Mile High Report
He’s happy the Broncos won. He’s not thrilled with some of the execution that is definitely going to get exposed against a much tougher team. A team like the Ravens on Sunday.
Sean Payton isn’t very happy.
The Broncos got a big win at home, moved to 5-3 and second in the AFC West, Bo Nix is the winningest rookie quarterback in franchise history and the eighth straight game of holding the opponent to under 350 total yards on offense.
But the head coach is still not happy.
“Here’s the thing, we can’t turn the ball over the way we did offensively. We can’t fumble on the first drive, [and] we can’t fumble later in the game,” Payton said. “It’s not the perfect game we’re searching for, but it’s the game that we know when played with bigger stakes against a better team, it’ll cost you.”
He’s not happy because he knows that two wide receiver fumbles, a bunch of dropped passes and some pretty lazy defense will be a huge problem against a better team.
And that better team comes next week when the Broncos travel to Baltimore to take on a dangerous team that could be battling Denver for a playoff spot down the road and will have no mercy on a Broncos team with a feel-good story for its rookie quarterback.
“The turnovers bothered me. The late drive and how we played defensively bothered me,” Payton added. “Look I just think, ‘What’s the bar? What’s the expectation?’ It has to meet or exceed mine.”
Payton got a little heat from Panthers’ cornerback Jaycee Horn after the game, accusing the former NFC rival coach of running up the score.
The coach’s response: “Play better.”
But he has that same expectation for his own team. Asked if he wanted his team to take on a “personality with an edge,” Payton said he wanted his team to take on a personality of winning.
“I want them to take on a personality that understands what will win in our league,” he said. “I say this all the time, ‘Confidence is born only from demonstrated ability.’ Now do I feel like we’re a more confident team today in October than we were when we started the season? Absolutely.”
Payton elaborated that his aim to win the game, to build confidence in his young quarterback and young offense was the only goal in running a trick play on a field goal attempt when the Broncos already had a three-score lead.
“There are certain things we have to improve on,” he added, noting there “is no story there” when it comes to the motivation behind the trick plays. “We’re trying to win a football game. We’re trying to extend the drive. I’m throwing the ball to my fullback, so [I’m] not necessarily expecting a touchdown. ... I just looked at that as us trying to win a football game and learn to close out a game.”
And that’s why...
