Payton Laments How Broncos Botched 'the Perfect Sequence' in Baltimore

The Denver Broncos their "perfect" shot, but two rookies couldn't quite execute.

Nov 3, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) throws as Baltimore Ravens linebacker Odafe Oweh (99) defends xduring the first half at M&T Bank Stadium. / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

After drafting Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in the first round, the mandate at Denver Broncos HQ was to build the nest around him. With limited selections, including no second-rounder, the Broncos had to be patient and utilize their draft picks wisely.

In Round 4, the Broncos saw an opportunity to take a wide receiver who some draftniks pegged as a Day 2 talent, but he had fallen a few rounds. The Broncos arrested his fall, selecting Oregon wideout Troy Franklin with pick 102 in the fourth round, reuniting Nix with his No. 1 college target.

As hopeful as Broncos fans were to see the Nix-Franklin connection take flight at the next level, the realities of the learning curve and assimilation process that both rookies had to endure in training camp and the preseason delayed things from taking shape. However, despite a forgetful preseason, Franklin made the 53-man roster, and eventually, worked his way into the offense, while Nix was named the Broncos' starting quarterback ahead of the regular-season opener.

Franklin hauled in a couple of passes in Week 3. But it wasn't until Week 6 that Franklin was able to finally pop his NFL cherry, catching the first touchdown of his career.

Despite a few Nix failures to connect, and a brutal Franklin drop, the young wideout has continued to pick up steam, even being Denver's most-targeted wideout from Week 5 through Week 7. But Nix and Franklin are clearly still working on reestablishing their chemistry within the framework of Sean Payton's offensive system, which requires mastery of the playbook, and countless hours of repetition to get the timing down.

On Friday, Payton tamped down any notion that Nix has 'forced' the ball to Franklin. The head coach lamented Nix's big overthrow to a wide-open Franklin in Week 9's 41-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens(on fourth down, no less), focusing more on the collective outlook of the Broncos' receiving corps relative to the unit's chemistry with the still-growing rookie quarterback.

"Certainly, there’s ways to get guys involved early in the game, but within the framework or coverage schemes, I haven’t seen the forced decision to Troy," Payton said. "That’s good. In other words, we’ll feature certain plays. Last week, we got a blitz-zero look, we checked, we had it blocked up and he’s got Troy. We just overthrew it a little, but that was clearly the right read. It was the perfect—when you say the perfect sequence, it had the protection and the matchup."

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Bo Nix … missed a wide open TD to Troy Franklin on 4th down.

Massive opportunity. ❌❌❌#Broncos #Ravens pic.twitter.com/dNr4pw3GUv

— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) November 3, 2024

This only further illustrates Payton's emphasis on how slim Denver's margin for error is. That's how it goes in the NFL. It's doubly true against the elite teams of the AFC.

Had Nix not overthrown Franklin, would it have altered the outcome of the game? Probably not, but you never know.

Analysts have criticized the Broncos' receiver room for lacking talent. It's been hard to rebut such claims when players like veteran Lil'Jordan Humphrey is dropping passes and putting the ball on the ground. And it's not as if Franklin has been impervious to the 'dropsies' thus far either.

Building the nest around Nix in last April's draft, the Broncos also took a seventh-round flyer on Utah wideout Devaughn Vele. Although his roster prospects seemed dim initially, when the Broncos moved on from Tim Patrick, it created a vacuum that the similarly-sized rookie could potentially fill.

Alas, an injury and the typical rookie trial-and-error learning curve have kept Vele from blossoming fully, up to this point, but like Patrick, he has shown a penchant for making the tough catch and moving the chains, putting his big frame on the line to haul in passes for his fellow rookie quarterback.

Meanwhile, Nix's chemistry with Courtland Sutton has really begun to accelerate. With back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, it seems that the Nix-Sutton connection is only scratching the surface.

Those guys have made a ton of plays," Payton said. "I think what’s important in this league is not only that chemistry with Courtland, Troy, Vele and ‘L.J.’ (Humphrey), it’s got to be as a unit. It’s always difficult to predict. It’s not as hard to predict how busy a tight end might be. It’s hard to predict how busy a receiver might be at times.”

Based on how the Kansas City Chiefs play coverage, this might not be the week that Denver's wideouts go gangbusters. But watch for high utilization of the middle of the field at Arrowhead, whether that comes in the form of receivers, tight ends, or running backs catching passes from Nix.

Through nine games, Franklin has totaled 14 receptions on 27 targets for 135 yards and a touchdown. Watch for he and Nix to make some big plays as we inch further into the 2024 season.

If the Broncos can't win the margin-of-error battle in Kansas City, this team could be staring down the barrel of a two-game losing streak and a return to the .500 club. Fingers crossed.

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