Mile High Report
After back-to-back abysmal offensive performances, Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos offense is in dire straights just eight days away from a critical home game against the rival Kansas City Chiefs. That game could put a nail in the coffin for the Chiefs division hopes for the season or breathe new life into it. With the way Denver’s offense is playing, it sure looks like the new life is on the horizon for the decade-long AFC West champion.
What can the Broncos even do here when they cannot execute or avoid dumb penalties? They could have traded for talent, but they passed on it. That kind of begs the question, would it even have helped them get better?
Cody Kessler talked a bit about Bo Nix’s issues and one thing stuck out. He noted that either Bo doesn’t trust himself or he doesn’t trust the wide receivers to be where they should be on a given playcall.
Both are problematic.
The receivers are definitely getting open, but I also have seen Bo throw the ball to a place where he clearly thinks a wide receiver should be and they, well, aren’t. That makes his accuracy look bad, but the bigger issue is these guys just not being on the same page or having any kind of rhythm right now.
Adding a new receiver at the deadline probably doesn’t fix that or even help that, but in the long-term I think it is likely needed. I don’t believe they have a reliable guy outside of Courtland Sutton. Marvin Mims Jr. and Pat Bryant are two guys that are getting there, but Troy Franklin is mostly definitely not it. He’d be a good fourth receiver on a team, but as a number two guy it is costing this team a bit. Whether its his actual fault is up for debate. It’s just clear he and Bo are not gelling right now.
Given that stat above, I’m leaning yes that the Broncos made a mistaken not being more aggressive at the NFL trade deadline. The only thing that might fix this now is for Marvin Mims Jr. to come back and begin to spread the focus of the game plan more around other players out there. It’s got to start this week though. The AFC West is up for grabs.
