“Run it!”
Those were Sean Payton’s words, written on his game day play sheet. It was a late December match-up against his division rival, the LA Chargers, and the Broncos head coach knew what it would take to beat them. What he didn’t expect was for the cameras to see it—a note from a Super Bowl winning coach to himself.
Run the football.
But why does a coach who oversaw more touchdowns during his 16 seasons with the Saints than any other team during that time, a coach whose offenses were in the top three in yards and points, season after season, becoming the gold standard of potent NFL attacks—need to remind himself to do the most basic, fundamental action in the sport he dominates?
Run it!
It’s an age-old complaint from football traditionalists—why aren’t they running the football more? And now that the Denver Broncos have selected RJ Harvey in the second round with the 60th pick, expect the conversation to get more pointed. RJ Harvey rushed for nearly 1,500 yards in back to back seasons at UCF, and possesses the kind of frame—5’9”, 200 pounds of solid muscle—that entices the run-deprived mind into believing that Saquon Barkley-type of run production awaits a coach who just sticks to a very basic plan—run the damn ball.
If only it were that simple.
Anyone who watched the Broncos last season observed an exciting team that defied expectations, winning ten games and earning their first playoff appearance in nearly a decade. All arrows are pointing skyward for this squad, including the coveted quarterback position, a thorn in the Broncos side since Peyton Manning left the building. That post is now occupied by one Bospeh Nix, who has galvanized the hopes and dreams of a proud fanbase. It’s Bo’s team now, and things are looking up.
But when you dig a little deeper at what the team does well, it is hard not to notice the glaring absence of a run game. The Broncos leading rusher last season was Javonte Williams with 513 yards. That landed Javonte, who is no longer with the team, at 42nd in a league of 32 teams. Shockingly, the Broncos have not had a single 100 yard rusher in Sean Payton’s tenure as head coach. Not one time has a running back eclipsed the century mark in a game. That is an especially wild stat considering the conventional wisdom around how to support a young quarterback—wisdom that Payton’s himself has espoused into a microphone on many occasions.
The NFL boneyard is littered with former first round QBs who had incredible talent but whose careers were a disappointment, largely because they landed on a bad team with no support. They were asked to do it all, couldn’t shoulder the burden, and crumbled. Their reputation in shambles, their confidence lost, they were relegated to the bench, or cut altogether, and the promise of their football journey fizzled out. It happens every year.
The astonishing thing here in Denver is that Bo was able to overcome a lack of running game and, with an inexperienced receiver room, minus the elder statesman, Courtland Sutton, cobble together a respectable offensive output, making the big plays at the right time, and surpassing expectations on the way to a playoff appearance. But when discussing Sean Payton and the Broncos offense, we should be clear about what the strength of the 2024 Broncos team was. The best way to support a rookie quarterback is with a strong running game and strong defense. The Broncos only did one of those things well, but they did it so well that it made up for the lack of the other.
As much fanfare as Boseph received, and as much of the limelight as Payton commanded, it was the Broncos defense that were the stars of the show. They led the league in sacks, boasted the DPOY, Pat Surtain, and had a nose for the big play at the right time to get the team out of any jams they found themselves in. The defense was lights out, and it allowed Bo to play with a sense of freedom that some of these other fist round quarterbacks never do.
But here’s the thing, even though the Broncos defense has improved on paper, with the additions of Talanoa Hufanga, Dre Greenlaw, and first round draft puck Jahdae Barron—the other teams are improving, too, and as badass as the Broncos defense is, one can not rely on them to hold the line forever.
Case in point, the playoff game against the Bills. The Broncos were manhandled and lost 31-7. They couldn’t run the ball and they couldn’t stop the run, and the big-play defense that had bailed them out all season was stymied by an offense built for the postseason. The young and hungry 2024 Broncos defied expectations, but in the last game of the season, that blowout loss to the Bills, they got a lesson on what it will take to take the next step, and it was written in sharpie on Sean’s play sheet.
The question is, will Coach Payton get his own memo? In his 18 seasons as an NFL head coach, he’s only had a running back eclipse 1,000 yards three times: Deuce McCallister once and Mark Ingram twice.
Alvin Kamara didn’t do it.
Reggie Bush didn’t do it.
And Darren Sproles didn’t do it, either.
So will RJ Harvey do it? I wouldn’t bet on it, and it likely won’t matter.
Play-calling is an art, after all, and Sean Payton is Picasso. Don’t expect him to paint by numbers.
