Broncos, Week 2 — What Repeats: The Motion Came Back

A week ago the headline on this show was how little Denver moved before the snap: a man in motion on 18 of 68 charted plays in Kansas City, 26 and a half percent, 30-first of the 32 offenses. Against Jacksonville it was 38 of 74, 51 percent, twelfth of the 32 this week and above the league median of 50. Across all of last season this offense used motion on 37 percent of its charted plays, so Sunday was not a return to 2025. It went past it. Play-action came back too: eight of 31 dropbacks, 26 percent, tied with the Chargers for fourteenth, after six of 33 last week and 24 percent last season. The fakes gained a little more per throw. Bo Nix's eight play-action throws went five for 83 yards, about 10 a throw; his other 23 went 17 for 205, about nine. Not everything came back. Denver ran one run-pass option in 56 snaps, after two last week, against nearly nine percent of its snaps across 2025. The no-huddle was under nine percent of snaps, after six and a half last week, against 13 percent last season. Screens went the other way from last week: two of 31 dropbacks, six and a half percent, sixteenth, after four of 33 last week and 11 percent a year ago.

Now the arm. 23 of Nix's 31 throws were catchable, 74 percent, tied with Buffalo, Cincinnati and Indianapolis for eleventh of the 32 offenses this week, above his own 71 percent across last season and last week's 68. His receivers dropped none of the 23; Denver was one of eight offenses with no drops this week. Five throws were contested, 16 percent, tied with the Rams for ninth, against 11 percent for him last season. The flag is the interception-worthy count, balls a defender should have caught: two of 31, six and a half percent, the third-highest rate in the league this week behind Atlanta and Jacksonville. Across his 2025 season it was 3.4 percent, and last week it was one of 28. One of the two was the interception. Five of 31 dropbacks came out of the pocket, 16 percent, 20-second of 32 and under his own 26 percent last regular season, scrambles included, and he was not sacked. The ball was more catchable than his norm and, twice, more dangerous.

Here is the line that has now shown up two weeks running. Jacksonville sent five or more pass rushers on 13 of Nix's 31 dropbacks, 42 percent, tenth-highest of the 32 this week, with an average rush of 4.7 men. Kansas City sent five or more on 30 percent of his dropbacks last week. Across all of last season, Denver saw five or more on 20 percent. Two different defenses, and both came at this offense with five or more rushers more often than 2025's opponents did, more than double the rate on Sunday. None of it produced a sack this time. On the ground the box count leaned the same way both weeks, though less far: Jacksonville showed six or fewer defenders on 12 of Denver's 25 designed runs, 48 percent, thirteenth of the 32, after 54 percent last week and 57 across last season. The designed runs went for a hundred seven yards, 4.3 per run, ninth-highest this week and the same rate as last season.

The defense went the other way from a week ago. In Kansas City it sent five or more rushers on 15 of 33 dropbacks, 45 and a half percent, third-highest in the league. On Sunday it sent five or more on seven of 31, 23 percent, 20-fifth of the 32, below its own 32 percent across last season, with an average rush of 4.2. And one figure on the throws it faced was the league's highest. 11 of Trevor Lawrence's 29 throws were contested, 38 percent, the highest share any defense produced this week, with the median at 13. Last week Denver's defense contested none of Kansas City's throws. Across last season, 16 percent of opponents' throws were contested. Two of Lawrence's 29 were interception-worthy, seven percent, second only to Carolina's defense this week, against under three percent that opponents threw against this defense in 2025. Denver intercepted one of the two. The rest stayed ordinary: 21 of the 29 catchable, 72 percent, seventeenth, a little above the 65 percent opponents managed last season, and the Jaguars' receivers dropped two. Lawrence left the pocket once in 31 dropbacks. Fewer rushers, a quarterback who stayed put, and far more throws arriving with a defender.

Against the run, the heavy box is now a two-week habit. Denver showed six or fewer defenders on 11 of Jacksonville's 24 designed runs, 46 percent, fourteenth of the 32 this week. Last week it was 39 percent. Across last season, opponents saw a light box on 66 percent of their designed runs against this defense. The average box was 6.7 defenders on Sunday, against 6.4 last season and 7.1 last week. The difference was the result. Kansas City turned 31 designed runs into a hundred 97 yards, 6.4 per run, second-most in the league that week. Jacksonville turned 24 into 95, just under four per run, fourteenth this week. Last season this defense allowed 3.6.

The question in the show's name, now with two games in. Moving the same way both weeks, both times away from last season: opponents sending five or more at Nix, heavier boxes from this defense against the run, fewer run-pass options, and less no-huddle. Reversed inside a week: motion, from 30-first to twelfth; the defense's five-or-more rate, from third to 20-fifth; contested throws forced, from none to the most in the league; and Nix's catchable rate, from 20-first to tied for eleventh. Two games settle none of it. The offense's reversal is the one to keep an eye on, because it moved back to the 2025 version and then past it rather than away from it.

The stat lines have settled, scored half-PPR. Jaylen Waddle led the game with 17.8: eight catches on 10 targets for a hundred 38 yards. Nix, 22 of 31 for 288, a touchdown and an interception, +5 carries for six yards, 14.1. Jonah Coleman, 10 carries for 39 and a touchdown and three catches for 19, 13.3. Nate Adkins caught all three of his targets for 32 yards and the fourth-quarter touchdown, 11.3. For Jacksonville, Parker Washington caught seven of 12 targets for 98, 13.3, and Lawrence finished with 6.2.

One caution, repeated until about Week 4. There is no in-season baseline yet, so the yardstick is the 2025 Broncos, different people in some jobs and all a year older, plus last week, a single Monday night. Measured that way, a figure can tell you it is unusual. Whether it is true of this team takes more than two games.

The thread, from the beginning. A year ago this was a 14-three team, which the Recap had ninth passing the ball, sixth defending the pass and tenth against the run. It lost 31 to 10 in Kansas City in Week 1 and beat Jacksonville 20 to 13 at home in Week 2. Last week's notebook had three lines. The offense wearing less of its 2025 dressing: half reversed, with motion and play-action back and the run-pass options still missing. The heavier boxes against the run: they came again, and this time the runs went for under four yards. The defense sending five or more at the third-highest rate: reversed, down to 20-fifth. The new line is on the other side of the ball, whether opponents keep sending five or more at Nix more often than last season's did. On Sunday against the Rams, count how many times five or more come after him.

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_Data via nflverse. Charting: FTN Data via nflverse._