Sean Payton rallied his Denver Broncos on a season-defining, two-win road trip.
It’s still early in the 2024 season, sure. Four games in is rarely the time for season-defining wins.
But Denver not only dug themselves out of an 0-2 hole, they defeated two competitive teams in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets.
Sean Payton rallied his young Broncos to back-to-back road wins
For Payton, this 2024 season is a chance to prove he’s still got it. These Broncos are extremely young, the third-youngest team in the NFL to be exact, with a rookie quarterback he picked.
Payton and GM George Paton jettisoned not only Russell Wilson, but fellow veteran leaders Justin Simmons and Tim Patrick, among others.
And so it seems most of this team’s leadership is coming from the coaching staff.
However, in their first two defeats, the offense was lost.
Bo Nix played like a rookie quarterback, throwing an NFL-leading four interceptions, including two in the red zone. The run game was nonexistent, and the offensive line wasn’t blocking well enough in either the run nor pass games.
So Payton decided to take the training wheels off and let Nix loose.
Finally, the offense was anything but awful in the 26-7 win over the Buccaneers. Nix enjoyed his best day as a professional quarterback.
Meanwhile, the dominant defense has been led by Vance Joseph all season long. Joseph is blitzing more than any team in the NFL, and it’s working. Denver’s allowed only 13.8 points per game, third-fewest in the league. They’re also the No. 2 red zone defense (28.6%) and No. 1 on 4th downs.
Joseph’s defense kept Denver in those first two losses, and the group was key in both wins over previously undefeated Tampa Bay and then the Jets.
The Broncos defense held the Buccaneers to a mere 232 yards, 3-11 on third downs, and forced two Tampa Bay turnovers.
Yesterday, in the 10-9 narrow victory against the Jets, Joseph’s defense was again dominant. They held Aaron Rodgers to zero touchdowns, a first in his career for a home game he played all the way through. Denver sacked Rodgers five times, held New York to 4-17 on third downs, and held a talented rushing attack to a mere 64 yards.
Some argue Joseph is the best coach on the Broncos, not Payton. But one thing is for sure, this coaching staff is getting the most out of their players.
Coach told his team the road trip would define the Broncos
“Coach Payton just keeps telling us, ‘These two road games are going to define us as a team.’” P.J. Locke said after the win over the New York Jets.
That’s a little behind the scenes information from Locke.
And Payton has a point.
At 0-2, the Broncos traveled to 2-0 Tampa to face a white-hot Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield. Denver knew they were the underdogs, but came ready to play, and crushed the Bucs in all three phases.
Then Payton did something unique. He kept the Broncos on the road, staying in West Virginia between games instead of flying back to the Mile High City.
The goal was to bond the Broncos.
“We have some room to hang out with the guys, and you’re not at home, so you can treat it a little bit differently and … use your routine but also kind of ad lib at the same time and enjoy each other’s company,” said quarterback Bo Nix.
And that seemed to work.
On Sunday in New Jersey, both teams faced a deluge in the first half. Nix couldn’t grip the football in the rain, and Rodgers struggled, too. Denver had a mere 31 total yards at the break, and Nix threw for -7 yards himself.
That’s exactly when previous Broncos teams would’ve quit.
Instead, the skies opened and Denver continued to dominate on the defensive side. Meanwhile, the offense persevered, pushing 87 yards on one drive, scoring the game’s only touchdown.
It was Nix’s first career touchdown pass, and his clutch 29-yard pass to Courtland Sutton was key on that drive as well.
Simply, the Broncos overcame. They pushed through adversity, and won two straight against two tough teams.
Sean Payton rallied his Denver Broncos to season-defining victories.
Now, the season’s not over. It’s only about one-quarter of the way through. And there’s a lot of room for growth from this team.
But when they face adversity again, they can look back on this road trip and search for the intestinal fortitude needed to win.