Sean Payton is not happy — even with a four-game winning streak

If you follow the 24-hour rule — like many players and coaches in the NFL — then by the time you read this, the time for marinating in 21-20 Broncos win over the Minnesota Vikings will have passed.

But for Broncos coach Sean Payton, that reflection was not about the joy of victory. Instead, it was an examination of what went askew.

And there was plenty.

So much, that Payton didn’t think it would be a problem keeping his players from losing focus in the afterglow of a 4-game winning streak that is the NFL’s longest active streak.

“If you watch this tape I’m watching, there’ll be plenty of time to get focused because it’s not really good,” Sean Payton said.

“The turnovers put us in the game. They ran the ball better than us, they were better than us on third down, better than us in the red zone and in most areas. Better than us in the kicking game.”

Indeed, turnovers. That is the first number that defines the Broncos right now.

12

That is the number of takeaways forced by the Broncos defense over their last 3 games — including 3 on Sunday. That is the highest total for any team in a 3-game span since the Cowboys in December 2021, and the most for the Broncos since they also coaxed 12 takeaways from foes during a three-game stretch from Oct. 26, 1997 at Buffalo through Nov. 9 of that year against Carolina. Denver won all three games in that span — including two by 3 points each.

But of equal significance is the fact that Denver has just three turnovers in that span — one lost fumble against the Chiefs and Bills, respectively. That gives the Broncos a plus-10 turnover margin in their last three games — the best in franchise history since going plus-11 from Oct. 21 through Nov. 4, 1984.

Russell Wilson has no interceptions in the Broncos’ last 4 games. His completion percentage of 74.8 in that span is the best for a Broncos quarterback during a streak of 4 games without an interception in club history, per pro-football-reference.com.

Now, the bad news …

367

That is the number of rushing yards allowed by the Broncos over the last two games. And while that pales compared with the yardage allowed by the Broncos on the ground early in the season — specifically 755 in Weeks 3-5 — it does put the Broncos in a bad spot, having allowed 1,600 rushing yards so far this season — the most in an 8-game span since the final 8 games of the 2010 season, when they allowed 1,707 rushing yards.

The causes of the ground issues Sunday were not the same as they were earlier in the season, Payton maintained.

“Fortunately, that pandemic has passed,” Payton said. “At times, you’re playing a single-safety defense. We should be in a single gap look. Our gap integrity wasn’t clean the way it needed to be. When that happens and teams that run the ball hit a gap where you’re not and where you’re supposed to be, you end up with an eight-yard gain instead of a two-yard gain.”

And the sum total of those 8-yard gains is ranking 32nd in rushing yardage allowed on a per-game (160.0 yards) and a per-carry carry (5.5) basis.

No other team has allowed even 140.0 rushing yards per game so far this season.

14

Field goals hit by Wil Lutz in the last 4-games. That is the most for any Broncos kicker in a 4-game span since at least 1970, according to the data compiled by pro-football-reference.com.

Nine of those field goals came in the last two games, when Lutz accounted for 27 of the Broncos’ 45 points. Denver doesn’t have a single point via extra point over the last two games, thanks to a failed two-point conversion Sunday and two PAT mishaps in the Nov. 13 win at Buffalo.

Lutz drilled all five attempts Sunday.

“He got the game ball on special teams — deservedly so,” Sean Payton said.

Lutz is just the second kicker in Broncos history to connect on 9 field-goal attempts in a two-game span. Brandon McManus also did that during consecutive games in October 2020, both of which were Broncos wins — over the New York Jets and New England Patriots.