The Denver Broncos looked impressive throughout most of the 27-7 preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons outside a couple of special teams miscues. The best aspect to that win could be the underrated run game. Denver outgained the Falcons by over 100 yards on the ground and that was something that head coach Sean Payton was happy about afterwards.
“I was pleased with that,” Payton said. “I thought the runners played well and I thought we blocked them pretty well. It’s kind of a heavy front; they’ll play some base. I know we had one fumble, but those guys ran hard.”
The player that impressed me the most on the night was rookie Jonah Coleman. His first two carries were a bit disappointing, but after that he was the best runner of the night for the Broncos. His first two carries went for four yards, but his last two went for 20.
Coleman has had a good camp and Payton backed that up when asked about his impressions of Coleman during the game.
“Just what we’ve been seeing, right? And then you see enough of it, and you’re like, all right. Look, he’s had a good camp, and I liked his balance coming out of some of the tackles. I thought overall, the group had a good night.”
His ability to avoid going down with first contact is something he was known for in college and we saw more of that in his runs on Friday night. JK Dobbins is your clear starter this year, but Coleman had himself a good first showing for us fans. It would be good for the team to have hit pay dirt on a midround pick like Jonah.
What were your impressions of the Broncos’ run game last night?