Empty fourth-quarter calories in loss to Chargers can’t mask Broncos’ biggest problem: Their early-game offense stinks
Denver Post
On the Broncos’ 17th offensive snap Sunday afternoon, they finally managed a simple accomplishment.
They found themselves, for the first time, on the Los Angeles Chargers’ side of midfield.
The 45-yard line, to be exact.
Instead of chugging any further, though, running back Javonte Williams fumbled and the first real drive of any promise for Denver was snuffed before it had a chance to develop.
So, too, were the Broncos’ chances in any realistic way a few minutes later when Los Angeles punched home a backbreaker of a touchdown with a minute to go in the first half.
The Chargers dominated the opening 30 minutes so thoroughly that the 23-16 final count in their favor didn’t really tell the story.
This sequence did.
“We did all the things you can’t do in a game like that,” head coach Sean Payton said. “We knew what type of game it was going to be. We turned it over twice in the first half. That led to points. Then you start looking at the time of possession when you do that. They ran the ball better than we did. We mustered up some offense late in the game.”
The Broncos defense, playing without Pat Surtain II (concussion), was leaking oil for the first real time this season. The Chargers offense happily went full sundial mode in pace and precision on a pair of scoring drives that lasted 20 and 11 plays, respectively.
In between, the Denver offense did nothing to help out.
“We can’t start slow,” right guard Quinn Meinerz said flatly. “Our execution in the first half was nowhere near what we’re capable of doing.”
Over the course of the team’s 3-3 start to the season, slow starts have been the frustrating norm.
In order to remain anywhere near the postseason picture going forward, Denver’s going to have to figure out a way to do something, anything over the first 30 minutes offensively.
They marred this beautiful Front Range afternoon by not only stalling early and often but also turning the ball over twice in five possessions.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix was intercepted on Denver’s third play of the game — fittingly, a third-and-long — and later Williams fumbled.
“We didn’t run enough plays consecutively to get into a rhythm,” Nix said. “It was a few plays and you were off the field. In a game like that, where you know they’re going to control the ball, you have to find ways to stay on the field.”
The coach and the quarterback could have tried to take solace in a fourth quarter full of empty calories, but instead they for the most part avoided it.
“Let’s be honest, it picked up when we started going up-tempo and (we) were behind,” Payton said. “You’re getting a different coverage look. … The game was in a different position at that point.”
Nix through three quarters was 4 of 14 for 27 yards and a pick. The Broncos offense had 88 total yards and five first downs compared to the Chargers’ 321 and 20.
In leading a couple of long fourth-quarter touchdown drives against soft coverage and prevent defense, Nix completed 15 of 19 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. The Broncos racked up 230 yards to Los Angeles’ 29.
Make no mistake, though, Denver’s offense spent the first half shovels out, digging a hole so deep they had no real chance to climb out.
That happens sometimes in the NFL, but the trouble here is the frequency with which it’s happened to the Broncos this fall.
They’ve had the ball 36 times in the first half over six games and have failed to generate a first down half of the time.
They scored two early touchdowns against Tampa Bay in Week 3 and otherwise have one offensive touchdown in five other first halves.
They’ve been shut out in the first half three times in six games.
Take away the fast start against the Bucs and the Broncos have had the ball 30 times, scored one touchdown and failed to get a first down 17 times.
They’ve been among the worst teams in the NFL overall on third down and somehow are even worse early than they are late, converting just 9 of 41 in the first half (22%).
Nix doesn’t escape the ugliness, either.
He lit up the Bucs to the tune of 169 yards.
Other than that, he’s 39 of 74 (52.7%) for 226 yards, no touchdowns, two picks and six sacks (minus-41 yards). That’s an average of 37 net passing yards over five first halves.
Even with the sparkling Week 3 effort included, Nix’s first-half passer rating this year is 59.4 and the Broncos are averaging 59 net passing yards in the opening 30 minutes.
“All of this starts with me,” Payton said. “We have to be better offensively.”
The question is if the Broncos can make a living playing the kind of free-wheeling, wide-open offense Nix thrived in during the stretch run. Of course, NFL defenses don’t sit back and play soft coverage early in games — particularly not against Nix and Denver, who so far have not shown the ability to consistently push the ball down the field.
And Payton clearly doesn’t believe in playing that way regularly. He squashed the notion last year when Russell Wilson engineered late-game numbers and he did it again, albeit in somewhat softer tones, Sunday evening after yet another off-kilter outing for his group.
“We played with some tempo. Early in the first half, we had a false start,” Payton said. “We played with tempo early in the second quarter and fumbled the football. Those were all up-tempo plays.”
Until Nix starts making more plays in the passing game within the structure of the offense and until the running game can rev up to a point where the Broncos aren’t consistently facing third-and-long, first-half answers are going to continue to be difficult to come by.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.