It’s in quarterback Peyton Manning’s nature to try to put the team on his back. He’s done it his whole career.
But for perhaps the first time in his 17-plus seasons, he doesn’t have to do it all.
Everybody wants to be a couch coach and make the Broncos’ offense better.
Some say bench Manning, a future Hall of Fame quarterback who is 6-0 this season. Some say scrap the pistol formation altogether and let Manning run his own offense.
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The Broncos’ real coach, Gary Kubiak, is set on figuring out the problems with Manning and dispels any notion that his system is preventing the offense from being great.
“I’m going to do what I think is best for the quarterback,” Kubiak said. “That’s my plan every day I go to work.”
The success hasn’t necessarily been seen in numbers, but the biggest problems have centered around finishing drives with seven points, not three or zero.
“We need to protect the ball better. And between he and I we both have to do a better job of that,” Kubiak said. “There’s no skating around the fact we’re turning the ball over too much.”
Manning has a league-leading 10 interceptions through six games, three of them coming in over the Browns. He said Sunday that some of them come from bad luck, tipped passes that always seem to end up in the defender’s hands.
The others — the clean picks often thrown into double coverage — are examples of Manning trying to make a play when there is not one. Maybe the way to get a better Manning is to have less of him trying to be the only one of the field who can make a play.
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That means running the ball more effectively, like they did after the first quarter Sunday, and receivers catching passes that aren’t always in the perfect spot.
“We have as many wins as we can after six weeks, but are we as good as we can be? No,” Kubiak said.
It’s October, and by no means are the Broncos a finished product, but there has to be some positives in a team that can seemingly only go forward on offense.
Kubiak is only the ninth NFL coach to start 6-0 in his first year with a team.
On the defensive end, outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett had the best game of his career Sunday in his first start.
For his efforts, Barrett was named Broncos’ defensive player of the week. He had nine tackles, 1½ sacks, a forced fumble and recovery in playing in 90 percent of the Broncos’ defensive snaps.
“He just keeps coming. He’s going to great opportunity here,” Kubiak said. “He’s earned the right to go on the field. It’s kind of like Ronnie (Hillman). Ronnie’s earned the right to go on the field more and touch the ball.”
Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or @CameronWolfe
