The focus is on Bo Nix’s poor play against Seattle, but the Denver Broncos O-line stumbles led to quarterback struggles.

Following an offseason of hype, everyone was excited to see what Nix could do in the NFL. The rookie went 26-42 for 138 yards and two interceptions.

It’s easy to criticize his play, which simply wasn’t good enough, but part of that has to do with his teammates, too.

Denver Broncos O-line had most pressure allowed of any team in Week 1

The Broncos O-line was supposed to be one of the better units in the league.

But they looked like swiss cheese against the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday.

According to the 33rd Team, Denver’s offensive line allowed the most pressure of any team in Week 1. That was an astounding 44.9% of drop backs in which Nix faced pressure.

One of the plays he was pressured was the first interception. Watch Nix stare down Courtland Sutton and throw off his back foot as he’s hit.

Sometimes, it seems like Nix is stepping up into the pocket unnecessarily, hearing footsteps. And others, he’s feeling pressure from opposing linemen or linebackers and has to flee. All that movement and lack of a clean pocket is leading to poor accuracy on his throws.

“I just watched the play where he climbs the pocket,” head coach Sean Payton said on Monday. “There were some bloody looks and he’s off schedule, thrown off the wrong foot, but I would say doing what he has to on that play. In other words, there’s a dagger opened up, but we’re not good in protection.”

This seems to be the play he’s talking about, where Marvin Mims is open for a first down but the throw was off because Nix was running toward the line.

Broncos line’s run blocking needs improvement, too

Denver started off the game with some solid runs, but then abandoned the run game when they trailed by double digits.

When it was all said and done, Jaleel McLaughlin ran 10 times for 27 yards (2.7 YPC) and Javonte Williams rushed for only 23 yards on 8 carries (2.88 YPC).

Some of that has to do with the backs not having great vision, but most of the onus rests on the Denver Broncos O-line.

“It wasn’t good enough,” Payton said of the run blocking. “There were too many two-to-three yard gains. When you look at Javonte and Jaleel’s numbers, we have to be more effective there and that’s something we talked about in the team meeting.”

Again, some of Payton’s play calling shying away from the run was the lack of production. Denver went 3-and-out five times and gained only six first downs in the entire first half. Four of those first downs came on the drive that ended with the Nix interception at the goal line.

When the Broncos couldn’t run it on early downs to get into third and manageable, Payton leaned into the pass game. And he admitted 42 throws was far too many for his rookie QB.

“We weren’t–there may be a game where we plan on throwing it 40 times, not many,” Payton explained. “There are a handful of things that I felt like I didn’t do a good enough job with.”

So, what are some solutions to these issues?

If the offensive line can’t protect Nix for long, Payton needs to call quick passes. Which is what we saw a lot of during preseason and in Week 1. For instance, on 3rd and 3 from their own 40, Nix threw a quick out to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who simply dropped the pass.

Denver’s tight ends were near no-shows, with Greg Dulcich catching two passes for 12 yards. So, incorporating the tight ends in the middle of the field should help the rookie, too.

And Payton has to stick with the run game, to find some semblance of balance.

This week is setting up to be another tough one for Nix and the Broncos O-line, though. They face TJ Watt and the formidable Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh held the Falcons to 2-of-9 on third downs, sacked Kirk Cousins twice, and forced three turnovers.

Denver (0-1) hosts the Steelers (1-0) this Sunday with a 2:25 p.m. MDT kickoff. We may or may not see Russell Wilson at QB for the visitors as he missed Week 1 with an injury.