How Broncos' 2026 offense is even worse than Denver team Sean Payton criticized four years ago

1 week ago 15

The Denver Broncos have been one of the more polarizing teams during the 2026 NFL season so far. Coming off a near Super Bowl appearance, there was plenty of optimism for this team.

Heading into Week 7, the Broncos are 4-2. That's a good record. Unfortunately, the circumstances of how they got there haven't been pretty. This Broncos team clearly isn't as good offensively as they've been before./

Zach Bye, host of "The Drive" on Denver Sports Station 1043 The Fan, shared a brutal statistic for this Broncos offense that shows Sean Payton's 2026 offense is worse than the 2022 offense he called "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL."

Sean Payton's 2026 offense is worse than 2022 group he strongly criticized

"A stat that shouldn't be true but is... The Nathaniel Hackett - Russell Wilson offense of 2022 averaged 73 more yards per game than this Sean Payton - Bo Nix-led offense. Also separated by just 2 points per game," Bye shared on Twitter/x.

This is a statistic that just seems too impossible to be true. But looking at the two teams' totals, the 2022 Broncos over 17 games and the 2026 Broncos over six games, this is accurate.

The 2022 offense totaled 5,527 yards in its 17-game season, for a 325.1 yards-per-game average and a 21st-place ranking among all NFL teams.

Meanwhile, the 2026 Broncos have totaled 1,513 yards in six games this season, good for 252.16 yards per game, ranking 31st in the NFL this season.

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There's nearly a 73-yard difference between the two offenses in yards per game. That's the difference between an offense that Payton previously criticized as being "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL."

While there's a lot more to this story than simply yards per game, the 2026 team has scored 114 points (19 per game), and the 2022 offense scored 287 points (16.8 per game); this is still a brutal statistic for Payton's offense in 2026.

If the Denver offense can't figure things out, they might be in trouble this season when they start facing some elite offenses.

Outside of Nix and Payton's 30-point performance against the Los Angeles Rams, this offense has been very disappointing. They can still turn things around, especially with the personnel and offensive line at Nix and Payton's disposal.

But through six weeks, if there was one thing that is most likely to sink the Broncos' season, it's this lackluster offense that really struggles to move the ball.