Fangio Defends Broncos' Inexplicable Offensive Game Plan with Bizarre Rationale

Early on in their Week 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Denver Broncos had control of the tempo with a running game that was effective. The Broncos ran the ball twice on their first drive, picking up 15 yards with a run of seven and eight.

After that, however, the drive faltered with three incomplete passes, including a drop by tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. Denver's success with the run game was pretty consistent throughout the game, yet the team had four rushing attempts in the second half.

That came despite being down only 10 points until early in the fourth quarter where Baltimore extended its lead to 13 points. There was no reason to go away from the run, yet Broncos head coach Vic Fangio defended his offensive coordinator's game plan on Monday.

"[The Ravens] were by and large winning the running down," Fangio said.

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This was questionable at the time but Fangio was asked again about Denver's run game statistics and provided a head-scratching comment.

"Yeah, statistically, it wasn’t," Fangio said. "You’re just looking at yards per carry—which is when you throw in a 31-yarder. Then we had two other good runs there by [RB] Melvin [Gordon III]... When you look at yards per carry, that’s probably the worst thing to look at.”

To be considered 'successful', a run play has to gain 40% of the yards needed to move the chains on first down, 60% on second down, and convert on third. Denver ran the ball 16 times, with all but one of them being on first or second down. All but four of those runs came in the first half and nine of them on the Broncos' first four drives.

Of those 16 runs, nine of them were considered 'successful' runs for the Broncos. That includes the 31-yard romp by Javonte Williams that Fangio seems so dismissive of. So while it's true that yards-per-carry can be misleading is correct, Fangio isn't being transparent about the actual success of the Broncos' overall running game.

While it isn't considered a 'success' often, three yards is the minimum you want from a running play. It keeps an offense on schedule and allows it to hit 2nd-&-medium, which doesn't limit the playbook. Denver only had three runs that didn't pick up at least three yards on the day, one of which being a 2nd-&-goal situation from the 6-yard line.

Denver had success on 8-of-15 running plays on first or second down — the running downs. That's better than the NFL average for not just Week 4 but the whole season. Believe it or not, this was the best rushing performance the Broncos displayed this season and the coaches were 100% remiss to abandon it as they did.

It doesn't matter how you want to look at it. The Broncos abandoned the run when they shouldn't have, and it completely took away any offensive rhythm. Fangio shouldn't be defending offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's gross play-calling miscalculation, especially when the rep-starved backup quarterback Drew Lock was inserted in the third quarter.

Would the Broncos have won the game if they'd continued to assert the run? Who knows, but Denver fielded an effective offense when running the ball.

It likely would have given the Broncos a better shot by helping keep the offense in rhythm. And it could have forestalled the Ravens' defense the significantly easier task of only having to focus on the passing game. Instead, Denver's offensive efficiency and productivity went out the window.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.

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