Saying he'll "only get better" moving forward, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton teased a further expanded role for rookie running back Audric Estime, who led the team in rushing amid last week's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
"I think he played well," Payton told reporters Sunday. "I was encouraged with the physicality he ran with. I think he’ll only get better, so I was encouraged. Even [RB] Blake [Watson] had some carries that were encouraging. So balancing that is going to be important for us here down the stretch.”
With Jaleel McLaughlin ruled out, Estime took the first carry of the game as the nominal starter and scored his first NFL touchdown en route to 48 ground yards on nine totes — more than double of RBs Javonte Williams (4) and Blake Watson (4) combined. He averaged a healthy 5.3 yards per attempt.
Estime, however, would receive just four carries in the second half of the 34-27 defeat as Payton, the offensive playcaller, abandoned the rushing attack. This coincided with a club-wide fizzling-out that led to a meager six points after the break.
The dichotomy was staggering. Per Next Gen Stats, the Broncos posted a season-best 76.9% rushing success rate in the first and second quarters, and a season-worst 12.5% rate in the third and fourth quarters.
“Well look, I mean we had some attempts, maybe the execution. I'll see the film," Payton said following the game. "The first drive was the rhythm we wanted, the tempo we wanted. In the second half, we get some pressure looks when they're playing from behind. We just didn't sustain it enough and certainly I got to look at each series, ‘Hey, with some of these looks, what are the sum of the runs?’ We had plenty of work on the run game going into the game. I thought the young backs did a good job. We'll keep working those guys.”
McLaughlin is expected to return in Week 17, and Denver's backfield is as muddied as any in the league, but it sounds like Estime did enough to warrant additional opportunities, at least on early downs.
Next up for the former Notre Dame bruiser is a meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals' 21st-ranked rushing defense, which has surrendered over 128 yards per game.
