After a brutal four-game stretch to start the 2026 season, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has pulled the plug on Davis Webb calling the plays for the offense.
The Broncos' offense has not been good in any category so far this season, and the play of quarterback Bo Nix early on in his third year with the team has been a disappointment. Even considering how small the sample size has been so far, Payton really had no other choice.
The buck stops with Payton. If the team isn't having success, it's on him. If the offense isn't having success, it's on him. Payton is trying to become the first head coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with multiple franchises, and after getting this close just last season, he isn't about to let another opportunity slip through his grasp.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton needed to take back play-calling duties
As we went through all of the scenarios before the start of the 2026 season, the idea of Webb having play-calling duties stripped away was in the "worst-case" category.
To some degree, it felt like the team's overall record might play a factor in just how long the proverbial leash might be for Webb, but at 2-2 to start the season, it's much more about the overall performance of the offseason, and just how inefficient (and ineffective) the operation has been up to this point.
The Broncos rank 27th in points scored, 27th in 1st downs, 20th in passing, and 29th in rushing. They have had some stretches of brilliance against the Jaguars and Rams, but Payton has been very open about how starting slow could come back to bite his team.
And we saw an example of that in Week 4 against the San Francisco 49ers.
If the Broncos were filling out a BINGO card of offensive issues so far this season, they'd be getting pretty close to a "blackout". You name it, the Broncos have struggled with it.
Penalties, drops, bad throws, no running game, poor blocking, miscommunication...
It's all been there, and the fact that that has been really the only consistent part of the team? That speaks volumes.
Payton taking back the play-calling duties is less about the fact that he believes he is the spark the offense needs and more about the fact that, as the head coach of the team, he's responsible directly for the success of the team. And because the Broncos were giving Davis Webb a shot to call plays for the very first time in the NFL, he has every right to take the keys back.
And in this case, he should.
The Broncos are not a rebuilding or reloading team. They are not in any sort of "discovery" phase as a franchise. They are a Super Bowl-caliber team with Super Bowl aspirations. Anything that can be done in the name of winning must be done. And finding sustainable success offensively is mission-critical for this Broncos team.
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