By admin 
Bo Nix wasn’t sacked and didn’t throw an interception Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, and the Denver Broncos still didn’t reach the end zone until 4:10 remained. The 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers dropped Denver to 2-2 and kept the questions coming about the switch to Davis Webb as play caller.
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The efficiency numbers were decent. Denver posted +0.09 EPA per play and a 41.5% success rate, per NextLevelStats, its second-best EPA mark of the season. It converted 8 of 17 third downs. It also made one trip inside the red zone all day.
The box score, in context
Nix completed 25 of 42 passes for 214 yards and one touchdown pass, a 13-yarder to Jaylen Waddle. His 5.1 yards per attempt was his lowest since the opener in Kansas City. RJ Harvey led the team with 10 catches for 68 yards out of the backfield, and J.K. Dobbins ran 11 times for 40 yards on a day when the running back problem didn’t go away. Denver finished with 82 rushing yards on 22 carries.
Pat Bryant had 47 yards on three catches before he was carted off with a leg injury in the third quarter.
Denver opened with a three-and-out, then needed 13 plays to go 55 yards for a 52-yard Wil Lutz field goal. That was the scoring until the fourth quarter. Lutz hit from 40, and Nix found Waddle to finish an eight-play, 70-yard drive before Tyler Badie’s 2-point run made it 17-14. George Kittle answered with a 56-yard touchdown, and Lutz missed from 58 yards with 1:18 left. “I think the frustrations just come with the losses,” Nix said after the game.
What four weeks of numbers show
|
Wk 1 at KC (L 31-10) |
Wk 2 vs. JAX (W 20-13) |
Wk 3 vs. LAR (W 30-26) |
Wk 4 at SF (L 24-14) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total yards |
177 |
395 |
261 |
296 |
|
Nix passing |
17 of 28, 131 yards |
22 of 31, 288 yards |
17 of 34, 186 yards |
25 of 42, 214 yards |
|
Nix yards per attempt |
4.7 |
9.3 |
5.5 |
5.1 |
|
Nix TD passes-INT |
1-1 |
1-1 |
2-1 |
1-0 |
|
Dobbins yards per carry |
4.5 (8-36) |
3.6 (10-36) |
2.9 (17-49) |
3.6 (11-40) |
|
Third downs |
2 of 12 |
4 of 10 |
7 of 13 |
8 of 17 |
|
Sacks taken |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
EPA per play |
-0.34 |
+0.12 |
-0.01 |
+0.09 |
|
Success rate |
37.0% |
48.2% |
38.7% |
41.5% |
EPA and success rate come from NextLevelStats’ game pages for the Kansas City game, the Jacksonville game, the Los Angeles game and the San Francisco game.
The slow starts are a pattern. Denver’s offense has scored 13 first-half points in four games and has not picked up a first down on any of its four opening drives, according to the Denver Gazette.
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The passing game is living underneath. Outside of the Jacksonville game, Nix hasn’t topped 5.5 yards per attempt, and his leading receiver Sunday was a running back. PFF had him at a 48.0 passing grade entering Week 4, 30th among 34 quarterbacks, with eight turnover-worthy plays against four big-time throws.
Protection has stopped being a problem. Kansas City sacked Nix four times in Week 1. He has been sacked once in three games since, which matters for a quarterback who ranked last under pressure in PFF’s grading through two weeks.
The run game hasn’t helped. Dobbins has 161 yards on 46 carries, a 3.5 average, and hasn’t reached 4 yards per carry in a game since the opener. He and Harvey both posted negative EPA per rush Sunday, per NextLevelStats’ game data.
Where the Broncos offense ranks league-wide
Denver ranks 16th in offensive EPA per play at -0.015, per NextLevelStats, up from 24th through Week 2. The scoreboard tells a harsher story. The Broncos have 74 points in four games, and seven of those came on Talanoa Hufanga’s interception return against the Rams.
What it means for the Chargers
The Broncos visit the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 11, then host Seattle four days later on Thursday night. The Chargers are 0-4, but their defense ranks 12th in EPA per play allowed, per NextLevelStats. Bryant’s status will shape the receiver group. Head coach Sean Payton was asked whether he would take play calling back from Webb and said, “It’s tough to discuss any of that right now,” according to The Gazette.
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This story was originally published October 5, 2026 at 3:00 AM.