Denver Broncos RB Javonte Williams ‘not at all concerned’ about offensive woes

This Denver Broncos“The highly anticipated home opener at Empower Field at Mile High was spoiled by Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in an embarrassing 13-6 loss. Through two weeks, first-round quarterback and team captain Bo Nix has thrown four interceptions at a 59.7% clip and is still searching for his first regular-season touchdown.

While Nix is ​​at the forefront of a highly dysfunctional and disjointed offense, Broncos coach Sean Payton, who runs the offense, has let his rookie starter down significantly, resulting in a woeful production of the running game. More losses at the hands of Seattle Seahawks and the Steelers revealed their worst-case scenario just two weeks into the 2024 regular season, as the Broncos will play their next two games on the road.

The 26-20 Week 1 loss to the Seahawks was attributed to the first game being played in the hostile environment of Lumen Field, where even the most experienced quarterback would have a hard time winning a game, let alone a rookie. But when the same mistakes were exposed for the second straight game without any major changes or adjustments to the playmaking, Broncos Country can’t help but wonder why Payton’s offense can’t run the ball.

It’s hard to pin Denver’s recent loss on quarterback Javonte Williams, who has been catching about 66 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Despite being Denver’s leading rusher with a paltry 17 yards on 11 attempts (1.5 average) and just five long carries, Williams was the only Broncos receiver to catch every pass thrown his way, finishing with five receptions for 48 yards, an average of 9.6 yards per reception.

The Steelers’ defense overwhelmed Williams and the Broncos. Payton’s offense recorded 13 first downs, failed to score in the red zone (0-3) and converted a paltry 2 of 12 third-down attempts. After the game, Williams had a simple reason for Denver’s inability to produce in the running game, and he delivered an optimistic message.

“It’s the NFL. They’ve got T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Patrick Queen, great players on defense,” Williams explained after Sunday’s loss. “I’m not worried about the offense or the team at all. It’s a long season and we’ll do it well.”

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While I appreciate Williams’ optimism, I’m not sure where it comes from. Payton’s stable of running backs remains limping and underutilized.

Newcomer Audric Estime was placed on the injured reserve list last week, so the team promoted Tyler Badie from the practice squad to the active roster, which gave him one run for 16 yards against the Steelers (the longest on the team). Meanwhile, third-stringer Jaleel McLaughlin was all but absent from Payton’s offense, rushing three times for six yards without a single target in the passing game.

When I say Payton’s offense hasn’t changed much from week to week, look no further than the scoreboard. You don’t have to be a movie buff to see the same thing in two consecutive games.

In the Week 1 loss, McLaughlin led the team with 10 rushing attempts, while Williams had the most rushing attempts in Week 2 with 11. Even Nix’s rushing yards were mirrored by Seattle’s rushing yards, with the rookie having five attempts for 35 yards and a touchdown, compared to four attempts for 25 yards in Week 2.

Through two games combined, Williams and McLaughlin have carried the ball 32 times for just 73 yards, an average of 2.3 yards per carry. So while Williams tries to be optimistic and positive about this offense, I’ll reserve my optimism for when I see Payton commit to carrying the ball at least 15 times with each individual running back.

Make no mistake about it: I had a great time at Broncos Country during 2024. Meeting at Mile High A meet and greet where we celebrated the fall season and the return of football to Denver. However, there was nothing fun about watching fans leave the home opener early, nor was it comfortable walking out of the stadium with Steelers Nation waving those “Terrible Towels” in my face.

To be clear, I am a Payton fan. He was my No. 1 candidate for the Broncos head coaching job 18 months ago, and I was adamant that Denver did the right thing by trading him. New Orleans Saints to vest. I supported Payton’s decision to bench Russell Wilson in 2023 and his costly release in March, and even jumped on the Nix train when he was called up in April.

I’ve criticized Payton’s decisions throughout the game, including his clock management and the hiring of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, whose unit is the only strength of this football team two weeks into the regular season. But the way Payton calls the Broncos’ offense is inexplicable.

Fans and media agree that it looks like the former Super Bowl-winning coach is trying to change his offensive strategy and outsmart everyone instead of sticking to basic football principles, like having his RB1 consistently run the ball.

On Monday, Payton was asked what his team needs to do to get Williams playing on offense.

“Let’s start with the design and the scheme and then let’s get to the execution,” Payton said on a conference call. “I just got done watching a play where he gained three yards that really should have been seven yards. How do we block the back of that? Do we need to fix that? He’s got one or two misses in the game. We need to make sure his eyes are where they need to be.”

It’s abundantly clear that Nix is ​​no Drew Brees yet, but Payton has tipped him off to throw the ball 77 times in his first two professional games, resulting in four interceptions, zero pass deflections, and two straight losses. Monday News The fact that Broncos right quarterback Mike McGlinchey will miss about four weeks with a medial collateral ligament injury won’t make things any easier for Nix, and left quarterback Garett Bolles and center Luke Wattenberg were both placed on the Broncos’ injury list last week.

Now, it’s even more imperative that Payton put his ego aside and adapt to a fundamental, functional running attack every week. It’s the kind of attack that moves the chains piece by piece and, while often leading to field goals, minimizes turnovers.

If Payton doesn’t commit to the ground game, Broncos fans should brace themselves for a lot of losses and an injured quarterback who could end up with confidence issues. Last week, fans were assured that the running game would be a priority and that things would be fixed, and we enter Week 3 wondering when and if this offense will improve.

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