Kubiak has answer to Broncos' running game

HOUSTON - Last year, the Denver Broncos cut Ron Dayne before the season. Thursday night, Dayne didn’t play the first half for the Houston Texans because of an ankle injury.

Dayne still ended up producing almost twice as many yards as Broncos tailbacks Travis Henry or Selvin Young. Dayne had 67 yards on 11 carries. The Broncos had 72 yards as a team. Young had 34 yards and Henry had 27.

“Anytime that you can’t run the football, and they were doing a pretty good job of running the football, it comes down to them getting the job done and us not,” Denver coach Mike Shanahan said.

The Texans, running the same running scheme as the Broncos, had 158 yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

Houston coach Gary Kubiak was Denver’s offensive coordinator for 11 years, and he knows how important the running game is to the Broncos’ success.

The Texans used extra defensive players near the line of scrimmage to stop the run.

“You put nine, 10 guys in the box, no one is going to be able to run the football,” said Young, who started but had only eight carries.

Houston had a lead and tight end Daniel Graham was out of the game with an ankle injury, so the Broncos got away from running the ball.

In the fourth quarter the Broncos tried again without success. Down 24-13, Henry gained 3 yards on first down, 2 yards on second down and then Denver punted after Jay Cutler was sacked. Houston scored on its next drive to take a 31-13 lead.