The Broncos pulled out a 23-17 road win against the Chargers on Sunday, but honestly, you wouldn’t know it from how head coach Sean Payton is talking about the offense. This wasn’t some dominant performance, not by a long shot. They scored on their second possession, which was cool, but then the next *eight* offensive possessions gave them a measly three points, a turnover, a missed field goal, and four punts. Woof.
Barely Breathing on Offense
You read that right. Eight possessions for just three points. Their lone touchdown was early, but after that, it was a total grind, only netting six first downs in those eight drives. How did they even win then, you ask? Pure luck, man. Two Chargers turnovers and a failed fourth down try gave Denver these ridiculously short fields, and they capitalized, turning those gifts into 13 points. That was literally enough to erase a Chargers lead and scrape by with the victory. It’s a win, sure, but it feels like they stole it more than earned it with their own offensive might.
Sean Payton’s Brutal Honesty
After the game, even Payton couldn’t sugarcoat it. He brought up the final score, not the offensive production, and you gotta respect that honesty. “It was good enough to win, but there’s still a number of things that we’ve got to improve on,” he said. And yeah, he’s not wrong. They had a pathetic 224 yards of offense total, their fewest since Week 1. Think about that. Plus, they were 1-of-12 on third downs. That’s just rough. Payton tried to say there were “small steps” in the right direction, but let’s be real, he knows they need those steps to be way “clearer and more consistent” if they want to put any concerns about this offense to bed.
Look, a win is a win, especially on the road. But when your offense struggles that badly, barely scraping by on an opponent’s mistakes, it doesn’t exactly instill confidence for what’s ahead. Payton knows it, Denver fans know it, and they’re gonna need to clean things up, fast, because this kind of production isn’t a sustainable path to success.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
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