Peyton Manning has looked more and more like himself every week as the Denver Broncos’ offence continues to adjust to make their veteran quarterback comfortable.
The 24-12 win over the Detroit Lions this past weekend saw Denver utilise the pistol formation to both appease Manning’s preference of being in shotgun and coach
Gary Kubiak’s desire to have a quarterback under centre to force a defence to honour the run.
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Manning was as good as he’s been all season, throwing for 324 yards on 31-of-42 completions with two touchdowns and an interception.
Maybe more importantly though, the 39-year-old was sacked just once after getting sacked seven times in the first two games – his highest total through the first two weeks in any season of his career.
“That was something coaches came up with during the week,” Manning said of the pistol. “Green Bay did it last year against Detroit late in the season and had pretty good success with it, so something that we’ve repped throughout training camp.
“But something they wanted to do this week and I imagine it’ll be a part of the arsenal throughout the season whether we use it next week or two weeks from now, I don’t know. It gave us some help in protection.”
The formation didn’t make it any easier for Denver to run the ball, however, as their committee of running backs totalled 41 yards on 19 carries.
At 2.6 yards per carry, the Broncos are tied for dead last in the league with the Lions after averaging the 15th-most rushing yards in the NFL last season at 111.6.
But as the threat of Manning attacking through the air returns to a more prevalent level, Denver’s run game will see fewer defenders in the box and increased space to exploit.
The Broncos’ defence has provided more room for error, with the unit ranking first in the NFL in yards allowed per game at 259.0 and tied for third in average points given up at 16.3.
Along with New England and Cincinnati, Denver is the only team in the AFC with a perfect 3-0 mark.
