The key to Denver Broncos offensive success is not what you think

After the Week 8 win over the Carolina Panthers, the Denver Broncos offense looked the best it has ever looked with Bo Nix.

Despite the opponent being the worst NFL team in the league, the offense still went out there and executed at a high rate, something Broncos Country is not used to, no matter who the opponent is.

For anyone who follows me on X (formerly known as Twitter), people would know about my fascination with wanting Sean Payton to have Nix and this offense under center more. What we saw against the Panthers was Nix under the center a lot more, utilizing play-action and finding extreme success.

I did some more research on it and the numbers are quite fascinating:

Denver Broncos offense thrives when going under center

As my post states above, we saw the most snaps under center from Denver against Carolina. It was recorded at 33 snaps, with 12 of them being passes and 21 runs. By far, the season-high for the Broncos.

In the four other wins this season, the total snaps under center have been:

Week 3 vs. TB - 19 (4 Passes | 15 Runs)
Week 4 vs. NYJ - 23 (5 Passes | 18 Runs)
Week 5 vs. LVR - 20 (4 Passes | 16 Runs)
Week 7 vs. NO - 24 (6 Passes | 18 Runs)

Minus the Week 1 loss against the Seahawks in Nix's NFL debut, where they recorded 22 snaps under center, the total snaps in their losses are:

Week 2 vs. PIT - 10 (1 Pass | 9 Runs)
Week 6 vs. LAC - 9 (2 Passes | 7 Runs)

The best offenses are often under center, and it keeps the defense honest. Marrying the run game with the play-action game under center helps the offense and quarterback (especially someone like Nix, who is a rookie) a lot and makes it easier for them.

The numbers show why and how Nix and the Broncos are successful when they utilize play-action. Having the linebackers bite down, freeing up more space for the receivers to get open (since they have a hard time already creating separation), helps everyone involved.

There are many other factors and benefits of play-action, but here are the numbers for Denver in their five wins thus far this season:

Week 3 vs. TB - 23.1% Play-Action
Week 4 vs. NYJ - 33.3% Play-Action
Week 5 vs. LVR - 22.6% Play-Action
Week 7 vs. NO - 35.3% Play-Action
Week 8 vs. CAR - 45.0% Play-Action

Despite Nix's debut against Seattle (26.5% PA percentage), here are the numbers in the other two losses with the play-action numbers:

Week 2 vs. PIT - 12.8% Play-Action
Week 6 vs. LAC - 17.1% Play-Action

The numbers speak for themselves and it is very telling.

Payton will adapt to anything that gets this offense into a groove, and in the past two weeks, it looks like they have found a bit of an identity with these numbers.