Over the course of the season, Broncos quarterback Drew Lock will make countless off-script plays such as buying time by leaving the pocket or scrambling for a third-down conversion.
But to start a game, Lock is all about the script.
He wants to drive to Mile High or ride the bus to a road stadium knowing what offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur’s first 10-12 calls will be.
“I do enjoy it and I like to be able to go into the last couple nights (before a game) looking at the openers,” Lock said.
Good for Lock that Shurmur is also pro-script.
“All the way back to when I was with Coach (Andy) Reid in Philadelphia,” Shurmur said. “You always script, whether you call them ‘openers’ or ‘first 15.’ Normally, what you’re trying to do is see what defenses will do, what plays are going to work and, of course, gain yards.”
The opening script signs for the Broncos were encouraging against Tennessee. We looked at the first two drives.
Balance: Shurmur called seven rushes and eight passes.
Mostly stayed out of third down: The Broncos failed to convert a third-and-8 on the opening drive, but during a 10-play scoring possession, they had only a third-and-2 (Lock three-yard scramble).
Personnel variety: Shurmur used four groupings during the first two drives. To Shurmur’s point about seeing how the Titans would react, that was probably the rationale behind starting both Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay.
Positive plays: Out of 15 snaps, the Broncos had seven plays that gained at least seven yards.
Points: The Broncos scored a touchdown on their second drive.
“Typically (with) the openers, you script the first- and second-down calls,” Shurmur said. “But if you get into a third down, you jump off it. It’s the plays that kind of get you through the first quarter so you pick and probe what the defense is doing.
“It’s not always a hard-and-fast deal. Things change. You might be faced with something the defense is doing drastically and you just move on.”
As Lock said, the script isn’t plays, “1-10 and this is how we’re running it and this is exactly how we’re doing it. There are a couple of tweaks in there that we like to be flexible on.”
The bar for first-quarter success has been set low for Shurmur and Lock.
The production has been pathetic.
From 2016-19, the Broncos scored nine first-drive touchdowns … in 64 games. In opening-drive scoring, they ranked tied for 24th (24 points), 26th (16), 18th (29) and 24th (24) the past four seasons.
The first quarter has been a train-wreck — 3.9 points a game over the last four years. They ranked last (40), tied for 18th (59), tied for 16th (75) and 12th (78) in points.
The current Broncos’ play-caller/quarterback shouldn’t care about the past results, only the current script heading into Sunday’s game at Pittsburgh.
Lock said Shurmur is “very open,” about giving him input to the script. Makes sense because if a quarterback is uncomfortable with a certain play, it’s doomed for failure.
“I like giving some input, but at the same time, it’s my job to run the plays he gives me,” Lock said. “If I see something I like, I’ll bring it in (to the meeting). We did a couple last week. It’s nice to watch the film with (quarterbacks) Jeff (Driskel) and Brett (Rypien) because we can all be in there and brainstorm. If anything is brought to (quarterbacks) Coach (Mike) Shula or Coach Shurmur, it’s pretty much from all three of us (quarterbacks).”
Once Sunday arrives, Lock will study the script at least two more times.
“The morning of the game and the same thing before the game,” he said. “Just to get the mind going and start to refresh on what it is we’re thinking about going in and doing on our first couple drives to get the game going.”
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