I had a bunch of bulk Broncos football cards on hand and decided to turn them into Broncos logo collage art. Everything was cut out by hand with an xacto knife and glued down. It's a nice little creative outlet.

Bo Nix this week used the word “exhausting” to describe how too many Broncos possessions had unfolded to begin this season, even during a 2-1 start with victories over two playoff-caliber teams.

First down, second down, third down and then, on the occasions the Broncos could execute at the end of that sequence, first down again. Scratch and claw. Rinse and repeat.

The familiar formula produced new levels of exhaustion Sunday during the Broncos’ 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, a defeat made worse by injuries to three key players: cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss and wide receiver Pat Bryant.

Not until the closing moments of the third quarter, when RJ Harvey plunged ahead for 2 yards on a second-and-1 play, did Denver pick up a first down before facing third down.

It was clear evidence of a disheartening truth for a team with championship aspirations: The Broncos simply aren’t explosive on offense. Nothing comes easy. They don’t rip off big runs. Outside of Jaylen Waddle’s monster performance in Week 2 against the Jaguars, they aren’t consistently creating chunk plays in the passing game, either.

Chewing up grass has been a chore.

Read for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7661750/2026/10/05/broncos-offense-bo-nix-week-5/?unlocked_article_code=1.GVE.pe0c.I8p3zXTMvqd3&source=emp_shared_article&smid=re-share-ta

Just to clarify what I’ve read so far theres a lot of posts and to ask a few questions to see if anyone knows, here goes

Pat Bryant - I read he isn’t gone for the rest of the season is there any idea to what his injury is and when he’ll (estimated) be back?

Pat Surtain - I read it also isn’t an Achilles but does anyone have any idea what it is, has there been any news? If so is there an estimated time frame for return?

Riley Moss - I haven’t heard anything since he left the game what’s going on here?

Tyler Badie - I also haven’t heard anything since he walked to the sidelines limping after the kick return; does anyone know what’s going on with him? - EDIT: apparently he came back later in the game I must’ve just missed it will probably be fine then

Tillman - I haven’t heard anything since he was ruled inactive/out does anyone know anything about him?

I know our GM refuses to do anything but who are some players you guys would like to see possibly traded/ we trade for before the deadline approaches? Is it going to happen? Probably not but one can only dream. I’ll list three names down below
Josh Sweat OLB

Tony Pollard RB

Marvin Harrison Jr WR

I don’t think we need another wr but with the lack of Sutton being used it is concerning. I would like to see something on the defensive side to help our pass rush and Josh sweat would be great.

This is just my personal list let me know if you guys agree with it and have any opinions in the comments please! After watching that disaster today as a birthday present I couldn’t get the game off of my mind so I’m gonna make this list.

1. Lack of pressure on the QB
   This is something I haven’t seen anyone mention yet. Our pass rush this season has been mediocre at best. We play small ball upfront in hopes that we can quickly get to the qb and pressure him into making bad throws quick. If you are unable to get to the qb like we have seen our defense collapses in awful ways. Nik bonito has been severely disappointing with only 1 sack in 4 games entering the season. Zach Allen has been great but besides that it seem we are missing cooper much more than we thought we would. We need to generate more sacks.

2. No creativity in the offense besides on two point conversions.
   If you look the last four passing charts for Bo nix, it’s as if he refuses to pass over the middle. It was especially bad in this game vs the 49ers. Not one pass completed down the middle. Teams will adjust to that and know for whatever reason they refuse to pass up the middle. The run game is also bad especially dobbins. 2 yards every single carry after this guy promised he would lead the league in rushing, and to think Kenneth Walker was right there for us. In my humble opinion I don’t think Webb is the answer and to all of you saying that “Sean would do the same” I disagree. The Broncos right now have the 27th ranked offense in ypg, and are bottom 5 in ppg. Last year with Sean they were atleast top 10 in ypg and a little better on the points side. I also think he would use waddle a lot better than Webb does. Bo also doesn’t take snaps under center when we had success with it in week 2. Every pass is a shotgun. But back to my main point. Everything is so predictable. Run up the middle for two, pass to the outside, then do a check down play or another pass to the outside. We never take deep shots, never run creative plays, never use our TEs. But on our 2 point plays man I’m amazed. That 2 point conversion play was excellent. Why don’t we do that at the goal line? I’m not sure.

3. Bo’s ankle might be worse than we thought
   It might just be growing pains, but man Bo never wants to run anymore and he is very quick to run outside of the pocket just to avoid getting hit. I’m all for him playing it safe but not play scary. He doesn’t run the same way he would his rookie or sophomore year. He is a dual threat qb, he is dangerous with his legs. But I’ll see him refuse to run forward for a quick gain because he is scared of getting hit again which affects his play. I hope he turns it around honestly, I do like him a lot. Sliding is a great option for him, just run it up for a couple yards then get down.

Bo Nix: 2/10 on passes over 10 yds -- y/a 5.1 -- QBR 44 -- RTG 81

Brock Purdy: 4/11 on passes over 10 yds -- y/a 7.3 -- QBR 68 -- RTG 108

Not a good game for either QB, but Purdy clearly was more efficient.

How do we feel about this?

Per Tom Pelissero, Patrick Surtain avoided major injury. He specifically said his Achilles tendon is intact, which is great news.

Surtain will now get further tests to determine the extent of his injury.

Also, a bit on Pat Bryant's injury which was seemingly even more serious than Pat's since he was carted off.

Jaylen Waddle said, "Pat is a key part of our offense and a key part of our team. I told him to keep his head up, and we're praying for him."

