The Denver Broncos went 8-9 in Sean Payton’s first season and missed the playoffs. Payton will look to build on that record in 2024, but it’s not as simple as saying the team will attempt to reach the playoffs. How will the Broncos get it done? What areas can the team improve to ensure they will have more success in Payton’s second season?
“There are a couple things,” Payton said during his end-of-season press conference last month. “Our tight red zone was awful. I have to look closely at my sequencing and what I’m doing and calling. What I mean by that is goal-to-go. Our red zone numbers are past the 20. How many touchdowns, percentages, etc. Our opportunities, I think, were decent. I think we were 50-something [percent], and that measured ninth or tenth.
“Inside the ten, first and goal-to-go, that wasn’t good enough. Third down — there were a handful of things … we, collectively — starting with me — it wasn’t good enough. We didn’t take advantage of enough field position opportunities in games. I want to get my eyes fixed, so I call the right play and I don’t mess up and call the wrong play on a play that happened one time this year. That was embarrassing.”
The Broncos were 50.85% in the red zone last season, making them a bottom-13 team in that category. It was the team’s struggles inside the opponent’s 10-yard line that especially bothered Payton.
“The 10-yard line and in sticks out — that’s unusual,” Payton said. “That bothered me a lot. Those are four-point swings, really, if you kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown. I’m sure as we go through this process, there are going to be a number of other things, but I think that I’m comfortable and far enough along doing this, that I can easily be swayed or moved. Even coaches. It’s one thing to be somewhere where everyone tells you what you want to hear, but the value of a coach that tells me sometimes what I need to hear, I appreciate.”
There’s always room for improvement in the NFL, even for a Super Bowl-winning coach. Payton will have to make adjustments in 2024, and he knows it. Fans will get a first look at those adjustments when training camp begins this summer.
Follow the Broncos Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts
