Why Isn’t Sean Payton Calling Plays? Broncos Offense Explained
· Yahoo Sports
Sean Payton is still running the Denver Broncos. He just is not calling every offensive play anymore.
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That distinction is getting an early stress test against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Offensive coordinator Davis Webb entered 2026 as Denver’s primary play-caller after Payton voluntarily gave up a responsibility that has defined much of his coaching career. With roughly four minutes remaining in the first half of the Broncos’ Week 1 opener, Denver was only 2-for-6 on third downs and had produced 108 total yards.
The Broncos and Chiefs were tied 7-7 at that point. Denver had run only 22 offensive plays, and Bo Nix had thrown an interception along with his touchdown pass.
Those numbers do not condemn a new play-caller after less than two quarters. They do explain why Payton’s offseason decision is suddenly relevant again.
Why Sean Payton Gave Broncos Play Calling to Davis Webb
Payton announced at the NFL Combine in February that Webb would become Denver’s primary offensive play-caller.
The reasoning was straightforward: Payton believed Webb could make the Broncos better.
“I would only do that if I felt like it would help our team,” Payton said when announcing the move. He also called Webb “extremely talented” and “real sharp.”
Payton made another point that matters now. He believed Webb could help Denver operate quicker.
This was not Payton walking away from the offense.
He said he would remain heavily involved and acknowledged there would be situations when he told Webb exactly what he wanted called. Webb similarly described the offense this summer as fundamentally Payton’s system, with the two coaches thinking alike and Webb working within Payton’s philosophy.
Webb is the voice sending the plays to Nix. Payton still has his fingerprints everywhere.
Davis Webb Had Been Groomed for the Job
The handoff was not an impulse move.
Payton said he began considering it during the 2025 season. Webb had also received an audition of sorts when he called Denver’s preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals that year.
Denver produced 562 yards and averaged 7.8 yards per play. Webb got a game ball.
Then came another encouraging sign this August. Webb handled the offense in Denver’s preseason win over Atlanta, and Payton described the operation as “smooth,” praising the substitutions and Webb’s command of the process.
Preseason success, of course, comes without Steve Spagnuolo on the other sideline.
Kansas City offers a different exam.
Broncos’ Third-Down Problems Put the Decision Under a Spotlight
Denver’s problem early Monday night was not complete offensive dysfunction.
Nix completed 11 of his first 15 passes for 88 yards and hit Evan Engram for a 19-yard touchdown. The Broncos were averaging nearly five yards per play.
They simply were not staying on the field enough.
A 2-for-6 mark on third down meant too many possessions were ending before Webb could build rhythm or string together the kind of sequencing that makes play-callers look smart.
And that is where this experiment becomes interesting.
Payton did not give up play calling because Denver had a broken offense. He said as much in February, pointing out that the Broncos had finished 10th in total offense the previous season. He handed it over because he believed Webb gave an already good team another way to improve.
Now comes the part preseason cannot simulate.
When a drive stalls, does Webb find the answer himself? When Denver needs one third-down conversion to change field position, how much does Payton intervene? And if an entire game starts getting away from the offense, how firmly does the head coach leave the play sheet in Webb’s hands?
Payton made the change because he trusts Webb.
The first real test of that trust has arrived.
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