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| Runningback Knowshon Moreno hurdling Brandon Flowers before tearing his ACL (Denver Broncos) |
Moreno, who usually has his best games against the Chiefs (also at the Chiefs), was well on his way to another one with 52 yards on four carries before going down with with what turned out to be a torn ACL.
Such has been the theme for Moreno in his three seasons with the Broncos. Oft-injured and unable to make the most of his opportunities, Moreno will have surgery to repair the torn ligament.
As a Georgia student (soon to be alumnus), I hope this isn't the end of Moreno's time as a Bronco. I hope he has a swift and successful recovery. Perhaps Willis McGahee can give him some advice and hope as far as recovering from a season ending, career threatening injury.
On to the good news.
Kansas City knew the Broncos would run. Run the Broncos did. Sprinkled this time with some traditional option football, Denver executed the zone read option offense to the tune of 55 plays for 244 yards. Moreno and McGahee only contributed 69 of those yards with third-string back Lance Ball, quarterback Tim Tebow, wide receiver Eddie Royal, and fullback Spencer Larsen rushing for the the remaining 175 yards in Denver's throwback offense.
By land, the Broncos ran wild. By air, well, broncos can't fly.
Tim Tebow was only 2-8 passing for 69 yards and a touchdown (a beautifully thrown 56 yard bomb to Eric Decker). I'm sure I'm not the only Broncos fan ready for the day (which must come) where Tebow is 10 of 15 or in that neighborhood. Thankfully, even though Tebow has yet to eclipse 50 percent passing in a game, he's only thrown one interception this season.
As ugly as it is watching (or listening as is often my case), you can't argue with the results. The Broncos are 3-1 in Tebow's starts this season, and are now only one game behind the Oakland Raiders (5-4) for the division lead. The Cheifs and Chargers are also 4-5.
Of course Tebow will need to throw the ball more accurately in order to enjoy long-term success. That said, there's nothing more satisfying than being able to effectively run on your opponents (in their house) when they know you will run, do everything to stop the run, but fail.
Denver's option attack is no exception to the fact that it's not an offense built to come from behind. However, the Broncos owe no apology for fighting back into playoff contention. If nothing else, Denver is winning games, even if the team plans to go in a different direction at quarterback via free agency or the draft after the season.
John Fox and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy deserve tremendous credit for the job they've done tailoring their offensive philosophy to Tim Tebow. You can't argue with the results.
As long as the Broncos continue to control the clock and keep opposing offenses off the field, why not see how far they can ride this option attack? I never would have thought the Broncos would still have a shot at the division in November, but they do. They had four wins all of last season, and it was miserable.
They probably won't make the playoffs. They probably won't be able to consistently win enough games to make it to the playoffs, let alone win consistently in the playoffs without better quarterback play.
Regardless, I plan to enjoy the ride.
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