Woody Paige: Offensively offensive Broncos need to muster a lot more points

Offense intended. The Broncos’ offense in the first half of games is offensive.

In the first six weeks of the NFL season the Sean Payton offense scored just two touchdowns while being shut out of the end zone during 11 of 12 quarters before the interlude.

This is the most abhorrent production since the first two acts of “Dance of the Vampires’’ on Broadway in 2002.

The head man, who should be behind a curtain instead of a placard, and his cadre of coaches who came from the Saints staff should be ashamed of themselves for returning to New Orleans Thursday.

The Broncos’ offense of today is reminiscent of the Lou Saban regime when the joke was: “The Raiders believed they heard the halftime horn late in the second quarter and mistakenly went prematurely to their locker room. So the Broncos’ offense had the ball at the Oakland 40 with nobody on defense. Quarterback Steve Tensi handed off twice for no yardage and threw an incomplete pass. And the Broncos punted.’’

If the Chargers, who were missing head coach Jim Harbaugh for a stretch in the first quarter because he experienced an arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) episode, had left the field @Mile High out of concern, the Broncos would have rushed for two yards in two plays, and Bo Nix would have thrown a tipped-pass interception to an invisible cornerback.

The Broncos trailed 20-0 at halftime.

What else is new for the Broncos’ Brain Trust (not to be confused with Mastermind Mike Shanahan) on offense?

In the opening game of the season at Seattle the Broncos’ offense had three field goals and the defense a safety on the Seahawks for eight points in the first half. In the first game in Denver the Broncos had zero points in the first two quarters. The Broncos did break out against the Buccaneers for two touchdowns and two field goals before halftime, but had 0 and 0 in the fourth game in New Jersey vs. the Jets, then zero and six against the Raiders – while Patrick Surtain II raced for the only touchdown of the 30 minutes with an incredible interception.

The Broncos were zilch and zippo, naught and nil in the first half Sunday afternoon.

Payton’s Plan has created 5.8 points per first half so far.

Guess what? The Broncos’ offense a season ago was not any better in the final eight games and for most of the season. Down the stretch the Broncos accumulated three and six points in the first two quarters, seven and seven, 0 and three, seven and three, zero and zero, seven and zero, three and 12, and zero and seven. In two seasons the Broncos’ offense has averaged a single digit in the first half 13 times.

Pop Warner might have been proud in 1894, but not in 2024.

It’s good that the Broncos have a defense, which has allowed 16 points a game and a total of 96.

Oddly enough, the offense is averaging 16 points (the exact total Sunday) with a total of 96.

You want to blame rookie Bo Nix, veteran Russell Wilson, journeyman Jarrett Stidham – the three starters for 23 games. But you cannot blame Zach Wilson, who has become an innocent bystander this year. FYI, his Jets offense did account for 31 points last season in a game in Denver. And you can’t blame Nathaniel Hackett. He’s long gone.

But if you and I want to play the Blame Game, we can blame the running game (49 yards by people not named Nix) and the passing game (216 yards by a person named Nix) and the turnover game (an interception and a fumble) and the total plays game (53 to 75 by the Chargers).

Or Payton can be blamed for not being brilliant. Just once the Broncos would be spectacular on offense scoring 45, 49, 51 twice or 52 as they did in 2013 with another Peyton – Manning – at quarterback and a grinding defensive head coach – John Fox.

Sean did blame someone, and we must agree with his own self. “We mustered up some offense late in the game, but all of it, it starts with me. We’ve got to be a lot better, obviously offensively,” the coach said afterward.

Offensively, the Broncos are only offensive.