Sean Payton is finally making his mark on the Broncos organization
Nov 11, 2023, 9:24 AM
The Denver Broncos are 3-5 coming off their bye week and heading into the second half of the 2023 NFL season. To kick things off, the Broncos are up against the 5-4 Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football.”
While the Broncos had a slow start to the season, Sean Payton is starting to turn things around. After winning back-to-back games against the Packers and Chiefs, the Broncos demeanor seemed to change overnight.
Payton was no longer actively looking to make a trade before the deadline unless it was an offer they couldn’t resist. The players’ mentality and attitudes seemed rejuvenated and hopeful. It was the first time this season that fans were satisfied with winning and felt confident in this team’s abilities.
The win against the Chiefs couldn’t have come at a better time. If they had lost that game, it probably would have resulted in some sort of fire sale at the trade deadline, and all hope for the season would have been gone. The Broncos would’ve been back to square one.
Ending the 16-game losing streak against the Chiefs was vital in making the players and coaches believe again. It finally closed the door that’s been haunting the Broncos since 2015.
Now that it’s over, the team’s mentality has completely changed. They genuinely believe that they can make a playoff run at this point in the season.
While the beginning of the season wasn’t exactly delightful to watch, there have been significant improvements week after week. It shows the team is slowly moving in the right direction.
Payton wasn’t going to come in and change the organization overnight; it was going to take time. And it’s finally beginning to show.
Russell Wilson has been playing significantly better this season, and it’s because they simplified the playbook and slowed everything down. Payton is keeping Wilson to short-but-effective throws that keep the ball moving downfield. He’s not putting Wilson in a position to make bad decisions.
While some will argue that simplifying things for Wilson is a bad sign and that it shows he’s not the same player he used to be, it’s not entirely true. Wilson is still adjusting to Payton’s offensive scheme, and he’s learning how to handle himself in this current situation.
He’s no longer in Seattle and is a different player in a different situation. Wilson accepted that and learned to adjust his playing style to his current strengths and weaknesses, and what works for this team. Right now, that’s keeping it to short passes and running the ball. It may be something other than action-packed and exciting, but it’s effective and wins football games.
The defense struggled at the beginning of the season but has improved significantly over the last few weeks and held the Chiefs to zero touchdowns. Vance Joseph turned this defense around and was able to do so with the support of Payton. Instead of making a drastic decision and firing Joseph after losing by 50 to the Dolphins, they were patient and worked together to address these issues, and the results showed on the field.
Payton is committed to his coaching staff and players; having their back when times get tough and working through the issues at hand is essential for the success of an organization. He has already demonstrated that multiple times this season.
That’s leadership at its finest.
Payton is a brilliant head coach, and we’ve already begun to see his impact on the Broncos organization in the short time he’s been here. And it’s only the beginning.
