3 Easy Fixes to Broncos' Offensive Woes

The Denver Broncos can fix what's happening offensively, if Sean Payton has eyes to see.

Sep 15, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton during the first quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Going into the season, fans hoped the Denver Broncos could do some good things offensively. Meanwhile, many expected the defense was going to struggle.

Two games into the season, the Broncos defense hasn't been perfect, but it certainly hasn't struggled. The defense has done quite a bit to keep the Broncos in games, while special teams has been quite special, no pun intended.

But the Broncos offense has been bad. Through two weeks, the offense has generated -26.49 expected points, per Pro Football Reference. Needless to say, that's not good.

The Broncos have generated 26 first downs in two games, while their opponents have 35. This comes despite the Broncos having an average starting position of their own 33-yard line, while their first two opponents have had an average starting position of their own 24-yard line.

The Broncos offense has scored just one touchdown, with four points coming from two safeties by the defense against Seattle, while the remaining 15 points have come from field goals courtesy of Wil Lutz. Let's examine some of the reasons the Broncos have struggled so badly offensively and what head coach and play-caller Sean Payton can do to remedy it.

Less Transparent Personnel Roles

While the defense can play better, the offense has been the main reason the Broncos have gone 0-2 to open the season. It's easy to say that a player like wide receiver Tim Patrick should have been kept or that running back Javonte Williams should be swapped out for Blake Watson, but the issues go deeper than who's on the field. Some of it is execution, and some falls on Bo Nix, who's still adjusting to the NFL game.

But much of it comes down to coaching. Having read some observations on social media and examining the games themselves, Sean Payton's play-calling has been easily deciphered by opposing defenses. If you watch the game film, when Nix lines up under center, the play call has been a run.

Defenses can quickly key in on this and know what's coming. In this case, it doesn't matter who carries the ball because chances are the running back will be held to a short gain unless the Broncos' offensive line has perfect execution on the blocking.

The Broncos have also tried using running back Jaleel McLaughlin on toss plays, but defenses have picked up on those as well, meaning he can't use his speed to gain yardage. Payton's offense also calls for players to have specific roles, and while he has multiple packages for different personnel groupings, opposing defenses can easily pick up on what's to come because they know the role these Broncos will have.

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Stop Telegraphing What's Coming

Payton can help the Broncos offense by being less predictable with the play-calling. He needs to find a way to disguise what's coming.

Play-action is one way to do this, but there are other ways, such as having Nix drop right back to pass after taking the snap under center or having him hand off the ball when in the shotgun. Payton must find ways to keep the defense guessing and avoid making it so obvious what's coming.

Execution Must Improve

There are, of course, execution issues. Receivers and tight ends dropping passes is frustrating but much of this is a mental issue rather than talent.

A receiver or tight end who is thinking too much about gaining yards after a catch, for example, might not secure the ball when it comes his way. The simple thing to do here is to make sure receivers and tight ends pull the ball in first before they worry about anything else.

The Broncos' offensive line has its issues as well, and to make matters worse, the Broncos have lost right tackle Mike McGlinchey for a few weeks because of an MCL strain. McGlinchey's issues with pass protection are known but it's not the only issue the Broncos have.

Left tackle Garett Bolles isn't off to a good start to the season, though some of it may be attributed to the ankle injury he's playing through. Center Luke Wattenberg was thought to be the lineman most likely to struggle, but he did well in Week 1, though he had issues in Week 2. Still, Wattenberg's issues might be because the Pittsburgh Steelers may have one of the best defenses in the NFL this season.

The bigger issues have been the guards: Ben Powers and Quinn Meinerz. Meinerz is somewhat surprising, though we have seen him recover from a slow start before. Powers is concerning, particularly his run blocking, which is supposed to be his strength.

With McGlinchey now out, the Broncos are dealing with an issue they didn't have last year, and that's having to trot out a different offensive line combination early in the year. Matt Peart will likely get the start at right tackle with McGlinchey out and it remains to be seen how he'll respond.

But with the rest of the Broncos' linemen, the coaching staff needs to figure out how to correct their issues. This is where better play-calling that makes it harder for defenses to predict will help, but some of it goes back to execution.

The Takeaway

It was to be expected that the Broncos would have growing pains on offense, particularly with Nix's inexperience with the NFL game and a few new players in the lineup, but they have to find ways to generate more first downs and points.

In the next two weeks, the Broncos will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Jets on the road. Neither team has a defense on the Steelers' level, though the Bucs have a defense that has done good things as the Seahawks have. The Jets haven't been good defensively, but the Broncos can't take anything for granted.

Still, facing defenses that aren't at the top of the league might be what the Broncos offense needs to have a better outing. But that won't be enough by itself.

Player execution is an obvious issue, but it would help if Payton to figure out ways to better disguise each play so opponents can't so easily predict what's coming on offense. If he remains this predictable on offense, it will make for a long season.

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