Bright football minds grace the Broncos coaching staff. Ed Donatell, Pat Shurmur and Vic Fangio have 83 years of NFL coaching experience among them. But football acumen is only half the battle.

Football coaches can drill you with Xs and Os and prepare you for any football scenario you encounter, but they cant teach you how to be a family. That you have to learn on your own. And thats exactly what the Broncos appear to be lacking.

Battling on the field together is one part. The other key is getting to know each other as people off the field. Eating together. Sitting around the locker room. Enduring endless meetings. Weight room sessions. Hot tub. Bus rides. Airplanes. Opposing locker rooms. Hotels. Restaurants. Parties. Charity events. Trips to Vegas. Afterparties. Gentlemens clubs. Shared experiences align the spirit, and spirit helps win football games.

The Broncos need to find some of that, and fast.

Tensions boiled over between the Broncos defense and offense last week in the loss to the Chiefs, revealing a fissure in the team that was bound to crack open eventually. The Broncos have a top-tier defense, while the offense is at the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category.

Its the highest paid defense in the NFL and one of the youngest, most inexperienced offenses. Fangios expertise is on defense and the team was built in his image set up to dominate the offense every day at practice. This might appease the defensive ethos of the coaching staff during the week, but on game day, it results in lopsided performances.

Competitive football teams have balance. They are good in all phases because the standard is the same throughout the team. Every practice is competitive. Anyone can win depending on the day. They cut their teeth on one another with equal ferocity.

So if the defense is markedly better, which appears to be the case for the Broncos at the moment, then its on them to bring the offense up to their standard of play. Not by yelling at them, but by demanding more at practice, in meetings, and amid the daily grind.

So, how do you recalibrate a lopsided team? Only those in that building know how to address that, because only they know the intricacies of their work week. I have no idea where Coach Fangio spends his time during the day. In his office? In the defensive meeting room? I do know that the offense needs some love.

Maybe Vic could lend some of his valuable expertise to the wing that needs it most Pat Shurmur and the struggling Broncos offense. And while hes at it, maybe spend some time in special teams meetings, too. Ed, youve got the fellas this week, Im going to sit with Pat and Drew.

It is already a tall task for a new coach to unify a young team. Add COVID-19 restrictions to the landscape, and you get what you had last week an uneven team in search of an identity.

League protocol kept players away from each other during the offseason. And although they are on the field together now, off the field, theyre still separated. Meetings at home on Zoom, socially distanced at the facility, eating lunch in their cars. No parties. No dinners. No nothing. Just show up wearing a mask, keep your distance from each other and go play football.

Unfortunately for the Broncos, its not that easy.

Nate Jackson is a former wide receiver/tight end for the Broncos who lives in Denver. He works part-time for 104.3 FM The Fan.

The rest is here:
Jackson: Broncos defense-vs.-offense sideline tiff shows team lacks chemistry needed to win in NFL - The Denver Post