WILL THE BRONCOS’ OFFENSE TAKE THE NEXT STEP?

Despite turnovers in Week 1 — more on the importance of that in a moment — the Broncos’ offense had its bright moments.

Bo Nix found Courtland Sutton for a late touchdown to close the first half. After Tennessee took a second-half lead, Nix converted three consecutive third downs to help the Broncos regain an advantage. And in the fourth quarter, the Broncos’ running game came alive, with RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins becoming the first pair of Broncos running backs to each have at least 60 rushing yards in a game since 2021.

Denver posted four scoring drives in the game, three of which spanned at least 40 yards. The Broncos’ other scoring drive traveled 38 yards in two plays, as Denver earned the aforementioned touchdown from Nix-to-Sutton.

Still, the Broncos know there’s room to improve. Payton said from a play-calling perspective, he exited Week 1 knowing he has “to be a lot better” — and Denver will aim to find a faster start after not finding the end zone until the final moments of the first half.

“The biggest thing [for] us as a whole is not putting our defense in the situation that we put them in with turning the ball over,” Sutton said. “I think if we are able to control the line of scrimmage, control the time of possession and take care of the opportunities of when we get into the red zone [with] scoring touchdowns and not just field goals, that will help us as a collective be able to have a chance to come out with a victory.”

Nix and the Broncos will face a difficult test from new Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who led the Bengals’ defense in recent years. Payton said the Broncos had a “late night” trying to develop a third-down plan to be ready for Indianapolis’ pressure looks, but he believes Denver will be ready to meet the challenge.

“They give you a lot,” Payton said. “… It took a while, but we feel like we have a good plan.”

As the Broncos approach Week 2, it’s also important to note that improving on offense doesn’t necessarily mean quantifying that process.

“I think we’re just chasing improvement,” tight end Evan Engram said Friday. “You can lose focus trying to measure how far the leap [is] or whatever. We’re just trying to improve. We want to play better than we did last week. We want to protect the football a lot better. We want to score more points, and we want to put the defense in better positions. I think we’re honestly just chasing improvement, in general. We’ve been working hard all week, and that’s the goal.”

CAN DENVER WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE?

A combination of the two previous questions, this may be the most telling statistic of all.

The Broncos earned a win despite four turnovers and a minus-two turnover differential against the Titans, but earning a win under those circumstances is a rarity. Teams that lost the turnover battle were 1-8 in Week 1, and the Broncos were the lone team to grind out a win.

“You can’t live that way,” Payton said Wednesday. “It’s tough.”

The rarity of winning with four turnovers was clear, as it was the first time since Week 17 in 2015 that the Broncos earned a win under those conditions. Toss in the caveat of scoring 20 points or fewer, and it was the first time since 1992 that Denver earned a win in that setting.

Yet while Nix had a pair of interceptions in Week 1, he’s also shown a consistent ability to play clean football. Since Week 8 last season, only Lamar Jackson (8) has more games than Nix (6) with at least two passing touchdowns and no turnovers.

“It’s a fine line of being aggressive, but sometimes it just happens, and you just have to move on,” Nix said Wednesday. “I can definitely take a little bit more calculated attempts, and that’s what I’ll attempt to do in the future.”

After forcing five turnovers in last year’s win against the Colts, the Broncos will look to find more success in Indianapolis. As previously mentioned, they’ll likely need to find a way to force Jones into mistakes, as he had just the third game of his career with three touchdowns and no turnovers. Particularly against pressure, Jones was effective; he completed 5-of-6 passes for 74 yards, a touchdown and a 157.6 rating.

If Denver’s defense can earn a few more takeaways and the Broncos’ offense can play cleaner football, it may be the edge Denver needs to improve to 2-0.