5 major problems the Denver Broncos must fix or they’ll miss the playoffs

The Denver Broncos are 1-1 after a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season and a win at home against the Houston Texans in Week 2. The team doesn’t need to be smashing the panic button just yet, but there are certainly some areas of this team that must be fixed ASAP of the Broncos are just going to miss out on the playoffs again in 2022, leaving this franchise in a very confusing state after making a blockbuster trade to acquire star quarterback Russell Wilson in March.

There’s a lot of “good” happening with the Denver Broncos right now, believe it or not. No team in the NFL is moving the ball down the field better, as the Broncos average a league-best 41.2 yards per drive offensively. They call that “success between the 20s”. Defensively, the Broncos are top five against the pass, top five against the run, and they’ve forced five fumbles in two games.

So, the Broncos are seemingly moving the ball at will offensively, they are playing top-five defense, they are making plays on the ball defensively. What gives? Why is this team 1-1? Why are they averaging 16 points per game offensively?

That leads us to the reason I’ve gathered you here today. Five major problems we can see right now that will prevent the Broncos from the postseason for yet another year if they aren’t fixed immediately.

Denver Broncos problem no. 1: Game management

Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett is a rookie at his current job, even though he’s been around the NFL and coaching his entire life. Through two games, Hackett looks like a rookie on the job, and everyone in Broncos Country expected more after his time with the Green Bay Packers, one of the best-run outfits in the sport, and especially after the Vic Fangio era which was absolutely loaded with poor game management.

Coming off the heels of a game against Seattle where many questioned Hackett’s decisions in the final two minutes of the game, the Broncos looked like an absolute mess throughout the course of this game against Houston. As Mike Klis of 9News outlines:

I would strongly disagree that there was “nothing really hurt” by the game management issues here, especially when you’re talking about points being taken off the board at one point. The Broncos had a 54-yard field goal by Brandon McManus wiped off the board due to what? Indecisiveness? Lack of situational awareness? If everyone from their couch can see all of this happening, you’ve got to think that Hackett is getting an earful from general manager George Paton about this stuff, right?

Not to mention, the game management issues go beyond just the egregious errors the Broncos made in terms of wasting timeouts or not getting play calls in on time. There were a couple of instances against the Texans where plays were called offensively that were not suitable for the moment.

Namely, the tricky option play where Andrew Beck got the ball on 3rd-and-2. You have a running back averaging over six yards per carry and you toss the ball to Beck, whose job on the play was then to pitch the ball back to Javonte? It didn’t fool the Texans whatsoever.

Overall, the game management has to get better for Nathaniel Hackett. He’s getting absolutely grilled by others in the media for this and people are saying it looks like he’s in way over his head as a head coach. I’m not willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater here because Hackett is in just his second game going on third as a head coach. With that being said, I think it’s fair to wonder two games in about the Broncos’ operation and whether Hackett can call the plays and manage the game at the same time.

Denver Broncos problem no. 2: Red zone offensive (in)efficiency

Everyone can see right now that the Denver Broncos are struggling in the red zone. Given the fact the team moved on from offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, hired Nathaniel Hackett, and traded for Russell Wilson, I think it’s safe to say we all assumed this area was going to be cleaned up in a big way in 2022. It hasn’t been.

The sample size is small — just two games — but the Broncos rank tied for dead last in the NFL right now with a red zone percentage of 0.0. As in, 0 touchdowns in six red zone attempts. That’s not what any of us signed up for, is it?

Head coach Nathaniel Hackett took accountability for the lack of red zone success at his Monday press conference, stating that red zone success starts with his play calling. While that’s noble of him to do and certainly right, at least partially, Hackett isn’t entirely to blame here. The Broncos had multiple fumbles on the one-yard line against the Seahawks by each of their top two running backs. Could Hackett have called plays from under center? Yes.

Should the Broncos’ backs still have held onto the ball and even scored? Yes.

Then you have multiple close calls in the red zone:

• Andrew Beck shovel pass touchdown called back because of a penalty vs. Seattle
• Inches away from an Eric Tomlinson touchdown vs. Seattle
• Eric Saubert just missed a TD catch vs. Seattle
• Courtland Sutton’s foot inches away from a TD vs. Texans

The opportunities have been there, but the Broncos have to find a way to convert these close calls into guaranteed touchdowns. The offense is simply too good with Russell Wilson at the helm (#1 in the NFL in yards per possession) to stall in the red zone when moving the ball matters most.

