Take a Step Back to See the Whole Picture
By Adam Uribes
· Opinion
·
· 3 min read
Should Sean Payton give up play-calling duties in order to jumpstart his Broncos?
As zesty as that headline is, you can file that under things that will never happen. The Broncos, fairly branded as underachieving, hasn’t been SO bad from a production standpoint that a change is being seriously talked about anywhere in the organization.
Let’s make a case for why a shakeup at the top isn’t just spit balling, its needed to get this team back on track starting on Monday Night Football versus the visiting Bengals.
At the time of writing, the Broncos sit at 20th in total offense and 17th in points. Not exactly 2013 Payton Manning numbers but respectable with room to get better. Newly signed running back JK Dobbins is averaging a healthy 5.4 yards a carry. Take a couple penalties out of the equations, stay tuned for that, and Dobbins is the primary factor in two game-clinching drives. Which is why Bo Nix throwing it up 95 times and averaging just slightly more in the air than Dobbins is on the ground (5.6). So why isn’t Payton unleashing Dobbins and RJ Harvey on the ground and riding three yards and a cloud of dust to victory? It’s hard to say, since this offense has looked night and day different when they have run the ball effectively.
Then there is the penalties. Denver was/is a young team, but the volume and variety of flags the team is accumulating weekly is becoming a concern. Offensive lineman are committing face mask calls to make a scoring opportunity that much harder. The defense is slamming guys into the turf after the whistle. At 1-2 and each came coming down to one score, being so bad in one phase of the game, like penalties, can be the difference between this and undefeated. Keeping in mind, these are soft holding calls or first week kinks being ironed out, there is a undisciplined feel to the 2025 Broncos right now and it starts at the top with Sean Payton.
Payton giving the whistle OC-in-name-only Joe Lombardi, in theory, opens up the ground game to be the focal point of the offense. From his time with Lions and Chargers, Lombardi will emphasize running the ball. Denver has the personnel to carry that out AND this can be the support that Nix needs to get him through some of the growing pains we are seeing from him as of late.
Sean being the overall boss also opens him up to focus more on the overall atmosphere of his team. Less of a focus on the offense and more on the overall accountability that has been lacking so far is what is needed to get the ship righted. Whatever the reason for the sloppy play as of late, Payton having to juggle another ball in game-planning the offense can’t be helpful. It is hard to fathom why a Bill Parcells disciple in Sean Payton has a defensive unit that is picking the wrong times to play out of control. The good news is that it is correctable.
To be perfectly clear, in the universe we inhabit, barring some unfortunate event, Payton will call the offense now and forever. That doesn’t mean giving up the offense in order to dial in the rest of his promising but underwhelming team can be entirely dismissed. Denver will have a difficult October to navigate and getting it right in the coaching aspect of the game could be the deciding factor if its more treat than trick for the Broncos.
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