3 Ways Denver Broncos Offense can Improve as Sean Payton Takes Over Play-calling

According to multiple reports on Wednesday, Sean Payton is taking back play calling for the Denver Broncos offense.

Now Ian Rapoport says at 10 a.m. MT on Thursday, "The process will remain collaborative, with OC Davis Webb continuing to be a major voice on game day & during the week. But Payton will have say."

And Payton finally explained to the media himself he's now calling the plays.

The Davis Webb era of calling plays lasted only four games of the 2026 season.

Rewind to the offseason and Payton kept Webb in Denver by giving him play calling duties. In February, when the move was made, Broncos Country rejoiced. Not only had Payton's play calling become stale and saturated with too many screens, he elected to go for it on 4th and 1 instead of taking the points in the AFC Championship Game and cost Denver the game.

Even with Webb calling plays, Payton said he would step in from time to time when needed. So, it's likely a huge play in a crucial Championship game would've meant Payton making the call again.

Now we don't have to wonder anymore.

Of course, Payton hasn't made this official in the media, but Pro Football Talk says they confirmed it after Brandon Stokley broke the news on The Fan.

Payton did talk about play-calling on Wednesday and how it can improve.

“I think our focus needs to be more on the specifics and the detail of each play regardless. I think Davis [Webb] is very fast and quick and understands what we’re doing. So I appreciate the question, but I think that the most important job I have is really evaluating the why’s. I think collectively we all after a game... After a four-game sample size… All right, certainly this isn’t championship football or what we see, how quickly can we correct those things?”

This wasn't the first time Payton called out Webb in the media, he did so after the blowout Chiefs loss, too.

So, how can the Broncos offense improve with Payton at the helm again?

3 Ways Denver Broncos Offense can Improve with Sean Payton Taking Over Play-calling

The Broncos offense wasn't good enough to make it to the Super Bowl last year. Even if Bo Nix was healthy and they beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, they weren't a good enough offense to beat the Seattle Seahawks.

But the Broncos offense has regressed even compared to last year.

Denver Broncos offensive ranks in 2025:

• Points per game: 23.6, 14th
• Total yards: 5,825, 10th
• Rushing yards per attempt: 4.4, 15th
• 3rd downs: 41.2%, 11th
• 4th downs: 50%, 22nd
• Red zone scoring: 57.9%, 13th
• Bo Nix passer rating: 87.8, 26th

Denver Broncos offensive ranks in 2026:

• Points per game: 18.5, 27th
• Total yards (4 games): 1,121, 27th
• Rushing yards per attempt: 3.6, 26th
• 3rd downs: 39.6%, 11th
• 4th downs: 50%, 16th
• Red zone scoring: 63.6%, 11th
• Bo Nix passer rating: 80.4, 22nd

Of those metrics, the one that has improved is red zone scoring. But considering it's a small sample size, we can't put too much stock into that.

Where we see the biggest drop off is on the scoreboard. Denver's scoring 5.1 less points per game compared to last year when they were merely mediocre on offense. Now, they're among the worst teams in the league at putting points on the board. Only the Packers, Chargers, Patriots, Titans, and Dolphins are worse.

None of those teams are competing for a Super Bowl this year, with the Pats being most likely to pull themselves out of this tailspin.

Let's get into how Payton can help this team play better offense starting in Week 5 against the hapless Chargers.

1. Running the Ball More, and More Efficiently

The Broncos are one of the worst teams in the NFL at rushing the ball through four weeks.

You know that because you watch Denver play every week. But here are some stats to back that up:

After the "slap in the face" loss to the Chiefs, as Payton called it, he called out Webb's play calling.

“Our run-pass ratio was skewed and off,” Payton said. “As that unfolds and you get into where you’re throwing the ball, then it becomes more challenging. The way that game unfolded, all of the sudden there were a number of series where you felt one-dimensional. I think that added to the problem.”

The Broncos have been one-dimensional all season.

That has to change under Payton.

Of course, sometimes abandoning the run happens depending on the game situation. When they got down 21-7 early in the second half, they wen't full-on pass mode. To little avail.

