The 4 biggest problems plaguing the Broncos’ offense Can the problems plaguing the Denver Broncos be fixed?
High expectations come with high criticism when we fail to meet them.
Lately, the criticism aimed at the Denver Broncos has been higher than Mount Everest.
With inconsistent offensive performances through the first five weeks of the season, questions about the viability of this new, young coaching staff have been raised at a rapid pace – none the less.
surprised.
The first week of the season was one of the worst coaching decisions we’ve ever seen as first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett chose to kick a 64-yard field goal in an attempt to gain an advantage against the Seattle Seahawks rather than attempt a fourth down conversion
fiasco with franchise quarterback Russell Wilson.
And that’s just the beginning.
Sometimes the sequencing of play calls is bad and some situational play calls deviate from logic.
But is coaching the most important thing to stopping the Broncos’ offense?
Or do we need to focus more on player performance to find the real answer?
There are many possibilities, including the simple answer that this team needs more time to perfect and iron out the kinks with the new scheme and new quarterback.
Today, we’re going to dive into some numbers and analysis to see if overall player performance is a bigger issue than the coaching decisions Hackett has made so far.
.
A rather large part of the high expectations for the Broncos is undoubtedly the addition of Wilson as the team’s signal-caller.
Anytime a top-10 player at the league’s most important position is acquired, it should boost expectations and provide an immediate impact to change the direction of the franchise.
But that hasn’t been the case, and Wilson’s struggles have been widely criticized across the league.
In fairness, Wilson has been dealing with micro-tears in his latissimus dorsi in his throwing shoulder.
This injury led him to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection following Week 5’s disappointing loss.
However, there were other problems with Wilson’s performance that had nothing to do with it, including poor reading of defenses and locking receivers before the snap as we saw on the last play end of the Indianapolis Colts game.
This is just one example, but Wilson missed multiple times throughout the season.
We will talk about this later.
Part of what makes Wilson such an excellent passer is his ability to use his feet to create plays on the field, especially outside of play action.
When people describe playing style Wilson’s ball, Wilson, they often remember the hundreds of times he escaped pressure and shot the ball deep down the field.
In 2022, these coins have become rare.
And even when Wilson took the deep shot, it didn’t go as planned.
According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson completed just 52.
2% of his non-game passes, ranking him 28th among 30 quarterbacks with at least 120 passing attempts.
He also ranked 12th/23 players with at least 15 throws more than 20 times down the field, completing 34.
5% of those passes.
These numbers represent a steep decline in his ability to produce such plays over the past three seasons, in which Wilson completed at least 70% of his passes inside and 38% number of passes over 20 meters in each match between them.
Worse still, his performance declines when he’s under pressure, even though he hasn’t been under pressure as often as Wilson was in Seattle over the past three years.
In fact, although he’s been pressured on 30.
6% of his backhands this season, it’s the lowest level of pressure he’s faced in his entire career.
However, Wilson only completed 46.
3% of his passes when pressed and only 50% of his passes when blocked.
Obviously, playing under pressure is extremely difficult.
But that’s something top midfielders can overcome to compete, especially when on offense.
Identifying the pressure scheme coming and hitting the hot route is a staple of elite quarterback play, and Wilson simply isn’t getting that done.
There’s a lot more to look into than just these specific analytics, including the number of quick passing concepts being called by Hackett, the lack of designed rollout and moving pockets being called, how many open receivers have not been targeted, or the errant throws Wilson has made that have killed drives and scoring opportunities.
Regardless, Wilson just needs to start playing better and get closer to the form he showed before his hand injury last season.
And it must happen as soon as possible.
What happens next for the Broncos?
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This is a fascinating discussion because it overlaps with the poor coaching we saw from this team earlier this season.
It’s no surprise to learn that the Broncos have the most penalties (44) in the league this season, according to nflpenalties.com.
After all, Denver committed a total of 25 accepted penalties in the first two games of the season, setting a franchise record in that category.
What was more shocking was the fact that the Broncos had committed a total of 20 violations before kickoff in their first five games, including four delay-of-game penalties and 11 forced fumbles.
Mistaken start by the team leading the league.
There were also some illegal lineups and illegal late penalties to round it all out.
The most interesting part of this conversation came about the delay in in-game penalties that Hackett avoided earlier in the season by using timeouts to get the team on the same page.
receive calls part-time.
There’s also the fact that the team initially failed to line up properly, which needs to be addressed.
It was a failure both in terms of coaching as well as the performance of the players.
Knowing the correct snap count and arrangement is the first part of offensive success, because if you can’t start the game on time, you can’t be successful.
Stage.
What makes things even more worrying is the constant change in shot counts as this group still struggles to fully grasp and understand the playbook.
It’s about player execution, team communication and understanding your responsibilities.
The season has been open for five weeks.
This must be clarified immediately.
Part of executing the offense is simply players going out and making plays when they get the chance.
That’s a pretty simple statement.
The boys can’t be blamed for not making spectacular plays, like catching the ball with one hand or kicking a difficult completion, although there are some examples that we can analyze later.
This is meant to highlight serious mistakes that professional players should have avoided.
The Broncos have the third-most missed passes this season (10) according to NBC Sports and have an alarming error rate (1.
4 per game), including several serious game-changing errors this important.
A fumble inside the one-yard line, two interceptions in the red zone and several other plays stymied the Broncos’ offense in five games.
The lack of open receivers with poor reads and throws, allowing free rushers along the interior offensive line to get sacks and not make plays on third down has killed several drives so far in this year, including a total of nine drives at three-and-out and a total of 10.
against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.
The Broncos’ offensive line, despite ranking as the ninth-best unit by Football Outsiders’ DVOA, has some serious miscues in pass protection when facing blitzes and plays.
danger from the opposing defense, especially ‘inside’.
Simply put, you need your players to make offensive plays when required.
You need that shoulder pass to hit.
You need that flash from the running back on third down.
You need the final touch for a touchdown.
But you also have to master the football basics, and the Broncos aren’t doing that consistently right now.
It depends on the players on the field.
There is no simple answer here.
While I think the coaching staff – aside from some key decisions – has done a great job of putting the players in positions to succeed, there are clearly changes in their approach that need to be made.
appear immediately.
The Broncos have addressed game management decisions by adding Jerry Rosburg to the group, but there are still some questionable play calls that need to be addressed, especially in the red zone.
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Regardless, the Broncos must execute, starting with the quarterback.
Despite being in a new attack with new weapons and more emphasis on a quick passing game, Wilson must immediately improve his level of play.
The ways in which this offense could become a legitimate threat can be seen by breaking down the tape and looking at the analytics.
According to ESPN Next Gen Statistics, Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy averaged more than three yards per route, showing that the play design allows players to be as open as they want.
The Broncos also averaged more than 4 yards per carry in the running game.
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