It happens all the time to NFL running back duos.
The defense gears up to stop the lead back. The No. 2 back comes in and busts one.
C.J. Anderson, suddenly worthy of opponents’ attention after rushing for 167 and 168 yards in the Broncos’ previous two games, found yards tough to come by Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
He was running on a tender left ankle he sprained the previous week. But more than that, the Bills’ front was stout.
Anderson had made 11 carries for 38 yards when he was spelled a couple plays into the Broncos’ opening second-half drive. Juwan Thompson came in and immediately caught a pass from Peyton Manning for 14 yards.
On the next play, Thompson broke outside around left end, made a terrific cutback in, and ran 47 yards to the Buffalo 24.
“I just hugged him and told him, thank you, because he got me down there,” said Anderson, who scored on the possession. “Juwan played a helluva game today.”
The run was similar to the 20-yard run Thompson broke outside in the Broncos’ first preseason game against Seattle this year, a 59-yard, six-carry performance that pretty much put Thompson on the season-opening roster.
“It did bring a flashback to that moment,” Thompson said. “Now I’ve got to finish it off and get it to the end zone.”
Anderson had been the Broncos’ leading rusher the past five consecutive games. Thompson broke that streak Sunday with 63 yards on four carries. Anderson was held to 58 yards on 21 carries — although he scored his third touchdown of the game to finish off that drive Thompson set up.
When a back gains 63 yards on four carries, the obvious question becomes: Why only four carries?
“C.J. starts off each series and he’s been doing great,” Thompson said. “Can’t take the ball out of his hands. When I get an opportunity to go in there, I try to make the most of it.”
The Broncos used a third running back — Jeremy Stewart, who gained 1 yard on a goal-to-goal carry in the second quarter. Stewart was undrafted coming out in 2012, Anderson was undrafted in 2013 and Thompson went undrafted this year.
Meanwhile, the Broncos’ two drafted running backs — Montee Ball, a second-round pick in 2013 and Ronnie Hillman, a third-rounder in 2012 — were out with injuries.
Ball and Hillman might return to practice this week. Beating out the undrafted backs for playing time won’t be so easy.
