DENVER — For two possessions Friday night, the Denver Broncos got just about everything they wanted from Bo Nix.
Then the rest of the night went the other direction.
Nix returned to game action, Jaylen Waddle delivered an explosive 35-yard reception in his first preseason appearance with Denver and RJ Harvey finished the opening drive with a touchdown catch.
But after a promising start, the Broncos struggled with penalties, field position, the running game and special teams as Green Bay pulled away for a 33-13 preseason victory at Empower Field at Mile High.
Sean Payton did not try to soften the performance afterward.
“Obviously that wasn’t good enough,” Payton said. “Just pick a topic.”
Penalties. Kickoff coverage. Kickoff return. The rushing numbers. The line of scrimmage.
“We can’t just say, ‘Hey, this is preseason [game] two,’” Payton said. “You can’t not pay attention to these games, these scrimmages, these important steps towards the start of the regular season.”
Nix looks comfortable in return
Denver’s starting offense gave the home crowd an encouraging opening look.
Nix led the Broncos down the field on the opening possession and looked comfortable operating the offense in his return to game action.
“It felt great,” Nix said. “I felt like for the first drive of the season, it was solid.”
One of the biggest plays came when Nix connected with Waddle for 35 yards, providing an immediate glimpse of the explosiveness Denver hopes its newest receiver can add.
The Broncos eventually finished the drive with a touchdown, with Nix connecting with Harvey through the air.
Nix described returning to the field as natural.
“It was like riding a bike,” he said.
Payton called Nix’s performance “solid,” while Nix said he felt like he did not miss a beat.
“Honestly, yes,” Nix said. “It was just very smooth, very easy to get back out there and go.”
He added that physically, he felt as good as he has in a long time.
Waddle provides immediate spark
Waddle did not need much time to show why Denver added him to the offense.
His 35-yard reception from Nix produced one of the Broncos’ biggest offensive plays of the night and gave Denver its first in-game glimpse of the connection developing between the two.
After initially saying his strongest emotion came simply from getting back onto the field, Nix changed his answer.
“I’m going to re-answer my first question,” Nix said. “That was probably my strongest emotion after hitting him.”
Nix said Waddle’s ability becomes apparent when the ball is in his hands.
“You can’t really explain the type of player he is,” Nix said. “You just have to get out there and play, and when you throw him the ball, you understand that it’s a little bit different.”
Payton said Waddle is back to 100 percent and that Denver entered the game with a limited workload planned for him.
“He’s infectious when he plays,” Payton said.
Waddle kept his assessment of the developing chemistry with Nix measured.
“It’s coming along,” Waddle said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Even after Denver’s touchdown drive, Waddle said he and Courtland Sutton were looking at the film and identifying areas where the offense could improve.
“I think that’s a key thing even when you score a touchdown,” Waddle said.
Mistakes derail Denver
The encouraging start did not carry through the remainder of the game.
Denver finished with 10 penalties compared with five for Green Bay, a difference that came up repeatedly during postgame interviews.
Payton was particularly concerned that some of the mistakes have also appeared during practice.
“Some of them we keep seeing in practice,” Payton said. “We’re seeing the same penalties in the game, saw it last year. So we’ve got to get that cleaned up.”
The penalties repeatedly put Denver in difficult situations offensively and contributed to the lack of rhythm once the starters left the game.
Quinn Meinerz said the correction process has to begin with players being willing to evaluate themselves.
“You’ve got to be vulnerable as a player and figure out what’s wrong with your technique and practice better,” Meinerz said. “That’s what it’s about.”
Sam Ehlinger said the penalty difference made it difficult for Denver to sustain offense.
“It’s hard on offense to get a rhythm, hard to score points,” Ehlinger said. “It’s hard to win any game in the NFL, and if you beat yourself, you’re probably not going to beat the other team.”
Packers win the battles
Denver’s problems extended beyond penalties.
Green Bay controlled the rushing battle, created problems in the return game and consistently won field-position exchanges.
When Payton was asked whether the Packers won the line of scrimmage, he expanded the criticism beyond one area.
“I think they won a lot of the battles,” Payton said. “You can take the line of scrimmage, you can take the kick coverage, they’ve got a big return. Penalties, that impacted field position a lot, rushing battle, pick a topic.”
Payton struggled to identify an area where Denver had the upper hand.
“I can’t think of one area that we played or outplayed them,” he said.
The starting defense also failed to set the tone Payton wanted.
Denver jumped offsides on a third down during Green Bay’s opening possession, turning third-and-6 into third-and-1. The Packers converted and eventually finished the drive with a touchdown.
“First series score, long possession,” Payton said.
‘That’s not our ball’
Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian provided one of the clearest assessments of the night from inside Denver’s locker room.
“That’s not our ball,” McMillian said. “That’s not our type of ball. That’s not what we want to be like.”
McMillian said the Broncos cannot allow their mentality or approach to fluctuate from week to week.
“We’ve just got to bring that same mentality each week,” he said. “It can’t be one-offs or different weeks, or ‘we don’t feel like playing,’ or ‘we’re not doing what we’re supposed to do.’”
For Denver, the preseason context matters.
So does what the Broncos put on film.
That was Payton’s larger message after a night that offered one significant positive in Nix’s return and an early flash of what Waddle could bring to the offense, but considerably more for Denver to correct.
The Broncos now have one preseason game remaining before turning their attention fully toward the regular season.
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