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DENVER — Russell Wilson is being paid $37.79 million by the Broncos this season to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers . It’s a hefty sum to cough up for a scapegoat.
Especially since the mess at the base of the Rocky Mountains is far too sticky to be reasonably blamed on one player. As Wilson, nursing a calf injury, stood on the sideline during the Steelers’ 13-6 victory Sunday over the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High, he had a front-row view of a Broncos offense that has regressed since its controls were yanked from his hands right after Christmas. The Broncos are only four games into their post-Wilson era, including two losses to start this season.
You don’t write a book with a sample size that small. But even in a stretch of offensive futility that has defined Broncos football for most of the last decade, this is rarefied, pungent air. GO DEEPER Four takeaways from Steelers-Broncos as Pittsburgh improves to 2-0 The Broncos didn’t score a touchdown Sunday.
That was the sequel to a dud of an offensive performance at Seattle in Week 1 when Denver didn’t reach the end zone until only 124 seconds remained in a 26-20 loss. It is the first time since 2006 the Broncos have scored fewer than two touchdowns across the opening two games of a season. They’ve turned the ball over five times, including four interceptions on by Wilson’s replacement, rookie Bo Nix .
They are 1-of-7 in the red zone and have converted only 7-of-30 third-down attempts. Somehow, it’s been even uglier than those raw, troublesome numbers would suggest. #BroncosCountry LIVE: HC Sean Payton meets the media after #PITvsDEN https://t.
co/DYEUsbrkbz — Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 15, 2024 “That side of the ball needs to get cleaned up and it starts with me,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton, who benched Wilson with two games left last season, then released him in March at the cost of $85 million in dead money. “We have to start really looking at who we’re asking to do what. It was frustrating because there were some elements that went to plan, field position-wise, but our inability to score and convert third downs ultimately hurt us.
” Advertisement The Broncos are a team with no margin for error that keeps making errors. The Broncos trailed 13-0 midway through the third quarter when Nix connected over the middle with Courtland Sutton for a 26-yard gain. It was Denver’s longest play of the season until the next play, when the Broncos used a trick play that ended in Nix, who lined up as a receiver before taking a pitch from Sutton, hitting Josh Reynolds for a 49-yard gain down to the Pittsburgh 7-yard line.
GO DEEPER NFL Week 2 takeaways: What Chiefs' latest survival shows, Ravens problems, Saints thriving Two plays later, Nix, off his back foot, forced a throw to Sutton that was easily intercepted by Pittsburgh cornerback Cory Trice Jr. It was the third interception of the season for Nix (he threw a fourth on a desperate final play), and all three to that point were balls forced into Sutton as a defensive back was sitting underneath. Payton noted there were multiple “dirty hands” on Sunday’s play, noting a receiver blew his route.
Nix said the responsibility for the back-breaking miscue rested with him. “Bad decision,” he said. “Can’t have it.
” Asked to expand on how the play unfolded, Nix said, “Dropped back, threw it to the other team.” . @Steelers rookie CB Cory Trice Jr.
snags his first-career INT! 📺: #PITvsDEN on CBS/Paramount 📱: https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.
com/InhKuyNTQX — NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024 The Broncos have to hope they are in the step-back phase of a plan that ultimately results in a leap forward. After all, they weren’t a dynamic offense with Wilson at quarterback last season. They were 16th in scoring and 20th in offensive EPA during Wilson’s 15 starts, according to TruMedia.
And the quarterback’s inability to avoid sacks and other mistakes in key situations played a role in Denver’s 1-5 start and the late-season slide to follow (three losses in four games following a five-game winning streak). The Broncos were poor in the red zone and particularly in goal-to-go situations, areas of the field that Payton believes define how well a quarterback is leading an offense. Advertisement That may be true.
But the 2024 Broncos at this early stage are making the 2023 Broncos look like the 2013 Broncos. “The offseason and the regular season are completely different things,” right guard Quinn Meinerz said. “You try to prepare the best you can for a regular season, and when it’s finally here there are going to be unexpected challenges and some adversity.
We’re experiencing that adversity early, so we have to continue to stick together, see the light at the end of the tunnel and keep putting the pressure on us five (on the offensive front).” The Broncos have something in common with the Steelers. They, too, have scored only one touchdown this season.
But Pittsburgh is 2-0 because its offense has been at least competent enough to support its talented counterpart on defense. Justin Fields hit tight end Darnell Washington for a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter. That and two Chris Boswell field goals were all Pittsburgh needed.
The Broncos went three-and-out on their first two possessions and three out of their first five. Through two weeks, the Broncos have gone three-and-out on 53.8 percent of their drives, by far the highest rate by any Denver team since TruMedia began tracking the stat in 2000.
“We had a hard time getting to third-and-manageable again, but we can’t keep using that excuse,” Nix said. “We’ve got to start playing better and it starts with me and then goes to the rest of the squad.” The Broncos entered the game hoping to find better balance after Nix dropped back 49 times in his NFL debut last week.
But at halftime, the Broncos had run the ball only seven times against 11 pass attempts. Nix ended the game as Denver’s leading rusher for the second straight week — with 25 yards. Javonte Williams gained only 17 yards on 11 carries.
Tyler Badie had 16 yards on his first rush attempt of the game in the second quarter. He never got another carry. Advertisement “Are we putting our guys in the best position?” Payton said.
“We’re rotating a lot of personnel groups in and out. I don’t know if that’s helping us, quite honestly. We just need to evaluate that closely.
” How much can shuffling the deck chairs help? The Broncos lack speed on offense at every position. The Steelers don’t have much going on that side of the ball this season, but they have George Pickens , who got the better of All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II. Surtain was flagged three times, including a pass interference penalty while defending Pickens, leading to a Steelers field goal.
Take away one well-executed trick play, and the Broncos don’t have a pass of longer than 27 yards this season. That’s far from just a Nix problem. Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
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It’s too early to panic about the long-term vision. The Broncos haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, and they pivoted away from Wilson and other expensive veterans this offseason to chart what they hope will be a new, more sustainable course in the long term. It could prove the right move as Nix gains experience and roster reinforcements arrive next offseason and beyond, even if more dark days are on the immediate horizon.
But at least one thing became even more abundantly clear Sunday: The Broncos’ failure to build a dynamic offense isn’t solely the fault of the quarterback being paid to play somewhere else. (Photo of Bo Nix: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images).
