The Broncos offense isn’t doing anything well

The Denver Broncos beat the winless Chargers 23-17 to move to 3-2, but the morning show says the offense still looks lost even with Sean Payton calling plays again.

The Broncos won on Sunday, and that was about the only good news. Denver beat the Los Angeles Chargers 23-17 to improve to 3-2, but the game didn’t ease any of the concerns that have followed this team since Week 1. The Chargers came in 0-4. The Broncos were supposed to control the game. Instead, it stayed close for all 60 minutes, and the offense once again looked like it was figuring things out as it went.

It was also Sean Payton’s first game back as the play caller after he took the job back from Davis Webb last week. Broncos Country hoped the change would spark the offense right away. It didn’t. The penalties, protection breakdowns and lack of rhythm that defined the first four games were all still there.

On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, Mark Schlereth didn’t try to put a positive spin on it.

“I don’t know what to tell you. Like, they don’t do anything well,” Schlereth said.

He then asked his co-host to try anyway.

“And I know we’re trying to be positive right now, but can you come away with one thing offensively that you looked at and said, ‘You know what? This was a positive,'” Schlereth asked.

Brandon Stokley couldn’t come up with one.

“No. Not even close. I don’t know what it would be. They don’t throw the ball well, and they don’t run the ball well. What else is there?” Stokley said.

That covers most of the Broncos season so far. The passing game hasn’t produced the explosive plays the Broncos expected when they traded for Jaylen Waddle. Bo Nix has gone from reckless in the opener to overly cautious in San Francisco, and he still hasn’t found a steady middle ground. The running game hasn’t given him much help either. J.K. Dobbins is averaging 3.6 yards per carry and hasn’t looked like the back who broke out in Denver last year.

Stokley then pointed to a problem that goes beyond the quarterback or the running backs.

“They don’t pick up blitzes at all. No one knows what they’re doing, it’s just like backyard football. So yeah, I don’t see one thing that they do well offensively right now,” Stokley said.

That criticism stands out because blitz pickup depends on everyone. The offensive line, the running backs, the tight ends and the quarterback all have to be on the same page about who blocks whom. When defenses are getting free rushers, the offense isn’t communicating, and that falls on the whole unit and the coaches preparing it. It also helps explain why Nix has looked jumpy in the pocket. It’s hard to stay calm and go through your reads when you don’t trust that the protection will hold.

The win still counts. At 3-2, the Broncos are on track to finish the opening six-game stretch at or above .500, which is the minimum Mike Evans set before the season. The defense has kept Denver in games, and the team keeps finding ways to make late plays.

But beating an 0-4 team by six points isn’t a sign that the offense is fixed. Payton’s return as play caller was supposed to give the offense more structure, and one game probably isn’t enough time to judge it. The Seahawks are next to finish the gauntlet. If the offense still can’t throw, run or pick up a blitz, Denver may not survive that game on defense and late-game heroics alone.

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