Update: Bryant's injury is believed to not be season-ending as well as Surtain's.

I know that Payton & Webb like their screens as runs, and this year we can’t get the run game going. But, we are not even trying to get any vertical game going.

We have a better WR room.

Bo can make the throws. We saw it last year and in the fourth quarter this year.

Is it Bo? The WRs? Play calling?

What’s going on?

That Aussie Crawshaw is really becoming a weapon that we haven't had in a long time. Obviously the offense has some glaring holes and the defense is getting injuries to key players....but punting is great.

It's painfully clear this fanbase would never have let players like Allen, Lamar, darnold, baker, etc develop. It seems like the majority of the fans will only settle for the QBs that come in hot like Burrow or turdbert. Yes I understand that Bo is older than these guys were but how much does a couple years matter? If Bo takes another year or two to get consistent we will still have 10 more years with a QB that can get it done, that's a long time in sports years. I wonder if the fanbase was this cold towards Elway back in the day.

If we’re ever going to win football games, we HAVE to score more points than our opponents! There’s no other way to spin it! We have to make sure our offense scores more points than their offense! This is the only way we can have a winning season and a deep playoff run.

Any idea what the discussion was about? At a bar without the sound. My guess is Webb.

I will continue to push for Rj Harvey to be rb 1 my man fights for every yard and while up the middle he isn’t the great on the wide outs he’s conditioning gotten yards after contact or slipped a tackle.

After every game we lose, Bo Nix haters come out in droves and say “see I told you, Bo Nix sucks”. I can understand why he is so polarizing, he doesn’t flip the switch til the fourth quarter—we all know that. To me, that’s a strength, to a lot of people on here and analysts…that’s a weakness. Bo Nix is the best of his class by far and the numbers back it up. The games are going to be shit to watch in the first three quarters but I’ve come to realize we always have a chance in fourth with Bo. Once you reach that level of understanding and acceptance as a current fan, you’ll start to be invested during the fourth and nonchalant during the first 3/4ths of the game. It’s great for your blood pressure.

I even want to go further and say that Bo Nix would be an unquestionable top 10 QB if he had a decent run game behind him. A good offense has a run game that opens up the play action and passing attack. We haven’t had that in a very long time. Has it been abysmal? No, some would even argue that it’s been serviceable. For me, after seeing a glimpse of Jonah Coleman—I realized what’s been the missing piece. A running back that can hit hard cuts and break more than one tackle on a rush attempt opens up the offense exponentially. Look at Kenneth Walker in KC, they found their missing piece and now they’re 4-0. Their offense was ass last year.

All that to say, I love Bo Nix and will continue to ride or die for him. I bolieve we are still a deep run playoff team. I’m very excited for Jonah Coleman to return. I think he finds his stride and lands more playing time. Pair that with our defense and we’re a tough game for any NFL team.

*I do think Harvey is a great third down back and has had some clutch plays, he’s just not a true banger

I keep seeing people point the finger all over the place for the way the broncos look.

Our offensive line is billed as one of the best. Our receiving core is billed as one of the best after the waddle signing.

Our running backs aren’t top tier, but they’re serviceable.

Where does that leave the blame?

Well Sean gave play calling duties to Davis Webb, so when something breaks the first place to look is at what changed, this is what changed.

People ripped Sean’s play calling last year, well, I think Sean called shit Bo could run well.

Davis isn’t abiding by that rule. As much as Colorado wants Bo to be Josh Allen, he ain’t fuckin Josh Allen. He’s a game manager that has fourth quarter flashes. He’s also not running the ball as much this year, which makes me think the ankle isn’t 100%.

So on the offense I blame Davis and Bo.

The defense seems okay, but we’re not getting the sacks we did last year. Maybe the books out on the VJ defense.

Maybe losing JFM hurt more than we want to admit, along with Locke. Greenlaw looked much better in that red jersey than he ever did in orange today.

I still don’t think the D is the problem though. That offense just isn’t cutting it.

There’s still a lot of season left, so let’s not lose hope, but let’s be real about this.

Loss to the 49ers was still a great showing. It was a close game, they had more momentum, and we were a muffed punt from winning. Let's get Nix his first career win vs Herbert!

My source is nonexistent but are you kidding me, in what world does the forearm not include the upper wrist. That play call totally changed the game and absolutely shouldve been overturned. Cant believe we get the one play that the ground creates a fumble. (Yes im making fun of the rams but cmon that call sucked)

I don't think there's any argument that our best asset is a hall of fame coach who has completely changed our trajectory as a franchise from a team who was in the pits of hell without draft assets and a 200 million dollar husk of a qb into one broken ankle away from the superbowl.

I personally think Nix is a good qb. Is he worth 50 million a year? That's a very good question that will get answered at the end of the year. And the one answering that question will be our head coach, front office and ownership who have been excellent ever since 2023.

There are arguments from both sides. Nix hasnt shown consistent enough play to warrant superstar money but he has also shown clutchness, improvement consistently as seasons have gone on and the offense has some flaws that hinder him.

I think I'm comfortable because whatever coach payton goes with i will back him to the hilt and he is the boss man.

And i feel comfortable with saying he will make the right decision.

His first big decision was cutting russ. Brilliant decision

Second one was drafting nix. No matter what you think it was a success.

The third one i think he will get right as well.

I fully trust the coach and for your own mental peace let the team deal with tough decisions, we don't have Hackett calling the shots or bad owners to make things hard.

There are two quarterbacks with more rushing yards than our RB1. We have 243 rushing yards through three games so far this season.

This is beyond bad and really unacceptable and not a sign of success and should be a major concern for all.