With time over the past four weeks to self-scout their floundering offense, Broncos coaches have decided that their best chance of trying to score points is to lean more on quarterback Russell Wilson and the passing game.

The problem? It’s not working.

Long before two more injuries on the offensive line forced third-stringers into Sunday’s game at Tennessee, it became clear the Broncos intended to win through the air. Head coach Nathaniel Hackett acknowledged as much Monday afternoon, one day after his team lost, 17-10, and punted nine times in 12 full possessions.

“For us, our deficiency has been on third down, so we wanted to pass the ball a little bit more to be able to not necessarily (be) in those third-down situations and get a couple of chunk plays like we did the game before, so we were trying to build off of that,” Hackett explained. “We really liked the package that we had going into the game with that grouping. Obviously, it was a little bit different once (wide receiver Jerry Jeudy) went out.”

Jeudy was lost to an ankle injury on the game’s first play. Hackett expressed admiration for Kendall Hinton’s ability to step into Jeudy’s role even though he hadn’t practiced late in the week due to illness and, earlier in the week had been preparing at another position.However, losing Jeudy did not cause Hackett to change course.

Denver passed the ball or intended to pass the ball on 17 of its first 23 snaps (one negated play included) and was in the shotgun for 21 of 24 (two negated plays included). Each of those four drives ended in a punt. They got two completions of 15-plus — a 35-yarder to Hinton and a 16-yarder to Courtland Sutton — but little else. On the next drive, Wilson hit rookie Jalen Virgil for a 66-yard touchdown. Then, after a field goal for a 10-0 lead, five more punts and a game-ending interception. Exactly the kind of inconsistent, boom-or-bust production players and staff have lamented all season.

“Definitely not where we’re at right now. Definitely not,” Hackett said when asked where he imagined Denver’s offense might be nine games into his tenure. “There’s a lot of things that have accounted for that, but as a staff, as an offensive group, we want to be sure that we put the best groupings out there that fit Russ and fit this offense.

“Obviously we’re still working through that because it hasn’t looked like what any of us want it to look like.”

According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Wilson is fifth in the NFL in intended air yards — a measure of how far down the field a quarterback’s average pass goes — and also near the top of the league in what the modeling defines as “aggressive” pass attempts.

Despite the relative frequency with which the Broncos have hit plays down the field (Wilson is tied for fourth in the NFL with six completions of 40-plus yards), they are not consistently moving the ball.

Hackett, though, said Monday that having Wilson in the shotgun, playing frequently with three receivers and passing the ball a lot is Denver’s best chance to score more points. He also intimidated that’s in part because it’s what Wilson wants.

“We want to make sure we have the best personnel out there and the best (groupings) Russ feels comfortable with to be able to move the ball,” Hackett said. “So we’re trying to do what we think is right for the group and still at the same time get some of those bigger personnel (groupings) in …to be able to run the ball.”

The Broncos are hamstrung, of course, because they can’t run the ball consistently, either. On Sunday they managed just 65 rushing yards on 25 attempts. In a game they led 10-0 they eschewed play-calling balance. They passed it from the start and finished with 48 drop-backs for Wilson. The 65.8% pass rate checked in as Denver’s second-highest of the season, trailing only the season opener against Seattle.

Instead of building rhythm in the passing game, though, Denver floundered. Wilson started the game 2-of-8 and finished at 50% completions. In eight games this season, the 10-year veteran is completing just 57.4% of his passes overall and sports a quarterback rating of 81.4. Both marks are easily the lowest of his career.

“Unfortunately it’s been a bunch of different things. It hasn’t just been one thing,” Hackett said of trying to find consistency in the passing game. “It’s been kind of across the board with playcalling — how I adjust things for him and get him and I on the same page — and then execution. Something will go good and then right afterward something doesn’t work out the way we thought it would. It might be something with the route, something with Russ, something with the protection.

“It’s just more, collectively as an offense, we need to be more consistent.”