Denver’s Running Scheme Is Not Translating in Houston

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When the Houston Texans hired Gary Kubiak as their new head coach this year, they expected him to turn their offense around using the same system he employed as the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator for the last decade. But while the Broncos consistently had one of the best ground attacks in football on Kubiak’s watch, the running game in Houston has stalled.

Through four games, the Texans rank next to last in the NFL in both rushing yards and yards per carry. Houston’s leading rusher, Ron Dayne, spent last season in Denver, and the contrast between the Houston version and the Denver version of Dayne couldn’t be starker: Last season Dayne averaged 5.1 yards a carry; this season he averages 3.3 yards a carry. Last year Dayne looked as if he was finally living up to the promise that made him the Giants’ first-round draft pick in 2000; this year he looks like the plodding back who never averaged even four yards a carry in five seasons with the Giants.The belief that Kubiak’s system could make any running back a star was one explanation for why Houston took defensive end Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush with the first pick in the draft. Now Houston’s system looks as if it would stifle any runner.

Meanwhile, the Broncos’ running game continues to flourish without Kubiak, Dayne, and their 2005 rushing leader, Mike Anderson. After four games Denver’s new starter, Tatum Bell, has 77 carries for 387 yards, putting him on pace to become the sixth different Denver running back to eclipse 1,000 yards in the last nine seasons. Using its patented zone-blocking scheme, Denver’s offensive line is opening big holes, and the 3–1 Broncos are fourth in the league in both rushing yards per game and per carry.

Houston’s struggles on the ground demonstrate that Denver succeeded not because of the X’s and O’s Kubiak drew up, but because of the high-quality offensive linemen the Broncos drafted. That’ s not a model the Texans have been able to replicate. The 1–3 Texans, who visit the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, have an offensive line that practically defines the word “patchwork.” Kubiak brought in two free-agent starters this season, center Mike Flanagan and tackle Ephraim Salaam. Flanagan made a Pro Bowl with the Green Bay Packers, but at age 32 and a history of injuries, he’ s not the same player he was in Green Bay. Salaam, who is on his fourth NFL team, spent two seasons in Denver and knows Kubiak’s offense, but like Flanagan he is on the wrong side of 30 and has battled injuries. Houston’s other linemen are holdovers who constituted a line that has generally been recognized as the league’s worst in recent years.

Zone blocking, a system that assigns offensive linemen a specific area — rather than a specific player — to block, has become convenient shorthand for explaining Denver’ s running prowess. But it works for Denver mostly because the Broncos find good college linemen that other teams seem to overlook.Denver coach Mike Shanahan, who has final say in all personnel decisions, and general manager Ted Sundquist have built the offensive line by avoiding the most expensive free agents and instead identifying college linemen they think will fit into their offense.

Broncos center Tom Nalen, a fivetime Pro Bowler who should end up in the Hall of Fame, was a seventh-round pick out of Boston College in 1994. Left tackle Matt Lepsis signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in 1997.Starting guards Cooper Carlisle and Ben Hamilton were the team’s fourth-round picks in 2000 and 2001. Right tackle George Foster, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2002, is the only Denver lineman who was highly sought coming out of college. Denver has kept those five starters together since 2003, and Nalen and Lepsis have played together since Denver won back-to-back Super Bowls after the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Although Houston’s passing game has already improved, with quarterback David Carr and wide receiver Andre Johnson off to the best starts of their young careers, Kubiak’s running game won’t go anywhere without the offensive line leading the way.


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