The Broncos biggest problem on offense isn’t their OC or their QB

The Broncos offense stinks. Thursday night’s loss to the Browns was just the latest example.

On the night, Denver scored just 14 points. In the first half, they were shut out and only managed a measly two first downs.

It was a pathetic performance, one that comes on heels of equally bad showings against the Ravens, Steelers and Raiders.

As a result, Broncos Country is restless. They want to see change.

Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur receives most of the ire. Seven games into his second season in Denver, the fans have seen enough of his approach.

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is next on the list. He won the job over Drew Lock during training camp because he gave the Broncos “the best chance to win.” But after four-straight losses, that doesn’t seem accurate.

While making a change at OC or QB might help, it’s far from a sure thing. And perhaps, just maybe, Shurmur and/or Bridgewater aren’t actually the problem.

The problems that current plague Denver’s offense – they’re currently 24th in the NFL, averaging 20.0 points per game – are nothing new. They’ve been a recurring issue since the Broncos won the Super Bowl following the 2015 season.

Here’s a quick look at how the team has finished the previous six seasons in two critical offensive categories:

TOTAL OFFENSE
2016 – 27
2017 – 18
2018 – 19
2019 – 28
2020 – 23
AVG – 23.0

POINTS SCORED
2016 – 22
2017 – 27
2018 – 24
2019 – 28
2020 – 28
AVG – 25.8

Shurmur has been here since the start of 2020. Bridgewater has been in Denver for seven games. Clearly, the problem precedes them.

Since the Broncos won the Super Bowl, they’ve had a variety of people in key positions. It’s been a revolving door:

HEAD COACH
2016 – Gary Kubiak
2017 – Vance Joseph
2018 – Vance Joseph
2019 – Vic Fangio
2020 – Vic Fangio
2021 – Vic Fangio

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
2016 – Rick Dennison
2017 – Mike McCoy / Bill Musgrave
2018 – Bill Musgrave
2019 – Rich Scangarello
2020 – Pat Shurmur
2021 – Pat Shurmur

QUARTERBACK
2016 – Trevor Siemian / Paxton Lynch
2017 – Trevor Siemian / Paxton Lynch / Brock Osweiler
2018 – Case Keenum
2019 – Joe Flacco / Brandon Allen / Drew Lock
2020 – Drew Lock / Jeff Driskel / Brett Rypien
2021 – Teddy Bridgewater

That’s three head coaches, five offensive coordinators and 10 starting quarterbacks. Eighteen different coaches and players in prominent positions. Yet, the results are the same.

Some would blame the person in charge of hiring the coaches and drafting the players. For five of those seasons, John Elway was running the show, so he’s certainly a common denominator.

But this year, George Paton is the Broncos general manager. He’s involved with all of the day-to-day decisions.

So add two GMs to the list above. That’s now 20 different people involved in the mess.

Are the all incompetent? Are they all in over their heads? Are they all bad at their jobs?

Well, some are. That’s hard to argue. And it’s possible that they all are. But it’s not probable.

So there has to be another reason. Talent isn’t a likely culprit, however.

The Broncos have spent first-round picks (Garett Bolles, Noah Fant, Jerry Jeudy) to bolster the offense. They’ve spent big in free agency (Graham Glasgow, Ja’Wuan James, Melvin Gordon) to strengthen that group.

But it hasn’t worked. The results remain the same.

Thus, there has to be a common thread that connects the five-plus seasons of bad offense. There has to be a reason why Denver keeps being so bad on that side of the ball.

The Broncos have bought in to an unsustainable formula.

In other words, they have a bad philosophy. Their approach to the game is flawed.

Ever since they won Super Bowl 50 on the strength of a historically great defense, Denver has been trying to repeat the feat. They keep trying to win a low-scoring, play-it-safe brand of football.

They’ve hired two head coaches who specialize on that side of the ball. Both Joseph and Fangio were defensive coordinators before coming to Denver.

And they keep going with “game managers” at QB, choosing to error on the side of caution at the most-important position in sports. They want someone who avoids mistakes, rather than someone who makes plays.

That’s how Siemian winds up starting for two seasons. That leads to Keenum getting a two-year, $36-million contract. That produce trades for Flacco and Bridgewater.

The problem is that it doesn’t work. Not year after year.

It did in 2015, that’s true. But that was a one-off. That was an aberration. It’s like the 1985 Bears, 2000 Ravens and 2002 Buccaneers.

Those teams won it all with defense. One time.

In order to compete regularly, a team needs a good offense. More importantly, they need a good quarterback.

Why? Because they have to be able to make plays off script.

The Broncos can score when they put together 12-play, 80-yard drives that don’t involve a single negative play. But as soon as they get a holding penalty, drop a pass or do anything that throws things off the slightest bit, the punter might as well start warming up.

Why? Because they don’t have a quarterback who can overcome those setbacks. They don’t have a QB who can keep the chains moving with a great throw or scramble.

Well, they do. They just don’t let him play.

Lock has shown the ability to do those things. In last year’s win over the Dolphins, the quarterback converted three third-and-10s on one scoring drive, two through the air and one on the ground.

But he also makes mistakes. He threw 15 interceptions last season. That’s not going to fly when the team’s philosophy is “any good drive is one that ends in a kick.”

When punting is considered a success, however, it can’t be a shock that the Broncos aren’t lighting up the scoreboard. It’s what they’re built to do.

The problem really comes to a head when their defense fails to hold up their end of the bargain. When they can’t hold late leads, wins turn into losses. When they can’t force turnovers, the offensive issues are magnified.

Why are the Broncos bad on offense? In part, it’s because of their offensive coordinator and quarterback. But don’t blame Pat Shurmur and Teddy Bridgewater completely.

The Broncos biggest problem is their insistence that they can win with a losing formula.

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