Strike 1: Sean Payton has done a ton of good to great things since becoming the head coach of the Denver Broncos. After the disaster of the Nathaniel Hackett season and the mess left behind by the previous ownership situation, the combo of the Walmart ownership group and the savvy, veteran head coach has been more than a blessing for Broncos Country. It’s been a gift from above.

Still, Payton could do one more big thing that could put his team over the top: He could relieve himself of one of his favorite duties.

After watching the Broncos first team offense sputter through the preseason and be mostly lousy during their opening week win over lowly Tennessee, it’s becoming more and more apparent that it may be time for the veteran head coach to hand off play calling duties to his red-hot protégé, Davis Webb.

As currently constructed, the Broncos coaching staff does not employ an offensive coordinator. The head coach is the OC and the play caller. That works for some, but certainly not all. It’s worked for Payton in the past, but more and more it appears not to be working any longer. When does a play caller have to write in big bold letters on his pregame play sheet, to “Run It!” and still doesn’t? And there have been several occasions – including times on Sunday – when the play call was late getting into quarterback Bo Nix, and the result was a hurried and uncomfortable looking play.

Webb, a former standout college quarterback who’s young coaching career has been met with rave reviews, is the Broncos quarterbacks coach. Colleagues rave about his football acumen and his ability to process on the fly. He’s most definitely a future OC, and very likely a future head coach himself. During the preseason, there was a moment when Payton very temporarily handed over the play calling to Webb, and it seemed to go quite well. Webb is well liked, well respected, and more than capable of handling the task.

Payton is famously “hands on,” and those that know him believe he would never relinquish control like this. But here’s the rub: In keeping tight control over what’s been an erratic offense, he may be letting slip some of the head coaching details that need to be attended to without fail. Things like clock management and key decisions – like whether or not to kick the ball out of the back of the endzone with just seconds remaining in the first half.

There’s a very good reason why Major League Baseball managers are not their own third base coach. There are game management decisions that need immediate attention popping up in the dugout (and on the sidelines) almost by the minute.

Payton made a few head scratching decisions during the narrow Week 1 win. You have to believe that if his full attention didn’t have to be on the next sequence of plays he had to call, that maybe some of those decisions may have been made better.

And it could work because if Webb was up in the coaches box calling the plays, Payton could still be on the headset with veto power, the way a lot of college coaches do. While Webb could help Payton devise a game plan during the week that was far more inclusive of the running game, he could also make sure that more running plays were actually called, and that the pass-happy Payton would be able to check himself in real time when he started to slip away from any run game commitment.

As is, the one word to describe Denver’s opening Sunday? “Uncomfortable.” Nix never looked comfortable, either in the pocket or trying to escape a collapsing one. He misfired numerous times, got frustrated with his receivers, and appeared willing to mix it up after the play with Titans players who had 100 pounds on him. Not exactly the calm and collected Payton robot we’ve all come to expect. The offensive line, the highly paid unit that was so highly graded last season? In how many NFL games do you see your center get blown up and shoved into the backfield on a quarterback sneak? And finally, the special teams play was poor as well, giving up a long kick return and fumbling a punt return.

All this is concerning, and fixing these important matters should be the focus of the head coach, not the offensive play caller.