Despite the Denver Broncos putting themselves in a position to clinch a postseason spot on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, it was clear from the statistics that there was one area where Denver’s offense could improve.

Denver entered its key AFC West battle at SoFi Stadium averaging just 108.4 yards per game on the ground, placing them 20th among the NFL’s 32 teams. Javonte Williams paced the Broncos through their first 14 games with 461 yards on the ground (averaging 32.9 yards per game), showing that Denver could greatly benefit from a run game that could be a consistent weapon heading into the regular season’s final stretch.

While the lack of an effective running game has been noticed by fans and media, it’s clear by a message written across head coach Sean Payton’s play card on Thursday night that the Denver coach wanted to find success on the ground as well.

The veteran coach’s message to himself worked early against the Chargers as Denver heavily leaned on the run on their first drive of the game, with Audric Estime barreling in from three yards out to give the Broncos the early 7-0 advantage.

On its way to building a 21-13 halftime lead, Denver racked up 89 rushing yards, with Estime leading five different Broncos runners with 30 yards on five carries. 

That total number was already more than the Broncos put up in its home win over Indianapolis on Sunday when Denver posted just 72 yards on 27 carries (an average of 2.7 yards per carry). That marked the third time in the past five weeks that Denver had been unable to crack the century mark on the ground.