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Jeff Legwold
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos’ season, and the Super Bowl dreams the team carried throughout it, ended with bone-rattling suddenness in a blizzard Sunday.
«It sucks … it’s a lot,» Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton said earlier this week. «I was so ready to be coming in [Monday] and getting ready for either Seattle or Los Angeles. … Hard to feel that it’s over.»
The Broncos had the postseason table set exactly the way they wanted. They had homefield advantage, courtesy of their 14-3 record, and an AFC playoff field that didn’t include quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow. They also had one of the league’s best defenses, one that held the New England Patriots to a mere 10 points (seven of which came on a 12-yard drive) in the AFC Championship Game.
fractured ankle suffered by quarterback Bo Nix and inclement weather helped push them off the razor’s edge. And now their Super Bowl dreams are dashed.
«Being that close and not getting there sets a fire in you, I’m not going to let that taste leave my mouth,» Broncos edge rusher Jonathon Cooper said. «Probably for the rest of my life, you don’t forget losses like that.»
There will be plenty of talk about what needs to be done for the Broncos to get back to the AFC title game and advance beyond it. But perhaps Job No. 1 is to create a bigger margin for error, a little more room to breathe to avoid the type of situation that sent them to the offseason. Getting a bit more help from the offense to further aid a defense that set a franchise record with 68 sacks while holding opponents to 18.3 points per game (third best in the NFL) is key.
Here are four things to monitor this offseason as the Broncos search for that additional cushion.
Find more big plays
There is temptation to dismiss the AFC title game loss with a caveat: If Nix had played, it would have been different. It’s something that has already been mentioned by people in and around the Broncos. Regardless of whether that’s true, the Broncos must act like it’s not in order to correct their issues.
Denver coach Sean Payton has already taken the first steps by firing two offensive assistants — offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and wide receivers coach Keary Colbert. Lombardi has spent 15 seasons on Payton staffs with the Broncos and New Orleans Saints. But that’s just the start.
«We need some key players to come in and do what they need to do by getting points on the scoreboard,» Broncos tackle Garett Bolles said. «… All we need is a couple more playmakers.»
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Bolles’ point goes beyond individual players stacking more touchdowns. The Broncos must make the offense more reliable and consistently productive beyond the late-game heroics, where Nix excelled. The Broncos went three-and-out on 25% of their possessions this season (fourth highest in the NFL). They were the third worst there in 2024 (26.3%), so this isn’t a new problem.
Running back J.K. Dobbins led the team with 21 runs of 10 or more yards — seven more than the next highest running back — despite not playing after Week 10. Wide receiver Courtland Sutton was tied for ninth in the NFL in receptions of at least 20 yards (17), but he didn’t have much help, making it easier for defenses to slant coverages toward him. The next-best Broncos player was Troy Franklin (tied for 49th) and tight end Evan Engram was tied for 128th.
This forced the Broncos to have to grind out victories, and their 12-3 record in one-score games (including playoffs) was necessary in large part due to the offense not being able to separate sooner.
Payton has made no secret about preferring bigger receivers in the offense, and the 5-foot-11, 182-pound Mims is not that. And his role remains a riddle three seasons into his career.
Forced into more duty because of injuries to Franklin and Pat Bryant, Mims led the Broncos in playoff receiving yards (155) and averaged an eyebrow-raising 10.3 and 11.6 yards per target in their two playoff games, respectively. His 52-yard catch to set up Denver’s only touchdown in the AFC Championship Game was the Broncos’ longest completion of the postseason by 23 yards.
Mims is also one of just seven players to have three or more plays of at least 20 yards this postseason and the only player in that group to have a play of at least 50 yards. He had eight targets in the divisional-round win over the Buffalo Bills and six against the Patriots, the most in back-to-back games in his career.
That might have been more necessity than choice, given the Broncos finished Sunday’s loss with Lil’Jordan Humphrey (signed off the Giants’ practice squad in November) and Elijah Moore (claimed off waivers) in the lineup. But Mims produced in his increased role, and Payton might need to further look at his place in the offense to add the necessary explosion to the passing attack.
fourth-and-1 call against the Patriots — a rollout pass instead of a run — notwithstanding, the deeper issue might be the Broncos’ inability to run the ball consistently or effectively.
Denver was decidedly middle of the road when it came to the counting numbers — 19th in the NFL in carries, 16th in rushing yards per game (118.7) and 15th in runs of 10 or more yards. Payton has repeatedly said the running game is a necessary and important piece of his offense, especially with Nix integrated into it through designed runs and run-pass options. But that emphasis wasn’t apparent in the postseason.
The Broncos’ running backs carried the ball only 10 times against the Bills (Nix had 12 carries) and 18 times against the Patriots in snowy, windy conditions in which a reliable running game could have been helpful. Payton said earlier this week it’s high on his offseason priorities.
«When we want to run it under center and control a game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like,» Payton said. «That’ll be an important study and with urgency, and then also with the runners.»
Break tendencies
Payton has said he doesn’t agree with the idea that a team starts the next season at the point in which it ended the previous one, contending that, «We go back to the start of the race.» Considering that Payton is the designer of the Broncos’ playbook and the playcaller on game day, there’s an onus on him to look at his own work.
Those who have coached alongside him and played for him say Payton’s confidence is unshakeable. As one former player put it, «He is positive he found something, that it’s going to work and that’s how he tells it to you.» And Payton is known to be meticulous about self-scouting.
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But a survey of several defensive coaches and personnel executives in recent days revealed that the Broncos’ offense might have tipped plays by its personnel groupings more often than it had in past seasons. Payton often substitutes several players before each snap, but patterns emerged based on who was in.
That dynamic might not have been the main contributor to Sunday’s struggles, but the Patriots appeared prepared and in the right places often, especially on perimeter pass plays and the fateful fourth-and-1.
Perhaps Payton’s internal assessment will be different, but it’s worth his time to stare it down and find the line between what has proven to work in the past and what needs to change. And that means going beyond the annual tweaks to prevent defensive coaches from being able to «read your mail.»
