Sean Payton going to feel the heat after miserable first half vs. Steelers

The Denver Broncos had a miserable first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the team's Week 2 matchup, a half so bad that Sean Payton might need to be feeling some heat a little bit.

Payton has exuded plenty of confidence in his young roster this offseason, bordering on hubris. The Broncos cut starting quarterback Russell Wilson and Pro Bowl safety Justin Simmons this offseason along with trading away former first-round pick Jerry Jeudy. The moves that were made didn't exactly inspire confidence from the national media, and their skepticism of the Broncos' overall plan looks pretty justified through the first two weeks of the season.

Although the Broncos have a rookie quarterback starting in just his second game, the plan from Payton has yielded almost no positive results and the Broncos had a really tough time moving the ball in the first half against Pittsburgh's defense.

Bo Nix, Broncos offense struggle in 1st half vs. Steelers

The point being made here by former NFL QB and current QB coach Tim Jenkins is a valid one. We're not seeing Bo Nix operate a legitimate NFL offense at this point. He's out there running the most vanilla stuff with 4th-and-7 plays being drawn up with receivers in front of the sticks. Nix is not attempting much downfield whatsoever and at some point, the training wheels need to come off and the results need to be accepted.

Broncos Country might be much more amenable to going through the growing pains of Bo Nix's rookie season if there were at least some flashes within. It looks like Sean Payton is trying to play like an old-school Big Ten team with a running game and defense that is simply not working on either side of the ball right now.

Nix finished the first half against the Steelers 7-of-11 passing with just 39 yards through the air and a couple of sacks. The yards per attempt and completion are not even really the fault of Nix at this point. Payton is clearly scheming these short throws to try and help Nix get in rhythm, but it's not working.

Not only is Nix not getting in rhythm, but Payton is responsible for the fact that Marvin Mims's only target in the first half came on a 3rd-and-a-mile while Courtland Sutton wasn't even targeted a single time in the first half.

Meahwhile, Payton is scheming touches for guys like Lil'Jordan Humphrey and Jaleel McLaughlin. It just doesn't add up or make any sense.

At this point, Payton should definitely be feeling the heat for the usage of his offensive weapons, or lack thereof. The Broncos should not be scheming touches for Lil'Jordan Humphrey, a player who is not even on the 53-man roster. If things are going well and Humphrey happens to catch a pass or two along the way, that's a different story. But the team is trying to get things going, and we're seeing this kind of stuff happening.

The Steelers are up 10-0 at the half with the Broncos' defense set to take the field to open the second half.