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For Bell, new role is taking its toll

Additional carries leave back sore - but wanting more

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 28, 2006 at midnight

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He asked for it.

Tatum Bell wanted to be a full- time running back. And with the extra carries that added responsibility entails, so, too, comes the added contact.

The difference has been felt in his body Monday mornings this season.

He's stiffer, sorer. Something new seems to hurt every time, too.

It isn't until midweek that he starts to feel like the spry guy he has been the past two seasons with the Broncos as their change-of-pace runner.

"I'd hate to see those guys who back in the day used to carry 40 times. That's pretty crucial," Bell said with a laugh Friday, as on- field preparations for the Indianapolis Colts ended. "Twenty- five is good enough."

It might not be a sufficient workload Sunday, if not by Bell alone, by the Broncos running game in general.

The Colts' biggest area of weakness this season has been their run defense. The group has allowed 158.0 yards a game, next to last in the league rankings, and resides at the bottom in yards allowed per attempt (5.2).

Three running backs - Tiki Barber, Maurice Jones-Drew and Travis Henry - have had triple-digit individual performan- ces against Indy.

The need to run, though, goes beyond Xs and Os and is more about minutes and seconds this week.

The more Denver can control the ball on the ground, the less time Peyton Manning and Co. have to score.

Consider: In the only seven games in the past two seasons in which the Colts failed to score 20 points, their opponents averaged 31 carries and 148 yards. The number of rushing attempts swells to 39 per game in Indy's past four playoff losses.

"We're going to give them a heavy dosage," Bell predicted.

How big a dose will depend on whether the Broncos can shake their third-down blues and the ineffectiveness in the opponent's territory.

"We know what we have to do as an offense. We know how big a game it is for us to get going, period. And we say that every week," Bell said. "But we can't leave our defense in a bind. Their offense is too potent."

On paper, the Broncos' rushing game has been lethal so far. Only the Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants and San Diego Chargers are getting more than the Broncos' 143.3 weekly average. Bell leads the AFC in rushing and is on pace for 1,560 yards, the fourth-highest total in club history.

But there's no real sense of dominance, despite the solid numbers.

Perhaps the reason is that all the negative talk about the passing game is drowning out other offensive achievements.

Or the yearly top-five rushing results have turned ho-hum. That happens when seven of the Broncos' eight top individual rushing seasons have occurred in the past dozen years.

More likely, it's because the big-play element has been, in relative terms, removed from the equation.

"It's been consistent, efficient," fullback Kyle Johnson said of the rushing attack. "But the capacity for a breakout game is still there - some breakout runs, some breakout blocks. And I think that would open up the passing game that much more."

Bell already is only five short of the 21 carries he made last season of 10 or more yards. But nearly half of those long runs in 2005 went more than twice that distance, including three gains of 50-plus yards. This year, Bell's longest run is 39 yards, and that came in the opener. He has only two other runs exceeding 20 yards through six games.

That, too, traces back to his added responsibilities and the price paid to get them.

"Tate's running hard between the tackles and doing the things we want him to do. But he's carrying the ball more, so he may not be as fresh as we was last year when he was the change-of-pace guy, breaking those gains off," Denver assistant head coach Mike Heimerdinger said. "When you're carrying it 25 times, whatever it is, he may not have the same explosion he had before."

Bell averaged only 11.5 carries last season. The past four games have been his four busiest in career attempts: 24, 23, 19 and 27.

And while Bell explained that he's able to go the entire game without being completely worn out, having full-time duty has changed his mind-set to pacing himself more rather than trying to meet the unrealistic expectation of hitting the big play on every carry. That was more his thought process in his part-time role.

But Bell sees no reason there can't be more big plays sprinkled into his additional workload.

"I need to turn some 5-yard gains into 55-yard gains," he said.

There have been several carries on which Bell has been tripped up by the last defender with a chance to tackle him.

"Every game, I've left yards on the field, like 20 or 30 yards," Bell said.

And until he gets them, Bell won't realize his goal.

He started the season saying he'd get 1,000 yards regardless of whether he had spot duty or started. But now that he's No. 3 in the league behind only Barber (647 yards) of the Giants and Minnesota's Chester Taylor (590) in rushing, his sights are higher: the Pro Bowl.

Getting there will require cutting down on missed assignments and improving ball security as much as going the distance more often.

"Right now, I'm just playing at an average level - a 1,200- or 1,300-yard back - and I want to be more than that," he said.

The Broncos offense, which

really has looked ordinary, is harboring similar hopes.

Seven touchdowns in 69 possessions has increased the weight of expectations to the point where Bell knows it's either time to put up or shut up.

"Respect is earned. And until we go out and actually get back to the standard we used to play, people are going to keep looking at us like we don't have any offense," Bell said. "We can't live in the past or on last year's hype. We've got to set a standard this year and play our game. And our game now is 17 points."

Strive for five

Jeff Legwold's keys for the Broncos in their game Sunday against Indianapolis:

1 Fill it up. The Colts want to spread a defense and then run right at it. The Broncos have to fill the run lanes because if the Indianapolis offense gets any sort of rhythm in the run game, first downs and touchdowns aren't far behind.

2 Ring the Bell. Tatum Bell has waited for the chance, has said he deserved the chance "to put a team on my shoulders." Well, Sunday's the day. For all Peyton Manning can do behind center, he still can't score without the ball.

3 Get off the field. Of Manning's 12 touchdown passes this season, 10 have come on third down. And defenses have yet to intercept Manning on 63 third-down pass attempts. Defenses often feel good about their effort on first and second downs only to have the Colts break their hearts on third down.

4 The other guys. Most teams concentrate on Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison - he leads the team in catches and touchdowns. But Manning has completed more than 40 percent of his passes to the team's backs and tight ends, and Reggie Wayne is averaging 18 yards a catch. A defense has to win matchups across the board, because the ball is going where Manning thinks it is weak.

5 Stand up. Championships are won in February. But the opportunity to play for the championship is earned in games like these. If the Broncos want to be home in the playoffs, they have to play like it Sunday.