid a contract worth an estimated $40 million, he’s one expensive spectator.
There is no criticism of Walker here. Only sympathy.
The Broncos have decided their twin Bells of different mothers will carry them to the Super Bowl. Or run this season into the ground. Whichever comes first.
“They’re more committed to the run than they are the pass,” Walker said Thursday, describing Denver’s offensive philosophy.
Maybe it was telling that Walker referred to the Broncos as “they” rather than “we,” as a hint he does not yet feel at home in this conservative offense. Or maybe it was my imagination. But I do know Walker described himself as on the outside looking in at the running game. He was not complaining. He was merely telling the truth.
Never in Mike Shanahan’s tenure as head coach in Denver has this team been so reliant on the run.
Don’t believe me? You could look it up. These statistics don’t lie.
During his previous 11 seasons in Denver, Shanahan built the NFL’s most proficient scoring machine by gaining 61 percent of his team’s yardage by passing the football. The air show was often as spectacular as fireworks.
But the passing game has been grounded in Denver.
The Broncos have rushed for 1,087 yards this season and passed for 1,090 net yards, a mere 3 yards and a cloud of dust from a mundane 50-50 split.
Why is this ultraconservative plan so significant?
While the Broncos have long won respect by pounding the football between the tackles, we have forgotten how they struck fear in the league.
Passing has become such a no-no in game plans that when Jake Plummer throws for a modest 174 yards, as he did in a loss to Indianapolis, his most vocal supporters tried to boast he enjoyed a spectacular game, a ridiculous claim that had even the quarterback scratching his head in disbelief.
Anybody old enough to remember 1977 can attest it was a very good year in Denver, when the city grooved to the beat of Fleetwood Mac and buzzed about smash hits by the Orange Crush.
But times have changed, and so have the way the games are won in the NFL. No Broncos team has finished a season with more yards rushing than passing in 29 years.
What Shanahan is trying to do on offense is as old as Stevie Nicks.
“If you can run the football, you really establish a lot. And it opens up other avenues of the game,” Broncos fullback Kyle Johnson said. “In all honesty, if you run, there’s less chance of error. You have a higher probability of an interception or an incompletion than a fumble. If you can produce runs where you get 5 yards a carry, you’re eating up the clock and moving down the field.”
Whoa. There for a second, I thought Johnson was channeling the ghost of Woody Hayes.
Now, as a child of the 1960s who earned no dessert until all the meat and potatoes were cleaned off my dinner plate, I was taught traditional Midwest values and raised on the belief that the forward pass was a sign of weakness. So nobody loves smashmouth football more than me.
But this is crazy. By setting the clock back three decades on offensive strategy, who do the Broncos think they are? The Dolphins of Don Shula? To be sure, Tatum and Mike Bell can make some noise by carrying the rock, but nobody’s mistaking them for Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Mercury Morris.
Too often, Denver only relies on Walker when there’s nowhere else to turn for a touchdown or critical first down. That seems like an incredible failure to maximize the benefits of a smart acquisition by Shanahan.
“Sometimes, you just got to let your playmakers just make plays,” said Walker, who ranks 25th in the NFL with 33 receptions. He has the talent to do way more. But the Broncos keep asking him to stand around and wait.
If they want to score big on a consistent basis, the Broncos need to make a commitment to getting the football in the hands of their most dangerous offensive player.
He’s a sky Walker. Don’t ground him.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
