For one snap Sunday, the Broncos offense peered over the edge and into the abyss.
This wasn’t a big mistake, fiery exchange on the sideline or loose ball bouncing on the Empower Field grass.
This was a stress test on the engine that makes any offense go and is of particular importance to Denver’s operation this fall with a rookie quarterback: The offensive line.
That rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, snapped the ball once Sunday against Las Vegas with a No. 2 left tackle and No. 3 right tackle in the game. He later played the final two series without his starting center.
Nix has played just 35% (110) of the team’s offensive snaps so far this season with Denver’s preferred starting quintet of LT Garett Bolles, LG Ben Powers, C Luke Wattenberg, RG Quinn Meinerz and RT Mike McGlinchey.
On Sunday in a 34-18 win over the Raiders, Nix took snaps behind four different offensive line combinations due to injury issues.
After a remarkable run of health up front in 2023, the Broncos have been tested repeatedly so far this season.
“I’m glad we have that kind of depth and experience,” head coach Sean Payton said Monday.
Bolles left the opener with an ankle injury and has played through it since. He got rolled up on again Sunday and had to come out for one snap.
McGlinchey sprained his MCL late in a Week 2 loss to Pittsburgh and is out at least one more game on injured reserve, though it’s not clear at this point whether he’ll be ready to return when first eligible.
His replacement, Alex Palczewski, played admirably for two-plus starts but injured his ankle early in the third quarter when Maxx Crosby appeared to unintentionally leg-whip him as Crosby sacked Nix.
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So, in came Denver’s third right tackle of the season, swingman Matt Peart. Peart mostly has been the team’s jumbo tight end so far this season, a role he holds because of Quinn Bailey’s season-ending injury during training camp.
Seven plays after Peart entered at right tackle, Bolles went down and Peart shifted sides. Undrafted rookie Frank Crum got his first snap of offensive action at right tackle. Payton put tight end Adam Trautman on Crum’s side to help with protection and Nix looked right from the snap, completing a quick throw to Courtland Sutton for 8 yards and a first down.
Bolles re-entered the game, but Crum got more run because he then became the jumbo tight end with Peart manning right tackle.
Wattenberg was hurt on Nix’s 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Though he eventually walked off the field on his own, No. 2 center Alex Forsyth handled the final 10 snaps of the game.
Payton on Monday said he was happy with the way Forsyth, Peart and Crum filled in.
“Certainly, Matt has more experience than Alex, but it’s kind of a little bit of the nature of our business,” Payton said. “Guys stepped up and right away filled in and did the job.”
All the same, the coach has said repeatedly that the offense is striving to “paint the perfect picture” for Nix and allow him to grow by learning but also benefiting from teammates around him doing their jobs well.
There’s no quicker way to stunt the growth of a young quarterback than by having the offensive line in front of him marred by performance or health issues. The group didn’t play particularly well the first two weeks out but had been starting to hit its stride.
Whether it can withstand any more attrition, though, is very much an open question.
One small thing I liked: Nix didn’t put the ball in harm’s way on 31 dropbacks. A couple of the times he got wrapped up by Crosby the ball could be a bit more secure and he reached it across the goal line on his sneak TD, but overall — particularly in the passing game — he didn’t have much in the way of close calls.
Nix has not thrown an interception in any of the past three games. The Broncos, of course, have won all three. That’s not fully causal, but the quarterback playing turnover-free doesn’t hurt. Nix hasn’t thrown a pick now in 97 straight dropbacks, dating to Denver’s final play Week 2 against Pittsburgh.
One small thing I didn’t like: The Troy Franklin near-touchdown got a ton of attention because of how open he was and also because of the exchange between Nix and Payton on the sideline afterward.
What was less noticed, though, was the pre-snap confusion. Payton expressed displeasure with the fact that Nix “flipped” the play — Nix explained that Payton wanted the play run into the boundary rather than to the field. Nix made it sound like confusion in the huddle led to the flip.
It certainly looked confused. The Broncos broke the huddle in plenty of time but Nix was talking to Franklin about where to align and the mics even caught him saying “motion,” and then as Franklin ran across, Nix saying, “all the way out,” indicating Franklin was getting on-the-fly instruction from Nix as the play started.
Marvin Mims Jr., who eventually broke wide open on an over route, looked confused, too. He had his palms turned up before the snap and hesitated at the start of his route before heading over the middle of the field. Franklin hopped laterally a couple of times before the snap, which certainly didn’t help his release.
In the end, both were open and Denver could have had a touchdown either way. The play led to a viral moment and perhaps even a respect-garnering one for Nix.
Wasting chances at big plays, though, will cost the Broncos at some point.
One trend worth watching: The Broncos went 3 of 3 in goal-to-go scenarios Sunday after starting the season 2 of 4.
The Broncos only scored three touchdowns in goal-to-go once last year (vs. Cleveland) and hadn’t been perfect on three or more chances since Dec. 12, 2022, vs. Arizona. They hadn’t hit that mark in a division game since Nov. 28, 2021, against the Chargers.
The touchdown pass Nix threw to Josh Reynolds in the fourth quarter was a beauty in both placement and rhythm.
Though it may seem backward, Jaleel McLaughlin is showing to be a better back near the goal line than Javonte Williams. McLaughlin’s turned two tough looks into touchdowns this year — fourth down against Seattle and his 4-yard score Sunday — by way of make-you-miss rather than straight-ahead horsepower. It’s never quite been Williams’ strong suit, but together they’re starting to make a solid pairing.
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