The Denver Broncos are 5-5 and coming off a last-second close loss to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. But this team can be much better.

What’s holding Denver back is offensive inconsistency, both in the passing and running games. It’s easy to blame individual players and highlight certain plays, but one person who doesn’t get enough blame is head coach Sean Payton.

Throughout the season, the Broncos have found things that work on offense. They have these bright moments that see the offense operating at a high level, leading to long, sustained drives and points on the board. Due to the different types of defenses they face, it can only be the same things sometimes to work against a team as the team did the week before. This is a basic element of football.

Teams focus on different things to stop and excel in different areas. So of course Payton and the Broncos offense will change things up depending on their opponents. There is nothing wrong with that as it comes with the territory of football.

However, Payton needs to improve on overcorrection and not even try to use things that worked before. There are also several instances this season where the Broncos offense has found something that works, only to use it a few times while holding on to things that don’t.

The head coach is to blame. Of course, player execution is also an issue, and the game isn’t this horrendous problem plaguing the Broncos and the problem alone, as some people out there might make it out to be. However, this one it is part of the equation.

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An example of this is the action game. Bo Nix has thrown the second-most passing yards, but has the third-lowest yards per attempt and eighth-lowest completion percentage, while EPA/Dropback ranks 12th-lowest .

Payton keeps the play action as a big part of his offense, despite Nix and the offense performing better when they don’t use it. The big difference here is how long it takes a quarterback on average to make a throw. Nix’s average to shoot in play-action is 3.21 seconds, almost 0.3 seconds longer than without play-action.

It was great to see some change in what the Broncos were doing at the running back position. For weeks, injuries have impacted usage here, but deploying Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin on first and second down after another has been almost a loss down low.

The duo had some bright moments, but the use of Williams and McLaughlin needs to be more varied and spaced out. Getting Audric Estime with a higher touch rate despite his concerns has worked for the Broncos, despite what his 3.8 yards per carry might suggest.

It’s worth noting that before running out the clock in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs stacked the line, Estime had 11 carries for 49 yards (4.45 YPC avg).

That late-game sequence is also an issue with Payton, and it’s not the first time in his season and a half as a head coach that he’s botched a sequence to close out a half. or a game. To be clear, running for a field goal wasn’t a terrible decision. It makes sense because you don’t want to risk a turnover, but it was the wrong decision.

Up until that point, the Broncos had successfully moved the ball and eaten up the clock. They went 1-&-10 with 1:46 left on the clock and the Chiefs with no timeouts remaining. Again, it makes sense to run the ball, run out the clock, and play for a field goal. But it was the wrong choice, not just because of the result.

Payton should have stayed aggressive. This is an aggressive team on both sides of the ball, and the Broncos are much better when they are. When the Broncos went passive with several runs to run out the clock, the Chiefs knew what they were doing and stacked the line to stop Estime, holding him to three carries for four yards.

There are pros and cons to both ways, but the Broncos changed their identity to close out the game and paid for it. Against Baltimore RavensThe Broncos changed their defensive identity and paid for it.

Do you see the trend?

The Broncos are a naturally aggressive team and need to be aggressive in all phases. There is a lot of blame for this loss in Kansas City, but Payton is not excused from it. Broncos live and die by the sword; i can’t wrap that blade in certain games or critical moments.

Payton did an excellent job with the Broncos and changed the culture of the locker room. However, this offense needs to find a way to be consistent and stay aggressive.

For pace, the Broncos need Payton to get out of his way. He needs to stop cutting things that work entirely out of the game plan without even trying, and he can’t stick with things that don’t work for too long.

Payton had found a balance for years with New Orleans Saintsand he needs to find it again with this Broncos team.

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