The Broncos’ home opener became an episode of “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?”
Coach Sean Payton staring down at his Waffle House menu-sized playsheet in disappointment remains the lasting image of a forgettable Sunday afternoon.
Payton crunched the numbers, relied on his instincts, and made a series of baffling if not indefensible decisions.
He is a potential Hall of Fame coach, and it was hard to leave the stadium not believing this rebuild is bringing out his worst.
Let’s start at the end. The Broncos trailed 13-6 after Wil Lutz booted a 29-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining. Denver had one timeout left. Even with the league’s dynamic kickoff rules, a trailing team can declare it is attempting an onside kick. This was the easy choice. It was basic elementary school math.
With their sputtering offense, the Broncos realistically needed the ball back at midfield to drive for a touchdown. And they needed time to do it.
Kicking to the Steelers meant that the Broncos were going to regain possession with roughly 25 seconds left and a ponderosa of ground to cover. Ultimately, Denver took over at its own 19-yard line with nine seconds remaining. A 13-yard completion and an interception barely across midfield followed.
Football games are littered with subjective choices. This was not one of them. Not trying the onside kick objectively made no sense. Neither did Payton’s explanation afterward.
“We spent a lot of time going through it back and forth. We had plenty of time to discuss it, there was a player down. The long run on third down prior to them punting took about six seconds. We were hopeful to have two or three plays before we went to the end,” Payton said. “It was just weighing the odds versus recovering an onside kick or getting the ball back with 26 seconds. We chose to kick off.”
With an offense that makes every yard look hard? Really?
Payton tried an onside kick on the first play of the 2023 season, akin to betting six figures on roulette. A year later, he did the equivalent of believing he could win big on penny slots.
If this were the only questionable decision, it would be more easily forgiven. But it came after Payton was baited into a mistake in the first half. With 2:32 remaining, the Broncos faced fourth-and-7 on the Steelers’ 39-yard line. Lutz wanted to kick. Payton didn’t like the idea, valuing field position over everything based on their staff discussions during the week. He ran out the punt team. Then Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin called timeout.
He double-dared Payton. And he took the bait. The Broncos hustled out their offense. And everything about the play stunk. Bo Nix threw the ball into a defender’s arm. His footwork was off. And rookie Troy Franklin, even if he had caught it, was well short of the first down.
In the fourth quarter, Payton also elected for a short field goal from the 16-yard line rather than go for it on fourth-and-6. With a functional offense, this made sense. With the Broncos clawing for first downs, it kept a two-score game, um, a two-score game with 10:45 remaining.
Wil Lutz (3) of the Denver Broncos makes a field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ 13-6 win at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Why?
“Time-wise we felt like we were still in a good position,” Payton said.
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Through two weeks, the Broncos offense is predictable, unwatchable, inept. Nobody should be surprised that Denver is winless. But nobody anticipated that they would bring back memories of 2022. Nathaniel Hackett was a terrible coach, the worst in the history of the franchise.
But what is Payton’s excuse? He can’t have bad days on a team that operates with no margin for error. It was a lot easier for him to rationalize when he had Russell Wilson. But the scapegoat left the building smiling Sunday, his cringeworthy decision to wear eye black as an inactive emergency quarterback no worse than several Payton made.
The Broncos offense is averaging 14 points per game in the four games without Wilson. It averaged 21.7 with him.
It goes back to Payton and his choices. He is constantly running large numbers of players in and out on offense. There is no rhythm. Even he wondered aloud after the loss if change is warranted
“We are rotating a lot of different personnel groups. I do not know if that is helping us, quite honestly,” Payton said. “We need to evaluate that closely.”
And he needs to look at who is getting the reps, something he conceded. He went into the game committed to the ground game and rushed seven times in the first half. Tyler Badie provided a boost midway through the second quarter with a 16-yard burst. The next play the Broncos went with an empty backfield and Badie never carried the ball again.
That’s on Payton. Javonte Williams has averaged 3.1 yards per carry over his last 12 games. It’s time for someone else to get some run.
Tight end Adam Trautman knows Payton as well as any player on the team. He insists that Payton will remain positive, that his offense will work, that the inability to stay on the field is preventing the offense from finding traction and gaining a better understanding of how the defense is attacking. To his point, they have 14 three-and-outs in two weeks.
It is way too early to draw conclusions on the season, but the Broncos look like a bad team with a bad scheme.
Things have gone seriously wrong with a pair of daunting road games at the Buccaneers and Jets looming. Payton must fix this.
But can he be trusted to make the right decisions?
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