The NFL is a rollercoaster league on a weekly basis, and the Denver Broncos are finding themselves on the part of the ride where they’re twisting while upside down. After Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Broncos head coach Sean Payton emphasized that they must all look inward for a response and hopefully get to the part where the ride is straight to the top.
Denver Broncos must respond after Sunday’s blowout vs. Baltimore Ravens
At 5-4, the Denver Broncos are further along than most people projected them to be. As a matter of fact, nearly every national outlet and sportsbook had Denver at five wins total for the year. Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens was an opportunity to compete with one of the league’s top teams and they fell flat on their face after a quarter and a half.
It was 17-10 with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter after Denver had just cut the Ravens lead to one score. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix stepped off the field with the score 17-10 and the next time he took the field, it was a 31-10 deficit. Denver’s defense had no answer for Lamar Jackson.
“We’ll watch the film,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said. “Look, this is a tough league. You work all week, and I think the most important thing, and I just finished telling them this, is, even beyond playing football, there’s going to be games, where you’ve got to go in on Monday, and it’s not going to taste good for any of us. We’re not going to like it, but that’s life. We’ve got to bow up and get ready to play next week. That’s why it’s so important when we’re bringing in the right type of players and the mindset. It’s not making any excuses. We got whooped today.”
Now, how do they respond? Players were frustrated in the locker room by the end result, with an internal belief that they are better than what they put on the field on Sunday.
“It just wasn’t fundamentally sound football,” Broncos cornerback Riley Moss said. “We gave up too many big plays and that will kill you, especially against a team like this. And, you know, we missed some tackles. Personally, I missed some tackles. And, you know, I have to wear that on the chin. And the biggest thing I think this week is we have to look within ourselves and have those hard conversations with each other and with ourselves. And we can’t be pointing fingers. We can’t make excuses. It’s look inward and figure out what you have to do better to contribute to this team.”
The schedule gets tougher, the stakes get higher. Denver will face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on the road this upcoming Sunday, with a chance to respond. But that response has to be a result of looking inward, as Payton outlined — not just the players but also the coaching staff.
“You must look inward,” Payton said. “You have to start with yourself. Anytime you go into a game, and you look at your work week, you look at your preparation. If you don’t, then everything I just finished telling those guys isn’t true. There are certain things you have to look at. I think it’s important to do that to improve.”
The Chiefs will be coming off of a semi-short week due to them playing tonight on Monday Night Football, while the Broncos will come into the team facility this morning to watch the film, take the medicine of the loss, and move forward.