The Denver Broncos are just now coming out of damage control after their stunning loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championshp.
The 10-7 home defeat featured a valiant effort by a team that probably went further that it should this seasno after making its first playoff appearance in years, but coach Sean Payton went a little wild after the defeat, firing three coaches and promoting Davis Webb to offensive coordinator, all after revealing key information about the medicals of quarterback Bo Nix after Nix broke his ankle during Denver’s division win over the Buffalo Bills.
So what will the offense look like when it comes back? Jeff Legwold of ESPN took a shot at answering that question. He’s buying the idea that Nix’s injury was a “typical bone break” that will have him back for OTAs, but he’ll be leading an offense that had the fourth-highest percentage of three-and-out possessions at 25 percent, according to Legwold, and Courtland Sutton was the team’s only receiver in the top 50 in the NFL with receptions of 10 yards or more.
Now Webb gets to move up to fix the offense, and the big question is whether he’ll allowed to take over for Payton and call plays. Payton wants the offense to look more like the juggernaut he led as coach of the New Orleans Saints, but the most interesting comment about this came from journeyman backup quarterback Ben DiNucci, who was signed to the Broncos practice squad after Nix’s injury.
DiNucci took to X this week to endorse Webb as the play caller, saying it was “the best thing possible for that building.” Backups like DiNucci see a lot of dysfunction in some of their different stops, and in that context his comment was stunning.
Tight end Evan Engram also spoke out after the loss, which was ironic given that Engram’s lack of production was a big part of the problem after Payton signed him to play the “joker” role.
“I do think the tight end position can bring a lot more than it did this year, honestly, even speaking for the other guys in the room,” Engram said the day after the New England loss.”
As for Nix, the quarterback said he’ll “stay in his lane,” which was a strange comment for him to make given that he never really left it. The best guess is that this comment is about some conversations that occurred behind the scenes between Payton, Nix and owner Greg Penner, and regardless of what was said or left unsaid, it’s clear that the Broncos still have some internal housekeeping to do to get this all straightened out.