Eschew the run.
Throw the ball, Broncos.
“It came to pass,” the Bible emphasized 453 times.
Whom should the Broncos’ brain trust trust with the football to win the game against the Arizona Cardinals — Peyton Manning or Montee Ball?
Manning certainly will earn his 500th career touchdown pass Sunday, but Ball will rush again like ex-game show host Monty Hall.
Ball runs as meekly as Pumbaa The Warthog from “The Lion King.”
Of the 48 plays Ball has been handed The Ball this season, he has been held to 3 yards or fewer 30 times. Ten carries were stopped for zero or minus yards.
On his first play against Seattle, Ball picked up 9 yards — and fumbled, an act that got him benched last year, but supposedly was rectified this season. Ball has only three rushes for 10 or more yards. Take away those 48 yards, and he has averaged 2.5 yards per try. Ball went a lousy 14-for-38 against the Seahawks. Only four of the top 40 NFL rushers have a yards-per-attempt average lower than Ball’s 3.4.
Ball says he has to “focus more” on running. There’s a fine idea for a running back.
One current problem: The Cardinals are No. 1 in the league in rush defense, and the Broncos are 28th in rushing average per game. (C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman have combined for 13 rushes at running back.)
This running game is born under a bad sign.
John Fox said the Broncos’ staff would utilize the bye week for “self-evaluation.” Outside assessment indicates that the Broncos can’t run, and they can’t hide.
Actually, the Broncos are passing and running at about the same ratio as 2013 — 60-40. But the Broncos of last season were in blowouts so often, they ran in the second half to get the game over; they generally averaged a lot more plays and offensive possessions per game, and they had a superior running back in Knowshon Moreno.
Fox is a military historian, and his father was a U.S. Navy SEAL. So he’s aware of Union Flag Officer David Farragut’s cry at the Battle of Mobile Bay: “(Forget) the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.”
Broncos coordinator Adam “Goose” Gase, who possesses one of the most creative minds in football, should take another gander at his numbers. The odds of the Broncos picking up more than 10 yards passing is so significantly higher than running — especially with the Hall of Fame-bound passer. Manning says he checks out of bad plays. The Broncos have been checking into bad (running) plays.
The Broncos are playing way too conservatively. That silly philosophy almost got them beat against Indianapolis and Kansas City, and did get them beat in Seattle. The Broncos could be 0-3.
Opposing coaches love it when the Broncos run — because that option is the Broncos’ weakness, and running plays shorten the game. They loathe it when Manning passes, because his career completion percentage is .655 (.683 in record-setting 2013 and .667 this year).
The Broncos are leaning right into the defense’s strength.
They’re not the 1964 Packers, the 1972 Dolphins or any Jim Brown Browns.
And Terrell Davis is not here anymore.
The Broncos are constructed for passing, and became one of the best in NFL history. You don’t throw it away. They’ve won 77 percent of their regular-season and postseason games with Manning’s passing game. They haven’t won any because of their mediocre running game and a pass-oriented offensive line.
The consensus analysis is that the Broncos “have so many offensive weapons” surrounding Manning — Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Wes Welker, Emmanuel Sanders, Jacob Tamme, Virgil Green, Bubba Caldwell and Cody Latimer.
Ball is a popgun.
Oh, it’s claimed that the Broncos need to establish a running game against Arizona because coordinator Todd Bowles is a proven blitz king — ordering an extra pass rusher almost 50 percent of plays.
Manning likes blitzes more than chicken parmesan sandwiches. It gives him a depleted secondary to counterattack, and he gets the ball off in two seconds.
Against the Cardinals, the Broncos must hurry, hurry again and pass the ball at least 42 times — their average over 16 games last year. Worry about winning the games now, not the Super Bowl.
Broncos Ball is not Montee Ball, but Peyton Passing.
Full speed ahead.
Woody Paige: woody@woodypaige.com or
