At this time last year, Peyton Manning was just getting to know his teammates on the Broncos offense.
Everyone’s more familiar with one another this time around and Manning would like to use that familiarity as a springboard to an offense that plays faster in 2013. The Broncos ranked second in the league in scoring last year while running 68.13 plays per game, about six less a game than the Patriots ran on their way to leading the league in scoring. Manning told Mark Klszla of the Denver Post that he wants to see the Broncos closer to New England in that metric.
“For whatever reason, our offense plays better the faster we go. I think that was clear cut last season. The receivers liked it; they got into a rhythm,” Manning said. “Anything we can do as an offense to build off that, anything we can do to make us more efficient as an offense, that’s what we’re looking to do.”
The Broncos appear to be in good position to kick things up a notch in the tempo department. Wide receiver Wes Welker is the most prominent new face on the Broncos offense and, as illustrated above, he brings plenty of experience playing in fast-paced schemes with him from New England. If they did add seven snaps a game on offense, it would mean 112 more chances for Manning to connect with Welker, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker.
That scenario bodes well for Manning, the receivers and the Broncos as a whole. It’s not quite as rosy an outlook for opposing defenses.