Given the time, place and players, it is time for the Broncos offense to go from Door Dash to Dior Dash.
Everybody needs to eat. And eat fancy like.
The excuses left when Sean Payton made Davis Webb offensive coordinator and signed receiver Jaylen Waddle. Bo Nix no longer has to whip up Pot Mac and Cheese. He has all the ingredients for Baked Brie.
It all traces back to the top 10. If the Broncos achieve a top-10 offense, Nix will become a top-10 quarterback. If the Broncos achieve a top-10 offense, they will repeat as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
The target number is 26 points per game. Last season, the Seahawks ranked eighth at 25.5. The Broncos checked in at 23.6 and lived more dangerously than MacGyver, left with the blue or red wire choice as seconds expired from the clock.
If the Broncos operate with the same margin for error, relying on leading the league in one-score wins again, they will finish closer to eight victories than 12.
The expectations have changed because of the changes. Nix has never guided a top-10 offense, finishing 11th in 2024.
This is the season for the conversation around Nix to change from potential to production.
There is no reason the Broncos cannot score 26 points per week, even with their booby-trapped opening six weeks. Waddle is a receiver who can get yards after the catch. Courtland Sutton is a possession target who is a security blanket on third down. Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Jonah Coleman should win against heavy boxes and set up play-action strikes.
It is set up for Nix to pull out critics’ tongues. And Payton’s history suggests it should happen. It was in Drew Brees’ third year in Payton’s offense when he led the league in attempts, completions and yards, posting his first 5,000-yard season.
Nix is not Brees. But why can’t he post 4,000 yards with 30 touchdowns, 10 picks and five rushing touchdowns? What would it look like if the Broncos finally played with a lead, letting Nix let down his hair and go to the air without fear?
If the Broncos can start fast in September, in first halves specifically, the offense will flourish. No longer will a lack of talent hold them back. No longer will Payton’s painfully slow play calls and hockey line changes leave steam coming out of Nix’s helmet.
We know Nix is good. We know the Broncos view him as a franchise quarterback. This season will show why as Nix leads a top-10 offense deep into the playoffs.
Pros and Cons: I miss the days when headlines about a Judge meant Aaron hit another home run. Now, it is a weekly occurrence for a college team to find a sympathetic local judge to make players eligible. Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris returning from NFL training camps to college offends my sensibilities. The 2022 class feels screwed, not privy to the extra COVID year or the five-in-five for the 2023 athletes. You know what? So what? Once you sign a pro contract in football or basketball, there should be no turning back. LSU could do the right thing — pause for laughter for a team coached by Lane Kiffin — and just not play Wright and Harris rather than hoping for Congress to solve college sports’ problems. It is embarrassing.
Clipped: No one thought commissioner Adam Silver had the guts to suspend Steve Ballmer. His money made him the heavy, made him immune. Until his cheating was so blatant, with endorsement deals for Kawhi Leonard, that he left Silver no choice but to bench him for the season. Ballmer operates like the helicopter parent who calls the coach, principal, and superintendent about his child’s playing time. It is good for Ballmer to suffer consequences. And it’s laughable that Leonard, who cost the Clippers 12 first-round picks and facilitated the trade of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to get Paul George.
