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Jeff Legwold
Multiple Authors
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said the team’s offense, currently ranked 26th in scoring and 31st in third-down conversions, has far more things in need of repair than just quarterback Bo Nix‘s play.
Payton was asked Monday if he has considered making a change at quarterback given Nix’ struggles in the team’s 4-2 start.
“No,” Payton said. “He’s going to become the by-product of all of the finer things that get improved, the improved play of our offensive line, the more efficient we are relative to balance running the football, and that’s, you know, that’s our job as coaches here.”
Last Thursday night’s overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks was the third game this season in which the Broncos have scored 17 or fewer points and the fourth in which they’ve put up 23 or fewer. In their past two games combined — wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Seahawks — the Broncos were 3-of-26 on third down.
After a second-quarter touchdown gave them a 14-3 lead over Seattle, the Broncos didn’t run more than five plays or gain more than 23 yards in any of their 10 possessions. A Ja’Quan McMillian interception at the Seattle 43-yard line set up the winning field goal in overtime.
Nix, who has become the national face of the team’s struggles, finds himself near the bottom of most major statistical categories, including 30th in completions over expectation (minus-4.0%), 31st in QBR (38.2) and 32nd in yards per attempt (5.6). Nix has had two of the three lowest single-game passing yardage totals of his career over the past two weeks.
He had 107 yards passing in the win over the Seahawks and 123 in the win over the Chargers.
Payton said Nix is part of a bigger equation in the offense. He also lauded Nix’s ability to “climb through adversity” as one of the chief attributes the team liked when the Broncos selected Nix at No. 12 in the 2024 draft.
Nix isn’t alone. The Broncos are 26th in rushing, 27th in passing yardage, 31st in third-down conversions and tied for last in the league in plays of 20 yards or more.
The team’s longest play against the Seahawks was 16 yards.
After Thursday’s win, Nix said, “We’re definitely capable [of better]. I don’t know where the disconnect is right now, to be honest with you. I just think we’re really struggling to find those explosive plays, and that’s what makes an offensive spectacular is explosive plays, and right now we don’t have those.”
Payton said it is key for all involved, including he and Nix, to handle their frustrations the right way.
“It gets back to those challenging weeks I talk about in the offseason and, you know, fortunately we’re sitting here at 4-2,” Payton said.
“I think that part of that is when you’re not getting first downs, I think the body language is important, and I think that, look, this is another week where our attention to detail, all of those things, it has to improve.”
Asked if he had heard any of the national criticism of Nix’s play in recent weeks — which included former NFL quarterback and current Prime Video analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick labeling the signal-caller’s play against the Seahawks “garbage” and saying he was “not playing competitively” — Payton said:
“I try to focus on the next day here. We’re trying to focus on getting ready to play Arizona. That’s kind of where our attention is.”