And Payton has abandoned the run before, himself.

He also said on Wednesday the Broncos must be more efficient in the run game.

“I think running the ball efficiently, the play action passing game and then the route specifics relative to protection. There’s so much that goes into making [Bo Nix's] job easier and then if you’re having trouble, for instance, with early-down efficiency, second-and-9 or third down-and-long, those would be a few that come to my mind right away.”

The Broncos gaining only 3.6 yards per carry is putting off schedule and putting the offense in second- and third-and-longs too often.

Payton needs to get them on track, if possible. They did run for nearly one yard more per carry (4.4 vs. 3.6 YPC) last year with Payton calling the plays. So, there's hope.

If that means tricky stuff like handing it off to Marvin Mims, I'm all for it. They need some life injected into the run game. Stat!

2. Situational Play-calling

The biggest situational play-calling mistake I can think of is in the red zone in the Week 2 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After the incredible 49-yard pass from Nix to Waddle—the team's only 40-plus yard play to this point—Denver couldn't score a touchdown from the 5 yard line.

That's embarrassing at least and laughably bad at worst.

Davis Webb ran J.K. Dobbins right, middle, and left. All for -1 combined yard.

And his third down run was the worst play call of the day. It was a pitch backwards from Nix to Dobbins, meaning the running back started three yards behind the line of scrimmage. And Nix even got stepped on by a lineman.

He ended up losing a yard and Denver settled for a field goal.

The Broncos were down 7-0 and it looked like they would tie the game up. It would've been a big boost to the offense, which has started scarily slowly every week this year.

Look, I don't hate running the ball on first and even second down from the 5 yard line.

But on third, if you get stoned on those first two attempts, you have to call a pass play.

Another poor decision came during the Rams game; LA just took the lead 19-16 and Nix threw a pick when he was hit but the defense got the ball back. Denver needed a first down to start the drive rolling and on 3rd and 2 Webb called a short pass to Evan Engram. Engram has been incredibly unreliable this year and Denver had to punt.

If it weren't for Hufanga's pick-6, the Rams might've cemented their win on the ensuing drive.

Payton's situational play-calling has been suspect at times—it's not perfect for anyone—but the Broncos have to hope his feel for games and dialing up the right play will be better than the 31-year old Webb's.

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3. Scoring

The biggest hope in all of this is the Broncos score more points.

They've fallen off by 5.1 points per game, nearly a touchdown, compared to last year.

The graph shows the four years of scoring averages in Denver under Sean Payton. This year's is clearly the worst and an unsustainable in terms of scoring.

The Broncos have improved in their red zone scoring percentage this year and are at 63.9% vs. 57.9% last year. But, and it's a big but, they have only made it into the red zone 11 times, which is 22nd in the NFL.

Denver's explosive play rate is 4.3% per Sharp Football, which is fifth-worst in the NFL.

Simply, if you can't generate any explosive plays and you can't get into the red zone enough, you're not going to score a lot of points.

Payton knows how to dial up plays that can methodically matriculate this offense down the field.

Of course, Bo Nix needs to actually throw to open receivers, though.

Play-calling is one Issue, Bo Nix is Another

I'll have a full piece on this in the next few days, but Bo Nix is the biggest reason this offense is struggling so much.

He's currently dead-last in the NFL in air yards at 6.0 per pass. He's throwing the ball too short, too close to and even behind the line of scrimmage. Just like he did as a rookie, and just like he did last year.

Nix is checking down at an alarming rate. Even when receivers are open.

I don't think the Broncos traded a first-round pick for Jaylen Waddle for him to only have 35 yards in a game (vs. San Francisco) and average 46.3 YPG, the lowest of his career.

Nix has simply regressed to start this season; his 80.4 passer rating is the worst of his career. (87.8 in 2025, 93.3 in 2024)

So, yes Sean Payton calling the plays may help this offense right themselves. But only if Nix finds his confidence and starts making throws beyond 10 yards. Only 35 of his 135 passes (26%) have been 10 yards or more. And his completion percentage is a terrible 42.8% over 10 yards.

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.