The Denver Broncos’ offense has been dreadful this season, scoring a league-low 14.6 points per game on average.
With the best defense in the NFL, Denver doesn’t even need its offense to be great. The team just needs a competent offense, and that’s something that offensive-minded head coach Nathaniel Hackett has not been able to deliver.
Scoring just 18 points per game would rank as the seventh-lowest average in the league, but with their defense playing so well, it would be enough for the Broncos to have a winning record.
Of course, if Denver’s previous scoring changed, every game would have changed because opposing teams would have reacted differently in each game, but in a world where opposing team’s scores stayed the same and the Broncos scored exactly 18 points a game, Denver would be 8-1 right now.
Week 1: Broncos 18, Seahawks 17 (1-0)
Week 2: Broncos 18, Texans 9 (2-0)
Week 3: Broncos 18, 49ers 10 (3-0)
Week 4: Broncos 18, Raiders 32 (3-1)
Week 5: Broncos 18, Colts 12 (4-1)
Week 6: Broncos 18, Chargers 16 (5-1) [no OT]
Week 7: Broncos 18, Jets 16 (6-1)
Week 8: Broncos 18, Jaguars 17 (7-1)
Week 10: Broncos 18, Titans 17 (8-1)
Denver’s offense has plenty of excuses — quarterback Russell Wilson hasn’t lived up to his contract thus far and the team has been hit extremely hard by injuries. Even with that being the case, though, 18 points shouldn’t be too hard of a target for Hackett’s offense to achieve.
A competent offense would have the Broncos in a playoff position. Instead, Hackett’s unit is the worst in the league. It’s hard to imagine the first-year coach lasting more than one season with these kinds of results.
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