The Denver Broncos are halfway through their bye.

Sitting at 7-2, the Broncos have to feel great about navigating their initial gauntlet of a schedule as well as anyone could have predicted. That doesn't mean there aren't things to improve, though.

Coming out of the bye, the Broncos have only one plus-.500 opponent on the schedule until Week 16's Christmas Day bout with the Buffalo Bills. Already winners of five in a row, the Broncos have a great chance to extend their winning streak, and really go on a run.

All of Denver's 2026 goals are still on the table, including a second straight AFC West crown, the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC, and a potential Super Bowl berth. But if the Broncos don't address these five warning signs at the bye, the season could potentially swerve off the rails.

Let's break down what Sean Payton must fix before hosting the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11.

Rushing Offense

The Broncos' offense has been one of the worst this season, but it has steadily improved since Payton took back the play-calling duties in Week 5. The one lingering problem, though, remains the run game.

Jonah Coleman's return from injured reserve three weeks ago was a godsend, but the rookie alone hasn't been enough to elevate the Broncos' ground game out of the doldrums. Fans hoped that a running back trade ahead of Tuesday's deadline could change things, but the Broncos made no such move.

The reason Denver stood pat and didn't trade for a running back? The coaches know that it's not a running back issue; it's a blocking issue, as Payton himself pointed to on Wednesday in an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.

Payton also hinted that personnel changes could be coming up front, so that's something we'll be watching for over the next few days. But Payton and run game coordinator Zach Strief have to look at everything, including personnel and blocking concepts, to figure out how to spark this ground attack.

Coleman can do a lot of heavy lifting, as he's already proven over the past three weeks. But he can't do it alone. The Broncos have to get to the bottom of why their offensive line and tight ends are performing so poorly as run blockers.

The Broncos currently field the 27th-ranked rushing offense, averaging 91.4 yards per game. Coleman has elevated that average by about 10 yards per game, but it's not enough.

At some point, veteran running back J.K. Dobbins has to start carrying his fair share of the water, too. The only thing the Broncos have going for them on the ground is Coleman and the continued excellence of All-Pro left tackle Garett Bolles and All-Pro right guard Quinn Meinerz.

Third Down Efficiency

Offensively, the Broncos ranked 31st in third-down efficiency, converting just 32.4% of their attempts. Defensively, it's far from ideal: Denver ranks 21st, allowing conversions on 41.2% of opponent attempts.

If you can't stay on the field as an offense, the points aren't going to come. If you can't get off the field on third down as a defense, you'll allow too much yardage and put yourself in unfavorable red-zone situations.

Offensively, the Broncos took a big step in the right direction in Week 9's road win over the Carolina Panthers, convering 60% of their third-down attempts. That was great to see, and it was due to the Broncos executing better on first and second down, which set up more favorable third-down situations.

The Broncos' defense also did much better on third down against the Panthers, allowing just 3-of-10 to be converted, so both units showed progress in this area before hitting the bye. Let's hope the coaches can get to the bottom of this issue and keep the Broncos' third-down efficiency improving down the stretch.

Scoring

The Broncos' scoring has improved dramatically over the past three weeks, averaging 28 points per game. It has helped them climb out of the bottom three scoring teams, putting them at No. 20 this season, averaging 22 points per game.

As quarterback Bo Nix's confidence has flooded back and the Broncos have moved past the brutal defenses they had to face through the first eight weeks, which included Steve Spagnuolo and the Kansas City Chiefs twice, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Los Angeles Rams, and the San Francisco 49ers, the offense has begun to climb out of its shell.

The Broncos definitely have offense moving in the right direction at the bye, but there's still plenty of work to be done to bolster this unit as a bona fide playoff-caliber force to be reckoned with. One week might not be enough time to solve all the problems, but just fixing the run game/blocking issues will have a major trickle-down effect on the Broncos' third-down efficiency and scoring.

Tackling Woes

The Broncos started off the season with one of the most historically bad tackling showings ever. It has improved, but it's still far from where it needs to be.

The 2026 Broncos' defense hasn't been on the same level as it's 2025 counterpart, and its tackling woes are one of the reasons why. It comes out in the wash against the run and pass, allowing teams to pick up free yardage by simply making the first guy miss.

The Broncos have missed a whopping 102 tackles this season, the most in the NFL. Their 13.7 missed-tackle percentage leads the league, too, according to SFData9ers on X.

It's not the mark of a playoff-worthy defense. The Broncos' one saving grace has been their situational defense. When the chips are down in end-of-game sequences, this defense has continued to answer the bell, and it's still rushing the passer among the best in the NFL.

But if the Broncos can't shore up their tackling issues, playoff opponents like the Bills, Chiefs, Bengals, and others will have a heyday.

Explosive Plays

The Broncos' defense has been inexplicably leaky this season. Granted, they've faced a who's-who list of some of the NFL's best quarterbacks, but even against Bryce Young last week, the Broncos allowed five explosive plays — three through the air and two on the ground.

We can chalk some of that up to the injuries Denver has dealt with in the secondary, with starting safety duo Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones ruled out in Carolina, and cornerback Riley Moss suffering a concussion early on, but it's not the whole story.

Yardage-wise, the Broncos' defense has allowed 2,076 yards through nine games. Only three teams have been worse than Denver in this area; it's not a winning stat.

So how do the Broncos keep coming out on top in these games? Again, it comes down to Nix's fourth-quarter magic and the defense's clutch-time composure.

If defensive coordinator Vance Joseph can get to the bottom of the explosives, and that includes on the ground, where Denver is allowing 124.3 yards per game, the Broncos could become a juggernaut. As the schedule continues to open up for them, I have a feeling the Broncos' defense will show some major signs of improvement, but Joseph has to batten down the hatches on some of these fundamental flaws.