The Denver Broncos watched their fourth-quarter lead slip again in the last few minutes of the game against the Chargers. Several mistakes on the offense led to a 23-20 defeat in week 3. As they sit at 1-2 now, head coach Sean Payton addressed those mistakes and called out the offense. Although quarterback Bo Nix isn’t entirely to blame, some people have pointed fingers at him.

Writer Nick Kosmider of The Athletic believes the reason behind such criticism is his deep throws. Even when he missed it for slight inaccuracies and other reasons in Week 3, Kosmider believes these have turned into a big issue since the Broncos’ offense had already been struggling for several more reasons.

“Just about any way you slice it, Nix, early in his second season as a starting NFL quarterback, has performed at a league-average rate when it comes to the deep passing game,” Kosmider wrote in his article. He further added, “The problem for the Broncos during this uneven offensive stretch to begin the season is that those passes have added scrutiny because the Broncos haven’t been able to consistently hang their hat on much else.”

Early on a flea-flicker intended for wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr., on third-and-19 in the second quarter, the QB had the perfect chance. However, his pass went beyond the outstretched arms of Mims Jr. Another instance was a critical moment when Nix missed a pass to wide receiver Courtland Sutton on a key third-down play. The frustration on both the fans’ and the players’ ends wasn’t surprising. He may not have led to the loss, but he had chances to save the game.

Despite a disappointing 1-of-5 performance on deep throws Sunday, including one throwaway under pressure, quarterback Bo Nix maintains solid deep ball accuracy. His 36.5% completion rate on passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield since the start of 2024 ranks 17th among 35 qualified quarterbacks.

Nix’s deep ball efficiency slightly exceeds the NFL average of 36.4% on such attempts, demonstrating competent arm strength and accuracy on vertical routes. The one poor game doesn’t significantly damage his overall standing in this critical quarterback metric.

As the Chargers mounted a late drive, cameras captured Nix on the sideline appearing dejected after another close loss slipped away from Denver. The quarterback’s body language reflected the mounting pressure of missed opportunities. “I had so many chances today,” Nix said from the sideline, highlighting his awareness of the scoring opportunities that went unconverted.

Denver Broncos’ head coach Payton also addressed those two deep passes and said, “I think you have to be careful you’re not overcoaching a deep ball that’s going off the fingertips,” Payton said. “Now we’ve seen a couple in the last two weeks, and yet someone asked me about it yesterday. I think that the more concerning problem would be if we’re leaving those balls inside where they’re susceptible for an interception,” he explained. As of now, he is not worried about those issues.

Nix will have more chances when they face the Bengals in Week 4, and that is when the coach wants the entire offense to improve.

Sean Payton called out the offense after a loss to the Chargers

There were several mistakes that found their way again when the team faced the Chargers. So, during the press conference, the coach didn’t hesitate to call out the offense to step up.

“I think it was too inconsistent. There were too many minus plays,” the coach said. “So yesterday was a day that I would say the job degree difficulty factor, it was a hard day to play quarterback when your average third down is third-and-11. If we’re not more efficient on first and second down, the best in our league are going to struggle with the numbers that we gave him [Nix] on third down.”

Not just the rushing attack, he also pointed out the issues with the penalties. There were multiple defensive penalties on one Chargers drive, including a late unnecessary roughness call on safety Talanoa Hufanga. Tight end Adam Trautman was offside, and linebacker Nik Bonitto was lining up in the neutral zone on a punt receiving penalty.

Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton pinpointed two critical problems hampering Denver’s offensive efficiency beyond just the quarterback position. The veteran coach emphasized that penalties and negative plays are sabotaging drives before they can gain momentum.

“The thing that stood out was not only the penalties that set you back offensively, but the minus plays,” Payton said. “That has to be corrected for us to be a quality offense.”

Penalties are a major problem for the Broncos early in the season. And if they hope for a change in Week 4, the Broncos must make sure to protect the QB and avoid the wrong trend with penalties.