This basically cofirms it...

The Broncos are 7-2, and they just won their 16th straight one-score game, an NFL record. And on Sunday in Carolina, they ran the ball 27 times for 82 yards, that's 3 yards a carry. Carolina ran 20 times for 96 yards, just under 5 yards to carry at 4.8 yards. So you can still win and have a hole. And on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern time, the only door to fix that shuts. Here's why the offensive line is the problem, and exactly who they could go and get. If you looked at the score from today's game, you'd probably miss exactly what went wrong. And if this is the kind of Broncos breakdown you want before the NFL trade deadline, be sure to subscribe to the channel. We're currently sitting at 2,745 subscribers, with a big goal of 3,000, and we're going to get you every update. Denver scored 10 in the first quarter, 3 in the second, 0 in the third, and after three quarters, the Broncos were losing 14-3. Bo Nix finished 25 for 37 with 237 yards, 6.4 yards, a pass attempt with one interception, and two passing touchdowns. Jonah Coleman carried 17 times for 57 yards and a touchdown, and J.K. Dobbins just four times for 18 yards. Of Denver's three touchdowns, like I said, two of those were passes from Bo Nix to Cortland Sutton and Pat Bryant. The only rushing touchdown was Coleman's nine-yarder in the fourth. So the comeback came from the arm of Bo Nix, and in the fourth quarter, he went 8 of 11 for 90 yards and a touchdown to Pat Bryant, and then Nick Bonito strip-sacked with 1 minute 24 seconds left to close it. That was a passing game that was covering for a ground game that didn't do very much, and it's not new for this team. And that 3.0 yards per carry is not a bad day, it's been the whole season. Denver has 823 rushing yards on 223 carries this season, and rounding out at 3.7 yards a carry. Rushing EPA, how many points the runs add compared to an average play, is minus 16, that is 20th of 32 teams. And look at it game by game, the run loss points in 6 of Denver's last 9 games. And only 1 game this year, Arizona got past 110 rushing yards. Which sounds like a quarterback problem, but it is not. Look at what it's doing to him. When the run does not work, the defense knows what's coming, and Bo Nix is paying for it. In mid-October, Sports Illustrated had Bo Nix last in the NFL at 6 air yards per attempt. That's how far the ball travels in the air on average. And the passing offense overall is 19th in the league in EPA at plus 4.3. During the game, a Broncos fan account wrote, When will everyone wake up about the offensive line? And I don't know if fans are evidence enough for George Patton to make a move, but the numbers are saying the same thing. So where exactly does it break? On the surface, the protection looks fine. But on Sunday, Bo Nix was sacked one time for seven yards. Denver's defense sacked Bryce Young three times. Over nine games, though, the offensive line has given up 11 sacks. That's a 3.7% sack rate. Pro Football Focus ranked it at number four in the league after week eight. But the top line number hides one spot, PFF grades Luke Wattenberg pass blocking at 52.3, that is 28th of 35 centers. So how are the sacks so low? One reason may be that Bo Nix gets the ball out fast, and he was last in the NFL at 6.0 air yards per attempt in mid-October, and there's not much he can do when he's being rushed every play. So this is not the entire offensive line that's broken, but it certainly is a few pieces. There was one stretch from today that shows what it really costs. With 5 minutes and 41 seconds left, Denver held a 26-14 lead. Carolina scored with 3 minutes and 5 seconds left, and it was 26-21. Then with 1 minute and 24 seconds left, Nick Benito sacked Bryce Young and forced a fumble. In fact, all three of Denver's sacks on Young came in the fourth quarter, and the defense took that game over when the offense couldn't. That's what ended it. From there, Denver ran four plays, and the game was over. A win like that is much thanks to a very good defense. It's not a team that can close a game by itself on offense. And this is a line that Denver is paying for it heavily. Five starters have a combined 2026 cap hit of $46.2 million. Mike McGlinchey is $23.8 million of that. Center Wattenberg is at $3.6 million. Only the right tackle, Cage Casey, costs less. McCoy's 2026 cap hit is $10.3 million. That's $6.7 million more than Wattenberg. For a center, PFF grades far higher in pass blocking. And next year, it gets tighter. McGlinchey, Miners, and Bowles are on $76.1 million in 2027 cap hits combined. So Denver is not fixing the middle by paying the guy it has right now already. The fix has to come from outside, and it has to be cheap. And here's the