During the loss to the Seahawks last weekend, the Denver Broncos had a pretty bad showing from the second team after Peyton Manning and the first crew got off the field. That included a nearly invisible showing from all of the backup running backs, who had under 10 yards all combined on the ground.
Mile High Report's Bubble Watch put the hammer down on pretty much every RB on the team because of the sub-par showing, which at one point just devolved into the team passing on nearly every single down:
Lance Ball was the most productive of the group, adding 4 catches for 30 yards and only 5 yards on 2 carries on the ground. The other three totaled 3 carries for 1 yard. For some reason, the Broncos totally gave up on the running game. Either the Broncos decided the blocking was so bad that they decided to air it out, or wanted to give Osweiler as much work as possible. Knowshon did pick up the blitz pretty well on Mannings second INT, but other than that, these guys didn't stand out to me, and didn't help their stock at all.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though, as linebacker Nate Irving got high marks from the MHR crew after another solid game with the second team:
Another standout from last weeks game, Nate Irving stood out to me again. He was arguably the best player on the 2nd and 3rd team D. Showed solid tackling and nearly leveled QB Russel Wilson, who somehow avoided the sack. It's good to see Irving playing well.
There's still plenty of time in the preseason for those guys to boost their stocks or lower them, the second tier running game in general is sure to improve in the Broncos next preseason match -- it could hardly get worse.
For more news and notes on the Broncos, visit Mile High Report. Check out SB Nation NFL for more happening around the league.