The Denver Broncos offense is desperate and broken. Those are the two best words to describe the joke of an attack we’ve seen through three weeks.
Everyone expected it to be an uphill battle against the staunch Chargers defense on Sunday, but Denver’s offense was a disaster.
Denver Broncos offense is desperate and broken; can it be fixed?
Denver’s offense is broken, and the issues start at the top with Sean Payton and Bo Nix. But there is hope it can be fixed.
First, let’s start with the issues.
Bo Nix Overthrowing Receivers
The Broncos have a mere five explosive pass plays this year, and two of them came on Sunday in the 23-20 loss to the Chargers. In contrast, Quentin Johnson of the Chargers has five himself.
According to SUPLEX rate, Denver is one of the worst offensive teams for success + explosive plays on offense. A successful play is one that gains five yards on 1st and 10 or moves the chains on third down, etc.
NFL teams early down SUPLEX rates, weeks 1-3.
Right is better for offense.
Up is better for defense.— Nate Tice (@natetice.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Only the Bengals–who are playing without Joe Burrow–and the terrible Cleveland Browns are worse. It should be noted Denver regressed from Week 2 to Week 3 in SUPLEX rate, too. We looked at many numbers that define the team after two games here.
So, it was good that Denver tried to work in some explosive (20-plus yard) pass plays on Sunday, but Nix couldn’t get them to work.
He missed Marvin Mims on the flea-flicker by a few inches, and missed Mims in the end zone after the fumble recovery on the kickoff. On both of those passes, Nix took multiple unnecessary steps toward the line of scrimmage as he threw. That seemed to push the ball too far downfield. He also overthrew Courtland Sutton, which could have turned into a touchdown. All three overthrows can be seen here.
Overall, it’s a been a rough start to 2025 for Nix. Bo Nix is 24th in QB efficiency, a combination of CPOE and EPA:
A graph for quarterback efficiency. It compares EPA vs. CPOE; Bo Nix is far to the left and down, which is bad. Credit: RBSDM.com
Last year, Nix started rough and improved as the season went on. The Broncos have to hope that happens again this year. According to rbsdm.com, though, his quarterback efficiency didn’t jump all that much after the first three weeks.
Last year first 3 games: 0.017, 27th quarterback efficiency
All of 2024: 0.081, 26th in quarterback efficiency
2025 through 3 games: 0.028, 24th in quarterback efficiency
When you add in Pro Football Focus grades, Nix is the worst quarterback in the NFL so far:
Quarterback grade and efficiency through week 3 (pending MNF)
Yes that’s Sam Darnold as your top-graded QB through 3 weeks.
Darnold was also the highest-graded QB in week 3 alone.
— Ben Baldwin (@rbsdm.com) September 22, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Since his awful Week 1, Nix has been much better in terms of forcing the ball into covered receivers and making the right reads. Now, he needs to work on his accuracy and presence in the pocket.
Desperate Play Calling
Four drives into their loss to the Chargers, the Broncos went 3-and-out three times and punted. They gained a mere 32 yards on those four drives.
Facing a 4th and 2 from their own 48 yard line, Sean Payton dialed up the bomb to Courtland Sutton, which worked. But, it was also a desperate play call.
Denver’s offense was so inept, they had to rely on that big play instead of running for a first down. Earlier in the first half, Payton called the flea-flicker that Nix overthrew to Mims down the sideline. There really aren’t many more gimmicky plays than that.
It seems the Broncos aren’t able to run Payton’s conventional offense, and they’re relying on gimmicks to gain yards. Put another way: Payton’s play calling is leaving a lot to be desired.
They failed to gain a first down after a fumble recovery on a kickoff from LA’s 30. Then, up 7 with 7:45 to go, the offense went 3-and-out and failed to run clock. And tied up 20-20, the O went 3-and-out again.
The Broncos went 2-13 on 3rd downs against the Chargers and their 32.4% success rate on those downs is 26th in the NFL. Denver also committed 10 penalties for 90 yards on the day.
Payton needs to use all of his experience to adapt the offense to better fit his players.
Bad Run Blocking
Denver’s offensive line is the best in the league in pass blocking, but merely mediocre in run blocking.
We saw that firsthand on Sunday when many runs went for zero or negative yards. To wit, they ran 21 times and five rushes went for zero or negative yards. That’s 24% of their runs on the day.
What’s the issue?
For starters, rookie R.J. Harvey isn’t playing as well as veteran J.K. Dobbins, so Dobbins is getting most of the carries. If Harvey would step up and be a homerun hitter, Denver’s rush attack would be deadlier.
But, more alarming is the offensive line’s poor blocking in the run game.
Per ESPN’s Pass Block Win Rate and Run Block Win Rate, the Broncos line is No. 1 in pass blocking and 13th in run blocking. Last year, they were first in both metrics.
So, falling from No. 1 to 13 is a plummet for the O-line.
Of note, right guard Quinn Meinerz was elite in run blocking last year with an 87.7 grade from PFF. Currently, his grade is 64.8 on the ground. That’s a huge drop off. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey is also struggling in run blocking, going from a 71.5 last year to 59.6 this season.
Overall, the Broncos are eighth in rushing yards this year (375) and fifth in yards per carry (5.2). If they can come together and play a bit more cohesively, it will help the offense be more well-rounded.
Next up for the Denver Broncos offense, defense, and special teams is the 2-1 Bengals on Monday Night Football. Cincinnati just narrowly defeated the Browns 17-16 and the Bengals defense is one of the worst in the league.
It presents a great chance for the Broncos offense to have a big night and build momentum going forward.
