It's been an up-and-down year for the Denver Broncos so far, but despite questions about their offensive struggles, they're 5-2 and just half a game back of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West. After Denver's win on Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which they jumped out to leads of 20-6 early in the third quarter and 27-13 before the fourth, optimism is warranted ahead of Sunday's rematch with the Chiefs.

However, even amid the Broncos' three-game winning streak, a question posed to J.K. Dobbins didn't seem to sit well with the starting running back. Although head coach Sean Payton has utilized multiple backs on several occasions this season, Dobbins has been the unquestioned lead runner. But with the Broncos holding a decent second-half lead, Dobbins got just six carries for 23 yards and one touchdown, while Jonah Coleman (nine carries, 54 yards) got more work after not seeing a single offensive snap since Week 2.

Longtime Broncos reporter Mike Klis of 9NEWS asked Dobbins what it was like when the young backs were "running ahead" of him, as they did in the second half against the Cardinals. Dobbins responded bluntly, quickly asking if he "watched the game" and then pointing to his first-half production. Dobbins added that he averaged 5.5 yards per carry in the first half of that game and cited his focus on playing 17 games to explain his light second-half workload, as Rachel Vigil of Mile High Sports reported.

The back-and-forth was certainly tense, and realistically, Dobbins' argument is probably fair. His 87 carries are far and away the most in the Broncos' backfield, with RJ Harvey second (24 carries) and Coleman totaling 19 this season. Dobbins also had double-digit carries in each of the five games before Sunday and 35 over the past two.

On the other hand, Klis' question is understandable, given the significant change from previous games throughout the year. The Broncos found themselves in a rare position against the Cardinals with a decent-sized lead, as they had won their four prior games by a touchdown or less, and the 24-14 loss in between to the San Francisco 49ers was a one-score game until just over midway through the fourth quarter.