There is no mystery. The answer isn’t hiding.
It can be found somewhere between the huddle-up and hurry-up, the center and shotgun, the handoff and deep route, six offensive linemen in a bunch and five receivers split wide.
Or maybe those intervening areas aren’t the answer but the problem.
What are the Broncos, exactly, on offense as they conclude their regular season Sunday against Oakland and get ready for another run at the postseason?
“You venture,” said coach John Fox. “You adjust. Right now, we need to adjust back with the passing game.”
For the 2012 and 2013 seasons and first 10 games of the 2014 season, there was no mistaken identity. The Broncos’ offense was Peyton and his pass catchers. “Wide receiver heaven,” as Emmanuel Sanders called it when he signed in March.
The pass accounted for 58.6 percent of the Broncos plays and a whopping 74.6 percent of the total offense and 77.7 percent of the touchdowns.
But there were no Lombardi Trophies in Manning’s first two years, and the trend started pointing away from Arizona, site of Super Bowl XLIX, after the Broncos were dominated by New England and St. Louis within a period of three weeks near midseason. The play-calling ratio had become even more distorted toward the pass.
The offensive line was struggling to keep up, then was shaken up. There were times when the poised Manning seemed skittish in the pocket.
Fox decided the Broncos could not win it all on Manning’s arm alone. In part out of necessity to help their fluid offensive line, a heavier dose of old-school running game was inserted into the game plan of offensive coordinator Adam Gase.
The tempo was slowed. Manning started taking the snap from center to help give running back C.J. Anderson a head of steam as he took the handoff.
A sixth offensive lineman, along with blocking tight end Virgil Green, took snaps away from slot receiver Wes Welker and receiving tight end Julius Thomas, who was down with an ankle injury.
In the four-week period from Games 11-14, plus most of the first half in Game 15 at Cincinnati on Monday night, the pass accounted for only 43.4 percent of the play calls and 56.2 percent of the yardage.
The Broncos were running the ball better. They had gone 4-0 since the transformation heading into their game at Cincinnati.
One big problem: Manning wasn’t playing like Manning anymore.
“Everybody’s comparing us to last year when we were pedal to the metal,” Fox said. “We broke every record known to man. Well, we’re not the same team this year. We’re a different team. We can play like that, but it’s not really what we want to do.”
Change in the air
After starting the game at Cincinnati with 10 running plays and 10 passing plays, the Broncos were trailing 20-7 — and their lone touchdown was an interception return by cornerback Aqib Talib.
The score dictated that the Broncos chuck their offensive balance and put the game on Manning’s arm. Starting with 1:03 left in the first half, the Broncos called 34 passes in their next 43 plays. Manning got hot and directed touchdown drives during three consecutive possessions as the Broncos took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Then a heavy rain fell, and Broncos’ hopes of victory were doused when Manning threw three interceptions.
There are times when the Broncos’ offense seems like it’s caught in between. Improved running but not a running team. A passing team but not like they were before.
So what is the Broncos’ offensive identity as the regular season ends?
“I don’t know if I have a real great answer for you on this general philosophy or a catchy phrase for your headline,” said Manning, who occasionally tries to guess the narrative of a leading question. “We have to play better offensively than we did last week. We showed flashes, three consecutive drives in the third quarter …
“We had a big emphasis on the red zone all last week. I thought we took that emphasis to the field, and that paid off for us with some touchdowns. We have to emphasize other things than just that, i.e. protecting the ball, and that starts with me.”
Through seven games this season. Manning had 22 touchdown passes and just three interceptions while averaging 305 passing yards a game. In his next eight games, he threw an NFL-most 17 touchdowns and also an NFL-most 12 interceptions during that span while averaging 290 yards.
“People who play against us and know us know we’re still a passing team,” said Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas. “You still have to worry about (No.) 18 first. You’re not going to put eight people in the box against 18 and try to take away the running game.”
True, but Manning’s relative rut has invited open questions about whether he’s injured or, worse, whether he has begun to decline at the 38-year, 7-month mark.
More likely, Manning’s passing numbers are down because the offense is running fewer plays while calling more running plays. The Broncos led the league last season with 71.6 plays per game.
In their past three games, the Broncos have averaged 58.7 plays. Where have you gone, “Hurry! Hurry!”?
“It’s easy to say, ‘Hey, just go up-tempo and you’ll have the same success (as last year and earlier this season),’ ” Gase said. “But we’ve moved in and out of that this year. One game we’ve been good, and one game we haven’t.”
The foes know
Which leads to another explanation about why the Broncos’ offense hasn’t been in sync: Defenses have adjusted. With the offensive line in flux — not one blocker who started in the Broncos’ postseason run last season is starting at that same position this year — opponents are becoming more aggressive with their pass rush.
As Manning senses pressure, opposing secondaries are squatting on the shorter routes. Perhaps as tight end Julius Thomas gets closer to 100 percent, the Broncos’ passing game can better exploit where these hawkish defensive strategies are vulnerable.
Or the Broncos can return to its no-huddle, shotgun, pass-heavy ways, if only to jump-start Manning.
But should it be cold and blustery for the AFC championship game in Foxborough, Mass., on Jan. 18, Manning probably would be better off huddling up, getting under center and handing off to Anderson than throwing it to Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas or Sanders.
“We want to be multiple,” Gase said.
“We’re looking for that complete, dominant balance,” Anderson said. “The Miami game, we were there. I think we’re striving to get back to that.”
Indeed, the Broncos’ first attempt at offensive balance was their best. They scored 39 points to beat the Dolphins. Anderson rushed for 167 of the team’s 201 yards rushing. Manning threw for a relatively modest 257 yards but also for four touchdowns.
It can be done. They just haven’t done it lately. The work continues as the postseason nears.
Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mikeklis
