Greg Cosell's Look Ahead: The Denver Broncos' changing offense

There was a telltale sign on Sunday night that the Denver Broncos’ offense is changing. Two, actually.

First, the Broncos lined up with six offensive linemen in a heavy set on the first four plays of the game. Also, Virgil Green was at tight end, and his strength is run blocking. The Broncos ran it with C.J. Anderson on each of the first four plays out of that set. That's not what we've come to expect from the Broncos, with their wide array of weapons in the passing game.

The other shift is that quarterback Peyton Manning was under center a lot, and I don’t recall him being under center that much in a game with the Broncos. On the Broncos’ second possession of the third quarter, they ran the ball six straight times, all with Manning under center.

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Nobody knows what the Broncos’ plan is this week against the Buffalo Bills or the rest of the season, but over the last two weeks this offense looks a lot different.

Anderson has 335 yards on 59 carries the last two weeks, and 23 of those carries and 119 yards have come with six offensive linemen on the field. That’s a pretty significant 39 percent of his runs.

Anderson has a good skill set, so it's no surprise the Broncos want him involved. He’s a compact runner with a low center of gravity, with good lower leg strength and deceptive lateral agility and quickness. He has showed the ability to stop-and-start and jump cut.

The Broncos got a decisive win over the Chiefs, even without Manning throwing it well in the second half in bad weather. Manning was great on third-down conversions in the first half, which helped the Broncos get a big lead, but take those third-down conversions in the first half away and he was 10-of-25 for 71 yards.

The Broncos have made a strong commitment to the running game the last couple weeks, and you can tell that’s the plan based on their personnel decisions. Whether that continues remains to be seen (and some of it can be attributed to tight end Julius Thomas being out of the lineup), but it has been a different Broncos offense the last two weeks.

Dalton struggles

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is not seeing things well right now, and he’s making throws that aren’t there but he tries them anyway. That led to some big mistakes last week. Let’s look at one of them.

With the Bengals in the red zone, the Buccaneers ran a “Cover 2” zone. Cornerback Brandon Gibson did an excellent job carrying receiver A.J. Green, because there was no threat in the flat. So the throw was not there, but Dalton turned it loose.

Dalton isn’t quickly eliminating what’s not there, which is a problem. This interception was even worse because it was in the red zone and took points off the board.

Eagles vs. Seahawks

There’s one possible wrinkle to watch when the Seattle Seahawks play at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

The Eagles have completed a lot of short passes this season – a quick curl in which a receiver catches it and gains 7 or 8 yards. Then all of a sudden they’ve run eight of those plays in a row at a fast pace and the defense is gassed. That’s one way the Eagles sustain their offense, with those short throws.

I wonder if Seattle will play a little more man coverage to take away those quick throws. The Seahawks have played more man this season. That would make it harder on quarterback Mark Sanchez. The longer he is in the pocket with the ball, the harder it becomes for him.

If the Seahawks do play it this way, also expect strong safety Kam Chancellor to be the “lurk” defender, to sit in the middle and take away those throws. Or, if the Eagles complete them, Chancellor can do what he did in the Super Bowl and punish the receivers over the middle.

"Triple A Gap" blitz

I wanted to point out a really well designed blitz/stunt from the Minnesota Vikings last week. Their coach, Mike Zimmer, is a master of the “Double A Gap” blitz, and the "Triple A Gap" too. On this one, on a third down early in the game, both linebackers Anthony Barr and Chad Greenway blitzed from the “A” gap alignment – one on each side of the center. But it became a “Triple A Gap” blitz when defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd got involved. He looped behind the linebackers as a third rusher up the middle, and his quick pressure made Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton rush an incompletion.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.

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