The Denver Broncos don't have much time before they play their Week 7 game against the New Orleans Saints, and it doesn't sound like they want to wait anyway. The Broncos lost 23-16 against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6, their third loss of the season and their second loss at home this year already.
The fact that it was a really disappointing loss for the Broncos is telling of how much this team has exceeded expectations early on in 2024. The Broncos were expected to win five or fewer games this year, and they are already at three wins and have been within one score of all three of their losses. The projections for this team were clearly off base, despite the fact that it's clear they still have issues offensively.
But the team showed some serious fight in the second half against the Chargers. After going down 20-0 at the end of the first half, the Broncos outscored the Chargers 16-3 in the second half and finally got some things going on the offensive side of the ball.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix was getting clowned for his stat line at one point, completing just 4-of-14 passes until the Broncos started to put things together. He finished 19-of-33 passing with a pair of touchdowns and an interception, and the late surge had everyone in the locker room thankful they have a chance to get back on track sooner rather than later.
Bo Nix says Broncos players want to get back out on the field ASAP
“I think our team is excited. If we could practice tonight, we would. We’d go back out there. We have a bad taste in our mouths. We just didn’t perform how we want. We feel like the fight was there. You get back in the locker room, and some guys hang their heads. Oftentimes you get in a situation where it’s people start bad-mouthing or talking, but there was none of that in our locker room. Everybody had their heads up like they were focused for the next week. It looked like they want to get back out there as soon as possible, so it’s good that we get to play in four days. It’s going to be tough on us, but we have a quick turnaround. I think we’re going to handle it well, and we don’t have a choice. We have to get back moving forward, and we have to grow and get better.”
- Broncos QB Bo Nix (via team PR)
Nix and the Broncos are channeling their inner Kobe Bryant with the idea of hitting the practice field after a loss, and you can tell just by the way all the players were talking after the game that this team is not dejected. They are more hopeful than anything else. They know they are capable of better than what we saw out there for the majority of the game on Sunday, but it really starts with the offense being better early on in games.
The offense has been so slow-going at the beginning of the last three games, a far cry from what we saw in Week 3 against the Buccaneers where the Broncos came out firing with one of the best opening drives for the team in recent years. Right now, it just fels like an almost automatic three-and-out a lot of times, like anytime the offense is out there, they are at an instant disadvantage.
That wasn't the case the entire game, but it started off with a bad omen as Nix threw an interception on his first pass of the game. To say he "settled in" after that throw wouldn't be accurate, either. There was a point in the game at which Nix really just turned it on, and when he turned it on, he was making a lot of plays out there. And it wasn't just one drive, but multiple consecutive drives with their backs against the wall.
Maybe that sense of urgency should be there from the start. Maybe it is already, and it's just about the way defenses are playing them. Whatever the case, the Broncos need to take out their aggression on the Saints on Thursday night in Sean Payton's return to New Orleans. The Saints just allowed 51 points to the Buccaneers and have a rookie QB under center (Spencer Rattler) as well. The Broncos have a chance to get to 4-3 quickly and it's clear that this team is chomping at the bit for the opportunity to get there.