DENVER — The Broncos were down big in the fourth quarter of a must-win game last December when Russell Wilson went off-script.
The veteran quarterback and Denver’s offense pushed the tempo after falling into a 16-point hole against the New England Patriots. Wilson scrambled, dodged traffic, threw deep and generally found ways to make splash plays outside the standard framework of the plays called into his headset. The Broncos fought all the way back to tie the game before ultimately losing on a last-second field goal.
After the game, Broncos coach Sean Payton made clear his thoughts on turning a schoolyard offense into a game plan.
“It’s hard to say you’re going to make a living that way as your base offense,” said Payton, who benched Wilson two days later, a precursor to the quarterback’s release months later.
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Fast forward to Sunday, when the Broncos began climbing out of a 23-0 hole against the Los Angeles Chargers behind the playmaking of Wilson’s replacement, rookie Bo Nix. Suddenly, the 24-year-old looked far different than the quarterback was overwhelmed while posting a 0.0 passer rating in the first half. Nix in the second half completed 16-of-23 passes for 194 yards with two touchdowns. He ran for 59 yards on five carries after halftime. An offensive mired in quicksand finally found life in the final quarter.
But Payton, after the Broncos failed to complete the comeback in a 23-16 loss that dropped them to 3-3, was nothing if not consistent in his evaluation of the late offensive flurry.
“Look, let’s be honest,” Payton began, “It picked up when we started going up-tempo. When you’re behind, then you’re getting different coverage looks. … In the fourth quarter, we were able to make some plays down the field, but I think the game was in a different position at that point.”
The @oregonfootball connection!
Bo Nix finds Troy Franklin for his first career TD catch!
📺: #LACvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/FU4T8eKNT8— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
Payton’s overarching point was clear: The Broncos lost Sunday because of their dismal offensive through the game’s first three quarters. Not because a comeback attempt based heavily on ad-lib playmaking ran out of time.
Denver for the fifth time in six games failed to score an offensive touchdown in the first half. It also was the third time the Broncos were scoreless at halftime. They turned the ball over twice, converted 2-of-6 third-down attempts and produced only three first downs in five offensive possessions. The Broncos ran only one offensive play in Chargers territory during the opening two quarters, and it was a Javonte Williams fumble. Their second drive into opponent territory, which came in the third quarter, ended with the Broncos punting from their side of the field after back-to-back penalties.
When the game was still within reach, the Broncos’ offense simply had nothing to offer.
“We can’t start slow,” said right guard Quinn Meinerz, who was sandwiched between two injury replacements Sunday in center Alex Forsyth and right tackle Matt Peart. “Our execution in the first half was nowhere near what we are capable of doing.”
Devaughn Vele with the catch and run to set up first and goal for the @Broncos!
📺: #LACvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/qMIbJQykE2— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2024
The Broncos’ top priority, beginning with Thursday night’s trip to New Orleans and extending into the rest of the season, has to be finding a spark for an offense that has sleepwalked into too many games. While it certainly won’t be as easy as simply increasing the tempo — Payton noted Williams’ fumble and another critical penalty came in scenarios where the Broncos went into a hurry-up mode — the Broncos must also figure out ways to channel some form of Nix’s athleticism and off-script playmaking into the early part of the game plan.
“We’ve got incredible coaches that are going to continue to put us in good positions,” Nix said. “Whatever they want to do is what I’m going to do. It’s my job to go out there and make the play work, make the play happen. … I don’t really care what the play is; we’ve just got to go out there and execute.”
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Nix in the first half of games this season ranks 31st among 31 qualified quarterbacks in EPA (expected points added) per dropback (-0.50) and yards per attempt (4.1). His completion percentage (58.8) is 30th. The Broncos as a team rank 31st in third-down rate in the first half (23.3 percent) and are 29th in three-and-out rate (50 percent).
The opening scripts have produced nothing more than a series of stumbles and setbacks.
“We dug ourselves into a hole,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said.
Nix’s first pass attempt Sunday came on third-and-9 during Denver’s opening possession. A clean pocket gave him time as Marvin Mims Jr. worked his way open over the middle. But Nix’s throw still sailed high, tipping off Mims’ fingers and into the arms of Chargers safety Elijah Molden. On Denver’s second possession, Nix had time on a third-and-6 play, but he couldn’t find a window to fit the ball into and ultimately threw it away. Nix’s next chance to convert a third down as a passer came on Denver’s third possession. On third-and-5, he settled into empty real estate in the pocket and launched deep for Mims up the left seam, but the ball hung up just long enough for cornerback Tarheeb Still to recover and knock the ball away.
“We didn’t run enough plays consecutively to get into a rhythm,” Nix said. “It was a few plays and then you were off the field. In a game like that, where you know they are going to control the ball, you have to find ways to stay on the field.”
There were plays to be made, but the “perfect picture” Payton says the Broncos are trying to build around their rookie quarterback didn’t materialize. It was Nix’s wayward brushstrokes that were clouding the canvas for much of the first half. Denver has typically been able to withstand the bouts of inefficiency from the offense that quickly sends the defense back onto the field, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. The Chargers, behind a brilliant first half from quarterback Justin Herbert and an efficient, grinding rushing attack, scored on all four of their non-kneel-down possessions in the first half. They were 8-of-10 third-down attempts and kicked a field goal at the end of a 20-play drive that took more than 10 minutes off the clock. It certainly didn’t help that the Broncos lost star cornerback Pat Surtain II with a concussion in the first half, but their issues ran deeper.
“We really did all the things that you can’t do in a game like that,” Payton said. “We knew the type of game it was going to be. We turned it over twice in the first half that led to points. You start looking at time of possession when you do that. They ran the ball better than we did. We mustered up some offense late in the game, but all of this starts with me. We have to be better, obviously, offensively.”
The question for the Broncos on a short week, as Payton prepares to return to New Orleans and face the franchise he coached for 16 seasons, is whether they can bottle some of what Nix showed in the second half and use it to lively up the staid offensive output the Broncos have had to start games.
Court doing Court things.
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— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 13, 2024
Nix found success working on the run in the fourth quarter Sunday. On a fourth-and-2 play in the fourth quarter, he stepped up in the pocket and moved to his right. He looked toward the sideline, then flipped a no-look pass to Devaughn Vele, who turned the play into a 37-yard catch-and-run. Nix hit college teammate Troy Franklin for a 2-yard touchdown on the next play. Nix scrambled for a 6-yard gain on fourth-and-5 on Denver’s next possession, evading blitzing safety Derwin James in the process. He threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to a diving Courtland Sutton on the next play. The Broncos had a chance to pull within one score, but the Chargers squashed Mims for no gain on a jet-sweep run. The Broncos got the ball back again and moved from deep into their own territory into field-goal range, keyed by a 21-yard Nix run. Wil Lutz’s field goal cut the lead to 23-16 with 59 seconds left, but the Broncos couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick.
“In the second half, I think we found a really good stride,” Sutton said. “Very encouraging because of how the second half went. It showed a lot about the character of this team and the heart.”
But the strides came too late. If the Broncos have any hope of moving their offense out of the league’s cellar, they have to find ways to sprinkle some of the magic their young quarterback has produced in hurry-up moments into the structure of the offense. It may not be how the Broncos can make a living in the long term, but it could be their best way to see some needed profits right now.
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(Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
