The Denver Broncos legitimately have one of the worst offenses in the NFL through the first month of the 2026 NFL Season. The team being 2-2 honestly feels like a miracle. Yes, the team has played a gauntlet of games thus far, but that shouldn't excuse the poor offensive showing.
Not only can the team not run the ball well, but getting the passing attack going is proving to be a tough task. Denver is right in the middle of what appears to be a Super Bowl window, so there isn't any use in wasting this season without making some major changes.
And while nothing appears to be official year, head coach Sean Payton is reportedly taking the offensive play-calling duties back from Davis Webb, who was promoted to offensive coordinator this offseason.
Denver Broncos' HC Sean Payton is reportedly calling the plays on offense again
Brandon Stokley had reported this on Wednesday, and Pro Football Talk has confirmed it with their sources:
With the offense struggling and the Seahawks looming in seven days, Sean Payton will be calling the plays again on Sunday against the Chargers. https://t.co/Gxho8YRSUf
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 8, 2026
Here is the main blurb from Mike Florio:
"The Davis Webb experiment is over.
Webb, who was promoted to offensive coordinator in the offseason and given the keys to the play-calling car, will have those keys rescinded this weekend, when the Broncos face the Chargers.
Former NFL receiver Brandon Stokley, who is now part of the morning show on 104.3 The Fan in Denver, was the first to let the cat out of the bag. “I’m hearing that Sean Payton is going to be taking over play calling this week,” Stokley tweeted on Wednesday night.
We’ve since confirmed that, indeed, Payton will be calling the plays again."
If the experiement is legitimately over, it lasted a total of four underwhelming games. In those four games, the Broncos 27th in points per game, averaging 18.5 per contest. The team also ranks 27th in total yards, 20th in passing yards, and 29th in rushing yards. No matter how you slice this up, it's bad.
While the issues may not inherently be the play-calling, there really isn't a lot the Broncos can do to fix things now other than Payton taking the duties back. The time to make the necessary personnel changes was in the offseason, and with the trade deadline still being a month away, there might not be much activity on the trade market for a little while longer.
Payton has called plays on offense for a majority of his head coaching career, including up until 2026 with the Broncos. Denver did go 24-10 in the regular season in 2024 and 2025, the first two years of the Bo Nix era.
They are also 2-2 for the third year in a row, but the offensive struggles this year feel a lot more prominent than in the first two seasons of Nix's career. Perhaps Nix would feel more comfortable with Payton in his ear, as that's how it was for most of his NFL career.
Or, if that isn't really something that has impacted the play, making the change back to Payton does at least give the offense a different avenue to get things going. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
While there is an argument for Webb to keep these duties, there are only 17 games in an NFL season, and as we saw last year, each one is precious. While this switch back to Payton has not been confirmed by the team, it appears like it's trending toward Payton being in Nix's ear once again.
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