ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- A sure sign things aren't going smoothly in the normally button-down world of the Denver Broncos offense, is when harsh words are exchanged.

Like any football team filled with competitive personalities, there will be some spirited back-and-forth. For the Broncos, quarterback Peyton Manning will occasionally fire at a teammate or sometimes defensive players will hash out a busted assignment. For the most part, though, the Broncos don't hang that much laundry in public.

But at one point during the 24-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Manning and wide receiver Wes Welker -- usually the two guys on the same page -- were going back and forth after an incompletion. Wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert was included in the conversation at one point. But frustration has plagued many of the Broncos' attempts to mesh the improved run game into what they had been doing in the passing game.

"We're just disappointed," wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. "We just didn't always execute like we can ... That's it, you have to execute."

"I didn't play as well, consistently, in the second half of the season," Manning said. "I can't give you a great reason for that. Played well at times, but probably not as consistently, certainly didn't play as consistently in the second half of the season as I did in the first half."

After they had 10 rushing attempts in a Nov. 16 loss in St. Louis, coach John Fox said the Broncos needed, and wanted, to make a more concerted effort to run the ball and be more committed to it for games like Sunday's. Manning publicly echoed those thoughts, as did offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

In the final six regular-season games and Sunday's playoff loss, the Broncos flashed high-end work on offense at times -- a 21-point quarter in Cincinnati, Manning's four-touchdown day against the Miami Dolphins -- to go with back-to-back 167 and 168-yard rushing days for running back C.J. Anderson. But they also looked out of sorts at times, as if they could be a quality running team and high-end passing team, just not in the same game, or even at times, in the same possession.

And by the time Sunday rolled around, there was Manning attempting, unsuccessfully, deep ball after deep ball up the sideline, something that smacked of frustration and was not how the Broncos had gone about their business when they were at their best.

"Those were my decisions, couple of them were called to go that way, couple of them have some option to go with it," Manning said. "… I ended up taking some long shots. Any time you lose a game you look to some incompletions and some throws you'd like to have back. Two to Emmanuel where I thought he was open and I thought I could have hit him and I just overthrew him a little bit ... Thought they could have been potential touchdown plays."

Anderson carried the ball just six times in the second half Sunday and Manning finished with 46 pass attempts. That kind of mix has been troublesome for the Broncos this season. Including Sunday's loss to the Colts, the Broncos were 2-5 in games this season when Manning attempted more than 40 passes.

"Playoff football from the beginning of time has been who plays better or 60 minutes," tight end Jacob Tamme said. " … That wasn't us."