Creative play call shows Broncos' Sean Payton has still got it
After the Denver Broncos started the 2023 season 1-5, some wondered whether coach Sean Payton was the right man to lead the team.Some compared his early-season failures to those of former Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett, who went 4-11 with the team in 2022 before being fired after Week 16. Fast forward eight weeks later, and […]
After the Denver Broncos started the 2023 season 1-5, some wondered whether coach Sean Payton was the right man to lead the team.
Some compared his early-season failures to those of former Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett, who went 4-11 with the team in 2022 before being fired after Week 16.
Fast forward eight weeks later, and the Broncos are sitting just one game back in the AFC West at 7-6, thanks to creative play calls from Payton such as this:
Running an old-school T formation, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson was able to pull off an untouched bootleg to the left side and hit tight end Adam Trautman for a wide open touchdown. Wilson was so open himself that he probably could have taken the score in on his own, but instead he trusted his playmaker to make the play.
While it's still early in Payton's second stint as an NFL head coach, it seems clear at this point after winning six of their last seven games that hiring Payton was the right decision by the Broncos. He's an offensive mastermind who just needed a bit of time to gel with his team and quarterback, and find a rhythm.
But even after such a tremendous comeback this season, Payton refuses to look back and instead chooses to take the "next game up" approach.
"There’s not a lot of reflection," Payton said in the postgame presser. "You take a peek at what the AFC did today… Then, let’s go, it’s on to the next challenge. I’m being honest."
