After a Thursday-night win that barely felt like a victory, members of a sputtering Broncos offense sliced off a piece of blame and ate their role in a 10-point stinker. Head coach Sean Payton pointed the finger at his third-down playcalling. Quarterback Bo Nix said postgame he had to “be better.” Running back J.K. Dobbins said that they just “aren’t very good at times.”
As a reporter asked what had gone wrong at first blush postgame, though, the Broncos’ head coach offered the simplest overarching explanation for a pattern of dysfunction.
“We had eight penalties,” Payton said on Thursday night. “Let’s start there.”
Ten games into 2025, the Broncos’ issues on offense have indeed started there.
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Denver is now tied for the best record in the NFL at 8-2, and sits atop the AFC West entering a Sunday reunion with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos are also tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the honor of most-penalized team in the NFL, with 83 flags. They have drawn 49 whistles (37 accepted) on offense, according to game-log data reviewed by The Denver Post.
“I think you can correct that,” Payton said Monday. “And we plan on it.
“Look, there’s one or two a game that get called, you look at, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I don’t agree with that.’ But that being said, there’s sum total. And certainly, it has to be a point of emphasis.”
At this point, a pattern has evolved into identity. After the Broncos’ first preseason game in August against the 49ers, Payton said Denver had to clean up its penalties. He said the same after the next week’s preseason tilt with the Cardinals, and acknowledged another time that the Broncos had “too many penalties” after a Week 3 loss to the Chargers. Months later, the tune hasn’t changed.
Payton has pointed numerous times to the league’s emphasis on calling neutral-zone infractions, particularly on receivers. And after varying false-starts on receivers in the middle of the season, Denver hasn’t been called for such a penalty across the last two weeks against Houston and Las Vegas. Or been whistled for an illegal formation or ineligible receiver. That, at least, is promising.
But the Broncos continue to shoot themselves in the foot with offensive-line false starts, holding and delay-of-game penalties. They are the greatest cause of negative plays for Payton’s unit, and have contributed to stalling Nix’s rhythm.
Early in the second quarter against Las Vegas, a holding call against veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis set Denver back 10 yards on first down of an eventual three-and-out. Late in the second quarter, an offensive pass interference call on rookie wideout Pat Bryant wiped out one of Nix’s best throws of the day on a first-down dig route. Late in the third quarter, another OPI call on receiver Troy Franklin put the Broncos back to second-and-20 on another three-and-out drive.
This is a yellow plague, as fortunes completely flip for Nix when he’s playing behind on a drive. When facing second-and-long situations this year — often caused by penalties — Denver’s second-year quarterback has a 62.9 passer rating on 50 attempts. Five of Nix’s eight interceptions this year have also come on drives when the Broncos are whistled for an offensive penalty.
“Between penalties and just some sluggish football, we’re just not playing very well,” Nix said Thursday. “It starts with me. I have to be better. Then the rest of the guys will follow along.”
The inverse is equally true. The Broncos are averaging about 0.43 points a play on drives without an offensive penalty. That number drops to 0.27 when a whistle’s called, according to data charted by The Post.
Eventually, the Broncos’ offensive struggles will “bite (them) in the butt,” as Dobbins remarked postgame. It could happen as soon as Sunday, in one of the biggest matchups of the season, if the Broncos don’t put away the yellow laundry.
“There were a number of things that we’ve got to do better — we, collectively, as coaches,” Payton said. “And we will.”
Broncos’ leaders in offensive penalties drawn
| Name | Position | Total penalties | Penalty yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Wattenberg | C | 7 | -35 |
| Adam Trautman | TE | 5 | -50 |
| Garett Bolles | LT | 5 | -34 |
| Pat Bryant | WR | 4 | -25 |
| Troy Franklin | WR | 3 | -15 |
| Mike McGlinchey | RT | 3 | -20 |
| Matt Peart | OL | 3 | -20 |
| Quinn Meinerz | RG | 3 | -3 |
| Ben Powers | LG | 2 | -15 |
| Trent Sherfield | WR | 2 | -20 |
| Alex Palczewski | OL | 2 | -15 |
| Bo Nix | QB | 2 | -13 |
| Marcedes Lewis | TE | 2 | -15 |
| Evan Engram | TE | 1 | -5 |
| J.K. Dobbins | RB | 1 | -5 |
| Courtland Sutton | WR | 1 | 0 |
Source: Denver Post game charting
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