part that really makes Tuesday matter more than anything else. The backups are gone. Frank Crum is on the short-term IR, Michael Deiter, the backup center, is on the IR with a thigh injury and is out for the year, and Nick Gargiulo on the pup list. So if Wattenberg goes down, there is no center behind him who isn't hurt. Now let's be fair to him as well, because there is one very good thing. Against Kansas City, PFF graded every Denver starter 65 or better, and the line allowed one pressure. Garrett Bowles has a 94% pass block win rate on ESPN's numbers, that's 9th among tackles. And to be fair, the ugliest play on Sunday wasn't a block, it was a botched pitch to Coleman that lost 18 yards. There's one more thing in fairness that Sports Illustrated called Wattenberg the worst run blocking center in the NFL. PFF has his run blocking at 78.3, 3rd among centers. And those two disagree, and I think the pass block is the real problem, but the run game also suffers from a really weak middle. And one Sports Illustrated writer argues Denver shouldn't get a lineman at all. He says get a blocking tight end like Carolina's Tommy Tremble, who's in the final year of his contract. Now, a tight end certainly helps on the edge, but Wattenberg is in the middle, and that's where you want to make sure you're getting your help, surrounding the center. So what are the real outcomes on Tuesday? I see three possible. Outcome 1 is Denver does nothing, and then it's the same ground game, 3.7 yards a carry, one game in 9 over 110 yards, and the defense has to keep stealing the games. Number 2 outcome 2 is Denver trades for a running back, and I think that Jonah Coleman could very well stop the Broncos from doing that, being a guy that is ready to take over this backfield. And if you look at Sunday's game, Chuba Hubbard averaged 4.9 yards a carry behind Carolina's line, while Jonah Coleman averaged 3.4 behind Denver's. And J.K. Dobbins did average 4.5 yards per carry, but it was only on four carries. A new back is a new name with the same blocking. And outcome three is Denver fixes the middle. I mean, there's a center who grades first in pass blocking, $13.8 million of cap space left. It's a bye week to learn the playbook, and it's only outcome that changes. Now, we've seen multiple reports about Denver looking for another offensive lineman or looking for help on the offensive line. With a few names thrown out there, there's a lot of possibilities that still remain. Denver has $24.1 million in cap space and every one of its own picks from 27, 28, and 2029, so there are three names that could very well fit. One is Eric McCoy, the Saints center. His 2026 cap hit is $10.3 million, and that leaves Denver... PFF has him first among centers in pass blocking at 81.8 and overall at 72.6 his run blocking is 65.5 at 13th the catch is though in 2027 his cap hit jumps to 17.9 million dollars that's the exact spot where Wattenberg is 28th and Sean Payton knows him from New Orleans and New Orleans has 2.7 million dollars in cap space and about 118 million in dead money that's a big reason they could listen and Sports Illustrated's big board priced at about 3rd or 4th round pick with a trade Option 2 is Walker Little, the Jaguars tackle a 14.5 million dollar cap hit this year and a 15.6 million dollar next year, that leaves 9.6 million dollars PFF has Little's pass blocking at 83.3 but that's on only 125 snaps, so it's a small sample, he's the most expensive of the three and a tackle doesn't really fit the center problem. Option 3 is Dylan Cook, a Steelers tackle A 1.1 million dollar cap hit benched for a rookie before week 3 and his contract ends after this season. Last year, PFF had his pass blocking at 80.7, 8th among tackles Cheap, but a depth move, not necessarily a fix We can now cross off a few loud names as well. Landon Dickerson is on the injury reserve with a knee injury. The roster feed has had Quinton Nelson, but he's now in Seattle, so he's also ruled out. And after Tuesday, Denver is on the bye, so whoever they get... I think my pick is going to be Eric McCoy, and although he is a very injury prone player over the last couple of seasons, he's one of the centers who grades first in pass blocking The cap works, Sean Payton already knows him it really does seem like the perfect fit Winning 16 straight one score games is a record and it's also a warning. One score games can really go either way, and Denver can't keep needlessly needing needing a strip sack at a minute left in the game to survive and get the win. And they're 7-2, 16 straight one-score games stolen by the defense and Bo Nix A center is how they can stop needing to have to rely on the defense. Tell me in the comments below, who do you want by Tuesday, McCoy, Little, or Cook?