The Broncos’ bye arrived with perfect timing. Denver was starting to pile up injuries, and Week 9 forced the team to lean on its secondary depth. Now comes the part where the Broncos have to clean up a few glaring issues if they want the rest of this season to match the promise of their record.
That’s because the path ahead is still there. With a manageable schedule remaining, Denver has a legitimate shot to finish 14-3 for the second straight year.
The AFC West title is in play, and so is the top seed in the playoff race. More than a year into this stretch of winning, it’s clear this is who the Broncos are.
But after the bye, there are three areas that can’t stay the same.
The biggest one is the run game, and it has been a mess. Denver is averaging only 91.4 rushing yards per game, which ranks 27th in the league.
That number looks even worse if you take away Bo Nix’s 62-yard touchdown run, which is obviously an outlier. Without it, the Broncos would be down to 84.6 rushing yards per game, which would rank 30th in football.
It hasn’t all fallen on one person. The offensive line has been part of the problem, and J.K.
Dobbins has not looked good himself. Everyone has some dirt on their hands when it comes to the ground game.
There has been at least a little progress with Jonah Coleman getting carries; in the four games he has handled work, Denver has averaged 105.5 rushing yards per game.
Still, the Broncos need a real answer coming out of the break. Ben Powers has had some subpar play at left guard, and the struggles have shown up in both the run game and pass protection. Luke Wattenberg and Mike McGlinchey have also played rather poorly, but Denver already had to turn to reserves at left guard for an extended stretch last year with Alex Palczewski, so it may be easier to give him another look if Powers keeps struggling.
If the run game doesn’t improve late in the year, it could wreck Denver’s playoff chances early. The Broncos already saw what happened when Dobbins got hurt last year and the offense couldn’t run the ball, and that lesson is still hanging over this team.
The defense has its own third-down issue. Denver is allowing opponents to convert 41.22 percent of third downs, which ranks 21st in the league. That’s a sharp drop from 2025, when the Broncos held teams to 35.56 percent, the sixth-best mark in football.
The pass rush has still shown up, but the defense has not been getting off the field often enough. That has helped drive the opponent play count to 68.7 per game, the highest in the league. Denver’s defense is still 10th in points allowed per game, but that number has slipped from where it sat in 2024 and 2025.
Getting stops on third down would do more than just tidy up a stat line. It would give the offense more chances, and that could help keep the unit’s recent mini-surge going.
The offense has its own third-down problem, too. Denver has converted only 32.4 percent of its third downs, the second-worst rate in the sport.
Only the 2-5-1 Washington Commanders are worse. The strange twist is that the Broncos are first in fourth-down conversion, hitting 83.3 percent of those tries.
A lot of that comes back to early-down execution. Denver keeps finding itself in second- and third-and-long because the run game isn’t creating manageable situations. Getting to second-and-5 instead of second-and-8 would make a real difference.
And that matters because extending drives changes everything. It takes pressure off the offense to rescue games late and gives the unit a better chance to stack points over the course of a game.
In Other News...
Broncos Deadline Push Reveals How Far They Wanted To Go
The Broncos were active right up to the trade deadline, and their pursuit of Tennessee running back Tony Pollard showed they were willing to keep pressing for help even after making one move already. Denver did land linebacker Daiyan Henley from the Chargers for future draft picks, but the interest in Pollard pointed to a front office still looking for ways to add more juice to the roster.
Pollard, in the final year of his contract, has remained productive despite Tennessees rough season, which helps explain why the Titans were not eager to let him go. For Denver, the failed push leaves a clearer picture of how aggressive it wanted to be, and how close it came to adding another proven piece before the deadline passed. [Read more 🡒]
Bo Nix Is Rising As One Broncos Concern Finally Eases
Bo Nixs recent run has given the Broncos a little more breathing room, and it has come at a time when the offense badly needed it. Over the past three games, Denver has strung together three straight wins, with Nix completing 60 of 98 passes for 681 yards, five touchdowns and one interception while the overall operation has looked steadier around him.
Just as important, the pocket has started to calm down after Sean Payton spent time acknowledging the protection and technique issues that helped fuel the earlier turbulence. Denver now heads into its bye with a clearer sense that the quarterback situation is settling, but the real test will be whether that improvement holds once the schedule picks back up. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Just Made Jonah Coleman's Role Much More Important
The Broncos only move at the trade deadline was a deal with the Chargers for linebacker Daiyan Henley, a move that cost Denver two draft picks and addressed the defense rather than the backfield. For the offense, the more telling decision was what did not happen, since the team passed on adding a running back even as the position has become a little more fragile in recent weeks.
That puts a brighter spotlight on Jonah Coleman, who has been seeing more carries since coming back from injured reserve. J.K. Dobbins workload has trended down lately, and RJ Harvey is still on injured reserve until early December, so Denver is leaning into Colemans role at a time when the depth chart could have used another veteran option. [Read more 🡒]