Broncos likley to continue sharing on offense

ENGLEWOOD • After one game, the Denver Broncos offense looks like an equal opportunity operation.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels will spread the wealth. No receiver had more than four catches and no running back had more than eight carries against Cincinnati.

Big things were predicted out of Eddie Royal this season. He had two catches for 18 yards. Brandon Marshall, coming off back-to-back 100-catch seasons, had four catches. Correll Buckhalter ran well and still couldn’t get more than eight carries. He had 46 yards rushing. Buckhalter did better than Peyton Hillis, who touched the ball only twice against the Bengals.

“You go into a game with a lot of different skill players that can touch the ball,” McDaniels said. “Sometimes more of them are going to touch it than others.”

McDaniels said he doesn’t buy the theory that the coaches should try to get players a certain amount of touches in a game.  

“I don’t buy into forcing the ball, I think you get into problems,” McDaniels said. “I think that creates turnovers. Defenses would love that if you force the ball to one guy.”

Hillis is an example of how touches might be unpredictable for players. McDaniels said Hillis’ lack of touches had to do with how the game flowed — the Broncos were often backed up in long situations on second and third down. But Hillis understands the situation. He said he didn’t mind, and figures that roles will change.

“It’s a week to week thing,” Hillis said. “Until we come in that week on a Wednesday, we’ll never know.”