This will come as no surprise to Denver Broncos fans, but their offense is off-the-charts bad.
No, literally.
This chart shows defensive points allowed charted against offensive points scored, and the Broncos aren’t even on it they’re so bad:
For those keeping track, the Broncos offense is the lowest-scoring in the league, at 13.8 points per game. That’s actually less than they scored way back in the 1966 season, when Denver was still part of the American Football League and scored 14.3 per game.
Considering the evolution of the game — and even with the AFL being lauded as a high-scoring, passing league — the 2022 Broncos are laughably bad when the ’66 team scored more. That year, the orange and blue went 4-10 and scored 40 points in one game, so this year’s offense is the team’s worst of all-time.
Adding to that ineptitude is Denver’s 3rd down conversion rate (27.4%) which is 30th and their 31st red zone scoring rate (37.5%).
There are so many issues on the offense, it’s difficult to determine the worst one.
Is it Nathaniel Hackett — the first-year head coach who is clearly in over his head and a poor play-caller — or is it superstar-turned-second-rate QB Russell Wilson? That’s up for debate, but the fact that Hackett designed the offense and called the plays for the first half of the year points to him being more at fault.
And even if you do believe Hackett is more to blame, that doesn’t take away the ineptitude in the passing game which we’ve seen from Wilson this year. He’s going through his worst season as a professional, and it’s not even close.
His 60.4% completion rate is the lowest of his 11-year career, and accuracy has been a huge issue for him in Denver. And with only 8 touchdowns compared to 5 interceptions, his 2.2 TD% is the lowest, too.
Wilson has missed wide-open receivers at times this season, and sometimes when he does see them, he throws an inaccurate ball. There is a question as to how much his injuries — the strained lat and quad — have hurt his accuracy and zip on the ball this year, but Hackett and the team continue to say he’s healthy.
Luckily for Denver, he’s finally started playing a little better, with more confidence. That comes after playing scared, with happy feet, and holding the ball too long in many games.
Again, it hasn’t been all Wilson’s fault, even if he is the $250 million man in the spotlight.
Courtland Sutton hasn’t played like a No. 1 receiver and Jerry Jeudy has been inconsistent as ever. KJ Hamler has been injured and Tim Patrick was missed from the get-go.
Luckily, there is one bright spot for the Broncos: Greg Dulcich.
Greg Dulcich is Denver’s glimmer of hope on offense
Like many of the team’s receivers, Dulcich was injured before the season. He missed the team’s first five games, but since then, he’s played like a man on fire.
Against the Jets, he enjoyed a career-high six receptions for 51 yards from Brett Rypien. The next week, with Wilson back under center, Dulcich set a career-high for yards in a game with 87 as he was instrumental in the Broncos win over the Jaguars in London.
That was the game in which Wilson and Dulcich found success exploiting the middle of the field as well as the deep ball.
Last week against Baltimore, Dulcich was the go-to guy for Wilson; he caught six passes on eight targets for 85 yards. Most of the passes were of the short, outside variety. Unfortunately for Wilson, that’s mostly all he can do at this point in the year.
But, Wilson did hit him across the middle for a short gain. That’s a positive because Wilson has regularly been bad when throwing between the hashmarks in his career. And the two teammates connected on a deep, 22-yard pass down the left sideline as well. Those explosive plays are the most important in football and really help to open up both the short passing as well as the run game.
Dulcich currently has 25 receptions for 319 yards and 1 TD. He’s the third-leading receiver on the team behind Sutton and Jeudy. His 319 yards are 23rd among tight ends, which is solid considering he’s played in only 7 games. And his 12.8 yards per reception are 7th-most among qualifying tight ends (15-plus receptions).
Conclusion
So, the news for the Denver Broncos isn’t great. They’re one of the worst teams in the NFL, mostly because of their offense, although the special teams has been awful in many aspects, too.
Denver’s been wasting a dominant defense with a pathetic offense all year long. And for Wilson, he needs to get his act together in many aspects. Not only has his accuracy been struggling, his time-to-throw is way too long as well. That leads to unnecessary hits and sacks.
But the good news is two-fold: 1. Wilson is using Dulcich in the middle of the field, which will help keep the defense honest and exploit zones and 2. The Broncos look to have found an athletic, play-making tight end who can grow and improve for years into the future.
At 3-9, the Broncos are in the basement of the AFC West and out of playoff contention. They host the 9-3 Chiefs this Sunday in the Mile High City with a 2:05 p.m. MT kickoff.