The Broncos have literally tipped the scales on offense.
In an era around the league when defensive coordinators have been forced — by pass-happy offenses and an offense-friendly rulebook — to lean toward smaller, faster defensive schemes, the Broncos have pumped things up.
Sunday they used seven offensive linemen in what was essentially a three-tight end formation. They often used the 305-pound Chris Clark and the 304-pound Tony Hills as two of the three tight ends.
It gave the Broncos seven 300 pounders on the field in non short-yardage situations. The Broncos also went to a three-tight end look with Daniel Fells, Virgil Green and Dante Rosario in the formation.
Rosario often lined up as a fullback in those situations, a look that produced Tim Tebow’s 58-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas and a 10-yard run from Tebow.
Toss in the pile of two-tight end looks to go with two-back formations where the Broncos used both Willis McGahee and Lance Ball, and the Broncos spent most of Sunday’s win in heavy formations.
They leaned toward power looks, even when they threw the ball, and the Steelers, who entered the game as the league’s No. 1 defense, simply weren’t able to dictate the issue the way they were accustomed to.
“They came out and made way more plays than we thought they were capable of making,” said Steelers linebacker James Farrior.
The Patriots have struggled in their secondary for much of the season, especially at safety, and have been spotty tacklers as well.
The power-first approach could be at least one way the Broncos help their defense try to handle Tom Brady, especially if Brady doesn’t have the ball.
Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com
