ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As the Denver Broncos sifted through the what-happened list from Sunday's 22-7 loss to the St. Louis Rams, there were plenty of numbers they didn't like, starting with the ones on the scoreboard.

But one of the other red-flag numerals was the team's rushing attempts against the Rams, as in just 10 for the entire game, one of those a kneel-down from quarterback Peyton Manning just before halftime. The Broncos finished with just 28 yards rushing and as a result held on to the ball for just 24 minutes, 10 seconds in the game.

It was the third game this season when the Broncos have finished with fewer than 50 yards rushing and the Broncos are 0-3 in those games, with road losses at Seattle, New England and Sunday's in St. Louis.

"There's no doubt to be the kind of team we want to be, we have to run the ball more," said Broncos head coach John Fox. "There's a mindset, mentality, whether you're on defense trying to stop the run and whether you're on offense running the football … Right now it's something we have to do more, we have to execute better."

The 10 carries tied for the Broncos' lowest total since the start of the 1981 season -- two years before the team traded for uber quarterback prospect John Elway. The Broncos had 11 rushing attempts against the San Diego Chargers last season -- the previous low since quarterback Peyton Manning signed with the team -- and the Broncos had 10 carries against the Chargers in the 2008 season finale, Mike Shanahan's last game as the team's head coach.

The Broncos are also one of seven teams in the league with fewer than 245 rushing attempts for the season and Denver is the only one of those seven teams with a winning record -- the other six teams have a combined 13-47 record, a list that includes the 0-10 Oakland Raiders as well as the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both 2-8.

"Yeah, that's Coach Fox," said running back C.J. Anderson. "He's emphasized the run and our coaches of course are going to go upstairs and do the best thing they can do to make the run game go and part of it is on me, too. When I get the ball in my hands, I have to make sure I see the right things and see the right holes and see the right cuts and just continue to hit the spots I know I can hit and continue to make the runs I know I can run and get this run game going."

The Broncos, because of their ability in the passing game and the number of times they line up in three-wide receiver sets, often face smaller personnel groupings from opposing defenses. That scenario would seem to favor some run plays.

But the Broncos have sported injuries at running back all season -- Montee Ball (groin) and Ronnie Hillman (foot) are both sidelined at the moment -- to go with plenty of inconsistency in the offensive line. The Broncos have already made four changes in the offensive line.

The Broncos offense is at its best when Manning can use play-action in the passing game and he can't make an effective use of play-action if the Broncos don't run the ball enough, with enough efficiency, to give defenses any reason to honor the fake when Manning tries.

Manning threw the ball 54 times and the Broncos called pass plays on the last 27 plays from scrimmage in Sunday's loss. "When you throw 54, 50-something times, that's probably not the ideal scenario that you want to take place coming into the game," Manning said.

In the end, the Broncos expect, and need more, from the offense when Manning isn't throwing the ball.

"I'm the type of player that whatever's called you have to go out there and execute," Anderson said. "Whether it's 90 passes and one run, you have to go out there and execute. At the end of the day we have to play our best where were capable to play at and we'll get the results we want."