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Sep 21, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) and Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) react afte4r a play during the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. William Navarro-Imagn Images

NFL.com Highlights 'Concerning' Trajectory of the 2025 Broncos

Originally posted on Denver Broncos on SI
By Dylan Von Arx | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 1:18 PM ET

The Denver Broncos haven’t been able to put together a consistent game thus far in 2025, resulting in back-to-back soul-wrenching losses. The latest defeat came at the hands of the AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers.

There are several problems with the Broncos in all three phases of the game. Although the season is still young, concern is creeping in.

With a second consecutive loss, Denver dropped four spots in NFL.com's power rankings to No. 14. In the On SI Publisher power rankings, the Broncos dropped to No. 15.

Bo Nix’s struggles and a defense that has failed to meet expectations thus far are the most significant contributing factors in the Bronocs’ starting 2025 with a 1-2 whimper. Let's examine what NFL.com's Eric Edholm had to say about Denver's disappointing loss to the Chargers.

“The Broncos are now 2-8 in one-score games since the start of the 2024 campaign, and they have self-inflicted wounds to blame for Sunday's 23-20 defeat to the Chargers. Ten penalties were killers -- first on defense, then late in the game on offense. Denver went 2-for-13 on third downs, including two big misses in the final two drives. Bo Nix's scramble was inches away from converting a third-and-13 with six minutes left in the game, and Nix barely overthrew a streaking Courtland Sutton with less than two minutes remaining," Edholm wrote. "That's when Denver's defense came up short, allowing the game-tying and game-winning drives in the final five minutes. The offensive issues must be addressed, but this is a defense that came into the season thinking it could be a top-five unit in the NFL, perhaps even the league's best group. Through three games, that hasn't been the case. The Broncos are by no means out of anything at 1-2, with two nail-biter losses, but they're also not yet ready to win these types of games, which is concerning.”

The Broncos’ identity can’t be “the team that can’t perform against the big dogs” if they want to make a jump from last season. A 2-8 record in one-score games is pitiful and reveals the glaring issue that currently, the Broncos struggle to close out games.

This week, Nix and the offense had multiple opportunities to put points on the board, and in fact, left at least 21 points on the field due to three horrendous overthrows by the young quarterback. A 2-for-13 conversion rate on third down and only nine first downs is not what an efficient offense looks like, and 13 yards in the first quarter is inexcusable for a coach like Sean Payton.

For the most part, Payton called a good game, but Nix wasn’t going through his progressions correctly, often failing to recognize open receivers downfield. Overall, a cataclysmic failure on offense helped mask just how bad the defense played on Sunday.

The Broncos allowed two drives at the end of the game where Justin Herbert and the Chargers marched down the field, first to tie the game and then to put it away with seconds left. Boneheaded penalties such as Talanoa Hufanga acting like a prime Kurt Angle, suplexing a Chargers player well after the whistle, resulting in a huge 15-yard penalty at the end of the game, accelerated Denver's defensive demise.

Linebacker Alex Singleton also had a terrible showing for yet another week as he missed several tackles and showed abysmally poor effort overall. Not a good look after DNVR quoted him as saying, “But is it a ‘must win?’ Are we going to die in this locker room if we lose?” before the Chargers game — some might call it loser behavior from a guy who is supposed to be a team captain.