Offensive lines of successful teams are usually constructed around a coach’s philosophy. As a rule, predominantly passing teams have larger offensive lines – nowadays, these players tend to average between 300 to 325 pounds – whereas predominantly running teams feature smaller, quicker front walls that weigh in at about 280 to 290 a man.

The Denver Broncos’ offensive line fits in the latter category, and to most NFL fans, the Broncos’ 10 seasons under Mike Shanahan are defined by great running performances – by Terrell Davis (in the 1997 and 1998 Super Bowl years), Clinton Portis (traded before the season to the Washington Redskins), and now, Reuben Droughns. But the Broncos, more than any other team, exemplify the tradition of Bill Walsh, the man credited with popularizing the so-called West Coast offense. Shanahan, who was Walsh’s offensive coordinator in San Francisco, knew that offense better than anyone. Like Walsh’s, Shanahan’s offensive lines tend to be relatively light and quick, the kind that are supposed to be conducive to “running” offenses. Yet, in terms of passing efficiency, which is really what Walsh’s 49er offenses were about, Shanahan’s front fives are near perfect.

The Broncos’ running game, in terms of both yards gained and yards per rush, is almost always among the best in the league, but its success owes a lot to the passing game’s efficiency. For instance, in a 34-13 pasting of the New Orleans Saints yesterday, Jake Plummer passed for 224 yards on just 29 throws for an average of 7.7 yards. His New Orleans counterpart, Aaron Brooks, passed for more yards, 377, but it took him 60 throws to do it and it cost him four sacks and three interceptions (Plummer had no sacks or interceptions).

Denver’s passing game is efficient because Shanahan knows exactly what he wants from it. His philosophy, like Walsh’s, is almost always to pass early and run late. Against the Saints, 18 of Denver’s 29 passes came in the first half, 12 of those in the first quarter, and seven of those on Denver’s first two possessions. After passing for two first downs on the opening drive, Droughns burst off tackle for 51 yards and a TD.

Having established both the pass and the run, Plummer was now ready to run the play-action fake with precision, and on the second possession, he hit wide receiver Ashley Lelie on a post pattern for a 37-yard TD. After that, Denver’s quicker, more agile offensive line wore down the Saints and despite a flurry of second-quarter catch-up passes from Brooks, the game was never really in doubt.

The drawback of the Walsh-Shanahan philosophy is that a smallish offensive line can take a pounding if forced to confine itself to pass blocking after falling behind early. That happened to the Broncos three games ago, when Michael Vick went wild and the Falcons put up 41 points on them. But no matter its deficiencies, Shanahan’s game plan is at least a plan, and he has selected players with the proper talents to implement it.

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Two other teams, the Jets and Cowboys, yesterday provided vivid examples of teams that don’t seem to have an offensive plan. Parcells’s Cowboys, whose season is effectively over following their 30-10 humiliation by the Baltimore Ravens, can start their reclamation project when they look at films at how poorly their blockers performed.

The Cowboys started the year with a youth movement on their offensive line. On paper, the unit looked fast and mobile and was designed to play in front of a fast, mobile quarterback, Quincy Carter, whose specialty was evading a rush and putting the ball downfield while rolling to either his right or left.

But when Parcells changed QBs, releasing Carter for 41-year-old drop-back passer Vinny Testaverde, he changed the whole nature of the Cowboys’ offensive scheme. Not only is Testaverde slow to drop back, he takes more time to set and throw than Carter and makes a more inviting target. He could still be a good quarterback for a team with a great defense and a good offensive line, but he is absolutely wrong for a team whose defense has collapsed, like the Cowboys, and which has to constantly play catch-up.

Yesterday the Ravens’ defense hammered the Cowboys’ front five – Testaverde, who completed only 9 of 22 passes, threw two interceptions, was sacked twice and knocked down eight times – without even having to blitz most of the game. Mercifully, Parcells went with Drew Henson in the fourth quarter, and the rookie hit on all six of his passes, but you got the feeling that he was only having success because the Ravens, ahead by 27 points, eased off.

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The Jets had just about the opposite problem against a much lesser opponent, the very bad Cleveland Browns. The Jets happily scooped up Quincy Carter when Parcells left him out on the doorstep, and in theory he should be a terrific backup for the injured Chad Pennington.

But Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett has stubbornly stuck to the same blocking schemes with Carter that he established for Pennington, and Carter just isn’t a classic pocket passer. Carter took 26 snaps from center against the Browns, and was sacked on six – four of those in third down situations – and knocked down on five others. On three of the sacks, the Browns’ pass rushers came through untouched.

Fortunately for the Jets, they had a much better defense and found themselves in a position to win the game in the closing moments. Trailing 7-3 late in the fourth, Carter began taking shorter drop backs and releasing the ball quicker, particularly to their best receiver, Santana Moss, who must be wondering at what point in the season the Jets are going to work him into their game plan. The Jets eked out a 10-7 win, their first in three games, but their confusion and lack of purpose doesn’t bode well for the playoffs.