The Denver Broncos offense is riding the struggle bus to begin the 2024 season.

Yes, Denver is 2-2 after back-to-back wins on their season-defining road trip, but things are still ugly on the offensive side.

And that’s head coach Sean Payton’s area of expertise.

Denver Broncos offense must continue to work to improve

After how poorly Denver played in Weeks 1, 2, and 4 on offense, it’s probably no surprise they’re the worst in the NFL in gaining first downs.

As Ben Baldwin’s tweet shows, the Broncos have moved the chains on only 52% of their drives and punted a second-most 24% of the time. Only the Chargers have punted more, and they also have a 52% conversion rate.

Against Seattle, the Broncos went 5-18 on third downs and punted eight times. In Week 2 against an elite Steelers defense, they went a terrible 2-12 on third downs and punted six times. Plus, Bo Nix threw four interceptions in those games, with two of them coming in the red zone.

Finally, when Sean Payton took the training wheels off, the Broncos went off. Nix enjoyed his best game as a professional in Week 3 against the previously undefeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver won 26-7. Even in that game they went only 4-13 on third downs but punted a mere two times.

But the Broncos fell back to earth last week during the downpour in New Jersey. To be fair, neither team could move the ball well at all, and Denver was able to do just enough to take the 10-9 win.

Through four games, Payton’s offense is 31st in third-down conversion rate (24.6%) and 31st in the red zone (33.3%) too. They’ve only scored four touchdowns on the year, with only one passing TD.

Nix is only a rookie, but he understands the importance of converting on the money downs.

“Well, I thought everything was having success and we were moving the ball, keeping the chains moving,” Nix said after the win over the Buccaneers. “We had some third downs—we were efficient with them, and we got first downs. Now, that’s the difference with these games—if you can convert on third downs, you stay on the field for longer and you eventually score some points.”

As for the all-important points scored, Denver is 28th at 15.5 points per game. That’s simply too low to consistently win games.

Clearly, Payton and the Denver Broncos offense need to work on sustaining longer drives and turning them into points. Keep an eye on how that group performs over the course of the season.

Denver’s defense has been the inverse of the offense, amazing at getting stops

Meanwhile, the Broncos defense has kept them in games and won the Jets contest.

Denver’s defense, led by Vance Joseph, is the third-best at getting stops.

A mere 57% of opponent plays go for first downs, and they’ve punted a league-high 24% of the time against the Broncos.

It’s no secret that Joseph is blitzing more than any other defensive coordinator. That’s working, as the five sacks on Aaron Rodgers this Sunday proved.

In fact, the Broncos are second in team sacks at 16.0 so far this year, with Jonathan Cooper leading the way at 3.0. Ten total players have earned at least half a sack, and the Broncos are No. 1 in Pass Rush Win Rate (58%).

Zach Allen (27%) and Malcolm Roach (24%) are Nos. 1 and 2 respectively in PRWR among interior defensive linemen, while Cooper is 12th (25%) on the edge.

When the pressure mounts for the offense to gain a first down, the pressure from Joseph’s defense intensifies. Allen has been the MVP of the unit so far this year, leading the team with 10 QB hits, he also has two sacks, four tackles for a loss, and a safety.

Unquestionably, the defense has kept the offense in games this year, and they’ll likely have to continue to do so to keep the Broncos around .500.

This week, Denver (2-2) faces the sad Raiders (2-2) with one of the worst rushing attacks in the NFL. That’s good news for the Broncos because if they’ve struggled in any area it’s in stopping the run. That game kicks off at 2:05 p.m. MDT in the Mile High City.