5 reasons the Denver Broncos won’t make the playoffs

2. Offensive struggles extend beyond QB

Quarterback play isn’t the only issue with the Broncos offense. Their offensive tackle play has been poor. Left Tackle Russell Okung hasn’t put together a good season since 2013 and will not be submitting one this year either. Right Tackle Donald Stephenson has played even worse; he’s currently ranked 73rd out of 74 qualifying Tackles in the NFL, per PFF. Second year pro and former second round pick Ty Sambrailo hasn’t shown he can be an answer at tackle either. On Sunday night, Trevor Siemian was pressured on 21 of his 39 drop backs. Denver needs to be able to throw the ball downfield if it’s going to attempt to be a league average unit. And with their current offensive tackle and quarterback play, that isn’t likely.

The Broncos offense could be relieved to some degree if a third playmaker stepped up alongside Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, but the Broncos complimentary options haven’t stepped up thus far; none of them have over 16 catches. Jordan Norwood and Virgil Green have not been positive contributors to their offense. Running back C.J. Anderson is on IR and rookie Devontae Booker hasn’t shown he can be a good running back yet in his career. The Denver Broncos offense just has too many holes this year to expect much of an improvement.