The Denver Broncos were able to defeat the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night in overtime, but it wasn't pretty.
The offense once again struggled mightily to do anything positive, particularly in the second half. However, getting the victory is the only thing that matters to most fans within Broncos Country.
The team was fortunate to win this game and had the Seahawks been the ones to get the game-winning field goal in overtime, there would be a lot of concern at the current moment. Still, fans have to be concerned with how poorly this offense is playing.
Through two games, making the switch back to having head coach Sean Payton call the plays has done nothing to change the porous offense. With each game, the offense,
specifically Bo Nix, seems to sink to a new low.
Denver’s 168 total yards during Thursday night’s win over Seattle represent the fewest total yards the Broncos have gained in a win since John Elway’s first NFL start in 1983. pic.twitter.com/g2bMbDe79p
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 16, 2026
Broncos make NFL history in win over Seahawks
All the way back on September 4, 1983, John Elway started his first game for the Broncos against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Elway was 1-for-8 passing for 14 yards in that game and was later benched in favor of Steve DeBerg.
The Broncos gained just 139 yards of total offense but managed to win the game 14-10 due to the Steelers committing seven, yes, seven, turnovers. It's been 43 years since the Broncos won a game while being this futile on offense, but it doesn't stop there. Check out this statistic:
The Broncos' 168 total yards of offense is the lowest yardage total in an overtime victory in NFL history pic.twitter.com/f14gCsv3Sh
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 16, 2026
That mark had stood for nearly 22 years. Multiple signs point to this offense being historically bad right now and yes, wins are wins; they aren't easy to come by in the NFL. But if the Broncos want to reach their ultimate goal, it's hard to imagine they will do it playing this way.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: The Broncos haven’t been this bad on offense since John Elway’s debut