Denver Broncos problem no. 3: Way too many penalties

The Denver Broncos are currently leading the league in penalties with 25. In just two games, having 25 penalties is ridiculous and embarrassing. The Broncos’ penalties have obviously come in all shapes and sizes. Even if you consider the fact that the Broncos have played with some flag-happy officials in the first two weeks, and even if you consider some of the penalties to be questionable calls, there are simply way too many issues here.

Pre-snap, illegal blocking downfield, illegal chop blocks, personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct, delay of game — you name it, the Broncos have probably been called for it already within two games.

You can’t be giving up over 100 yards of field position every game to your opponent with penalties and expect to win. The Broncos have also benefited from some penalties being called on the other side as well, but a pass interference deep downfield against Courtland Sutton and a false start by the running back when your plan is to hard count are two very different things.

In one instance, you have Sutton beating a player downfield and the cornerback deciding that a penalty is a better play than giving up a long touchdown. In the case of the 2022 Denver Broncos — who are 0-for-6 in the red zone — this is bordering on a wise decision by the corner instead of just playing with good technique.

In another instance, you have Melvin Gordon getting called for holding downfield, trying to block a player off the field entirely when his block is no longer providing anything positive or meaningful to the play. A lot of these penalties by the Broncos stand out as being simply dumb, for a lack of a better term. They are not penalties you expect to see throughout the course of a season but 25 penalties in two games will absolutely have fans watching games from home expecting to see a yellow graphic on the TV anytime the Broncos have a big play.

Denver Broncos problem no. 4: The team needs additional veteran WR depth

The Denver Broncos’ wide receiver depth is being tested, to say the least.

After Tim Patrick went down with a season-ending knee injury, the team decided to go with the “next man up” approach, and it looked like undrafted free agent Brandon Johnson had made the team in his place. Unfortunately, Johnson suffered an ankle injury in the final preseason game and was waived/injured as a result.

The Broncos then replaced Johnson with Jalen Virgil, who has been a healthy inactive for the first two games of his NFL career. The team promoted Kendall Hinton to the active roster against Houston and gave him reps over Virgil, so what’s the issue going on there? Why is Virgil not playing if he was worthy of making the final roster?

KJ Hamler made a remarkable recovery from his knee and hip injuries a year ago to be active in Week 1, but he didn’t practice at all last week and while the Broncos wouldn’t call it a “setback”, it’s hard to see it as anything else. Hamler’s contributions this season could be sparse and expectations for him this year should be lowered considerably if this is the process the team is going to take with him.

Jerry Jeudy suffered an injury against the Texans and when he went down, you could just feel the offense almost deflate.

Compound all of this with the fact that rookie tight end Greg Dulcich is on injured reserve and Albert Okwuegbunam has not yet emerged as a legitimate weapon at the position, and you have a pretty significant issue in the pass-catcher department. So why are the Broncos not making a move at the position? They are long overdue for something and hopefully, we see a bigger move than a practice squad body before the team’s matchup against the 49ers.

Denver Broncos problem no. 5: Take advantage of the forced fumbles

At some point, the ball is going to start bouncing the Denver Broncos’ way, right? The Broncos’ defense has forced five fumbles so far this season. They’ve recovered one.

I’ve never seen anything like we saw in Week 1 where there were so many fumbles recovered by one team. Randy Gregory forced a fumble on DK Metcalf and the Broncos recovered it, but otherwise…

• Bradley Chubb’s strip-sack fell right into the hands of Seahawks LT Charles Cross
• Melvin Gordon’s fumble bounced right into the waiting arms of a Seahawks defender
• Javonte Williams’ fumble bounced into the end zone where a recovery by a Broncos player would have been impossible
• Randy Gregory’s strip-sack against the Texans could have been recovered by Bradley Chubb, but it slipped out of Chubb’s grasp
• Dre’Mont Jones’ strip-sack against the Texans was quickly recovered by Houston

What in the world is going on here? How is it possible that the Broncos are not getting any of these fumbles, including getting their own back? What’s bizarre is the fact that the Broncos forced just six fumbles all of last season, and they’re already up to five this year in just two games. Eventually, the ball has to start bouncing their way, right?

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It’s not even been an issue of whether or not the Broncos are falling on the ball and the other teams are just stealing it from them in a scrum or something. They haven’t even really had a chance to recover these fumbles. With that being said, if they could start recovering some of them, the Broncos would be dominating the turnover battle and, likely, the scoreboard.