Eminem speaketh -- Peyton Hillis isn't playing because the o-line sucks, and since wholesale changes can't be made on the o-line, the current running back rotation, which excludes Hillis, won't be tinkered with. Ok, whatever, Eminem.
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Analysis: McDaniels points to offensive line in blame game</font></div>
<DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; OVERFLOW: ; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; COLOR: #000000; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; : transparent; TEXT-ALIGN: left; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> </div>
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Hillis' lack of playing time has been one of the biggest talking points of a Denver season gone awry, and through it all McDaniels has said things like "the run game is everybody" or "it's a lot of things" or "it's not the back."
Monday, in the wake of the Broncos' seventh loss in nine games and another outing when the Denver offense was shoved around, McDaniels had this to say about his team's running game:
"Let me just say this. (Sunday) we did not win the line of scrimmage, offensively, period. So when I say that, I'm not talking about the backs. We did not win the line of scrimmage offensively and (the Eagles) did a great job defensively being more physical than we were up front. You know, they knocked us back in the backfield quite a few times, held us on a third-and-1. ... Ultimately when we watch the running game, we're watching what's going on at the line of scrimmage.
"And when we're not winning the line of scrimmage, like I've said before, it doesn't matter what back you hand the ball to, you're not going to do a lot. I'm not taking blame off the backs, because they can certainly do a better job of reading certain plays and all the rest of that, but it starts with what we do up front. We know that as an organization, as an offense, and I think everybody knows that around the National Football League."
That's quite an admission this late in the season, but it does likely show why McDaniels has stood firmly against making a change at running back as he deals with an entire team â€" because it appears he believes he can't just go replace the running back for lack of production if he can't replace all or some of the offensive linemen as well.
And with the limited size of NFL rosters, no team in the league can make wholesale changes in
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McDaniels did bench left guard Ben Hamilton in favor of Russ Hochstein earlier this season, but Hamilton is likely back in the lineup now because of Hochstein's season-ending knee injury.
But what McDaniels said publicly Monday, he has almost certainly said behind closed doors â€" likely even more sternly. So to change the running back, at least in his mind, would basically be letting the other guys off the hook. And he now has formally put the problems in the Denver running game squarely in the laps of his offensive linemen.
McDaniels said the Broncos have won the line of scrimmage on many occasions this season and he believes they can do it again. But for Broncos fans wondering why tired-looking rookie Knowshon Moreno continues to carry the ball a lot â€" Moreno averaged just 2.0 yards per carry Sunday against the Eagles â€" it appears McDaniels wants to see more out of the guys up front before he starts tinkering with the rotation in the backfield.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com[/COLOR">http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_14084390?source=commented-</font></div></div></div></div>