A second chance

At the risk of revealing myself as the idiot I am, I did something stupid this weekend and now wish to brag.

So Saturday I moved in to a new apartment. Nice little setup, comes with a detached garage. I've never parked in a garage before, at least not regularly. Anyway, Saturday night I got my car, grabbed the garage door opener, and pulled in.

There's no clip on the back of the opener, I noticed, but figured I could just leave it in the car somewhere, so I did. On the way out, I pushed the button on the garage itself (not on the opener) to close it up, and carefully avoid tripping that sensor which would have made me start all over. (As long as we're telling dumb garage stories, when I was a kid and before my parents had that safety sensor, I used to push the garage door button, which was located by the door into the house, then race out, touch one of the lines on the driveway, and try to dive or roll back under the door before the thing crushed me. I now realize this course of action was unwise.)

You follow? My garage door opener was now in the car in the closed and detached garage.

Anyway, Sunday morning I wake up and one of my first thoughts about getting to church is: wait a second, how am I going to get back in the garage? I'd noticed the day before that there was no other door to get in there. In my morning stupor, I threw on some clothes, ran out there, and confirmed what I'd already suspected.

Yep, I was locked out.

I frantically tried calling everywhere at the complex, but its offices were closed (curious; what kind of place is closed at 7 a.m. on a Sunday?) Then I tried opening the garage with my apartment key. Surprise! It didn't work.

That was no good. Eventually I caught a ride from my neighbors and showed up about two hours later than I was supposed to, but whatever. (Fortunately, the offices were open by the time I got back, saving me the trouble of having to purchase a new car.)

My point is, everyone makes mistakes. Like the dog in the Bar None commercials says, everyone deserves a second chance.

And I'm willing to write off Denver's loss to Miami last week as a mistake. As I was telling everyone all week, the Broncos could not have played or been coached any worse, and it wasn't going to happen again (or did you forget Marty Schottenheimer was coming to town?)

The Broncos responded with an important win yesterday-or, rather, by avoiding a crushing loss. There were some worrying signs, though, like the too-many-men-on-the-field penalty that nullified a special-teams touchdown, or the offensive line's inability to protect Plummer at the end of the first half, or even Elam's missed kicks (though the announcers' calling his 60-ish percent accuracy from outside of 50 yards "automatic" was pretty comical, too).

There's still one huge change the Broncos need to make to right the ship. That change is huge, and it's obvious. What's Denver been known for over the last ten years? That's right, the anyone-can-be-a-thousand-yard back thing.

The Broncos need to get back to the running game.

I think the Broncos' downfall the last few years has not really been coaching, but personnel blunders. The Broncos have been a good if inconsistent squad. But the coaching staff this year has puzzlingly given up on what Denver offenses do best.

The Broncos have been behind a lot in this young season, but have abandoned their rushing attack much sooner than prudence demands. By the time they were down 6-3 to the Dolphins in the third quarter in the first week, the team had essentially abandoned any attempts at running, even though it was not yet time to panic. And this was a game when we needed to get physical. How do you get physical on offense? By pounding the ball.

Yesterday, the Broncos were down 14-3 at the half, then pulled closer on Bailey's TD to make it a four-point game. Yet until the final drive, the team made only token efforts at running the ball.

On the last drive, the team put the ball in Ron Dayne's hands. If you're a regular at Hole Punch Sports, you know what confidence that gives us. But Dayne responded in a terrific fashion, and Shanahan rediscovered his aggressiveness long enough to make an absolutely brilliant fourth-down call on the pitch to Dayne, who picked up ten yards behind Rod Smith's tremendous block.

But this was just one effective drive in a season of offensive struggles. Plummer has already attempted 85 passes this year against the team's 46 rushing tries. Factor in sacks and scrambles, and the Broncos are calling pass plays more than 65 percent of the time.

To be fair, the Broncos' running as a whole has been shoddy. The team is picking up just 3.7 yards per carry, which is terrible for Denver and not very good for anybody (20th in the league).

Which would almost be relevant if Plummer's passer rating wasn't 59.9. As bad as the Broncos might be running the ball, they're even worse throwing it.

Besides, a rushing attack sometimes takes patience. You don't really find the holes in the defense until the second half. But the best way to start finding them early is to attack early.

And yes, Mike Anderson has battled injuries. While I've never believed the Broncos can plug in anyone, Dayne's clutch performance almost has me believing it. In any event, if the backups can't go, why are they on the team? (Of course, my commitment to the running game would have extended to retaining the services of Clinton Portis, but that's a topic for a different day.) If the backup du jour can't be trusted to pound away, it's time to find a new backup. Injuries have never stopped the Broncos' running game before.

The Broncos have to re-emphasize their rushing attack to re-establish themselves as playoff contenders. Run early, run hard, and run often.

Anything else would be a mistake.