Going into Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Denver Broncos running backs Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams had a chance (albeit a slim chance) of both rushing for 1,000 yards this season.
After the Broncos rushed for just 18 yards in a 17-13 loss on Sunday, the dream of a 2,000-yard duo is just about dead.
“[The run game was] very disappointing and really when you look at what it was, 14 carries for our running backs for eight yards, Drew [Lock] got 10 yards on scrambles,” coach Vic Fangio after the game.
“It was disappointing. We had been running the ball well [in previous games], they did a good job up front on us. We never could seem to get our backs through the first wave of the defensive line, and we had a hard time finding any room in there.”
Las Vegas stacked the box to stop the run, giving little respect to Lock and the passing game. Denver wasn’t able to overcome that stacked box as the team’s running backs were frequently met at or near the line of scrimmage. Williams rushed seven times for 12 yards and Gordon rushed seven times for -4 yards.
The Broncos’ offense leans on its rushing attack, so that kind of production obviously won’t cut it in the final two weeks of the season. Fortunately for Denver, up next is a Los Angeles Chargers team that allows 140.3 rushing yards per game, the fourth-highest average in the NFL.
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