Yes, Sean Payton prefers to blame the Denver Broncos’ offensive stagnation on facing two backup quarterbacks on a team hell-bent on preventing Bo Nix from catching up.
“Yeah, I want to say that, but honestly, you guys know me well enough, we’ve got to play better,” the Broncos head coach said after an energetic practice Friday, comparing the starters to their OTA days.
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The Broncos lost 34-20 at home to Jacksonville on December 21, ending their 11-game winning streak. It was the Broncos’ first win at Arrowhead Stadium since a 20-13 victory over the Chiefs and their No. 3 quarterback on Christmas Night in 2015.
In Week 18, without Justin Herbert and several of his teammates, the Broncos defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 19-3 without scoring an offensive touchdown and going 0-for-3 in the red zone.
Still, those two wins helped secure the top seed in the AFC playoffs and the only first-round bye that came with it. They will face the lowest seed remaining after wild-card weekend in next week’s divisional round.
The prevailing narrative surrounding the Broncos is that Payton has restrained himself over the past two weeks with conservative calls and a mediocre game plan to avoid showing his opponents anything heading into the playoffs.
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“I’d love to say we got some back, but the tape last week wasn’t great offensively,” Payton said. “The performance in Kansas City wasn’t great either. Winning that game was enough. But no, we’ve got to be sharper. When we get down the stretch here, we’re going to see good teams that can score, and we’re going to see (stingy) defense.”
That’s why the Broncos weren’t just going through the motions Friday as they regrouped after a 72-hour break to rest their bodies and minds after a 14-3 season.
“I said to them, ‘Listen, I don’t want to go out and fill time today, or just fill time. I’m going to be honest with you, our third offensive number bothered me on both sides of the ball,'” Payton recalled. “We can improve on this.
“These games are going to be down to 2 minutes. I want these games to be competitive, okay? And then I really want to strengthen our red zone offense and our defense.”
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So the Broncos aren’t practicing with the Chargers, Steelers, Texans or Bills in mind — the four teams they might face first in the divisional round — and instead focus on execution and effort.
“Yeah, I was a little bit mean last week,” Payton said, referring to his scathing remarks about a columnist who joked during a postgame press conference. “Not just a (columnist). I’m just salty.”
Payton believes the biggest benefit of having the No. 1 seed is winning only two games to reach the Super Bowl instead of three. Still, rest and four days off are much needed and appreciated.
“It’s good,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It’s been nice to be able to rest, relax and enjoy some family time this week. My wife and I are about 2 1/2 weeks away from having our second (child), so that’s good. We’re nesting. But, no, it’s good. Get in shape, get some treatment, get some workouts in during the week and then be good, clean today, knock off the rust, get in some long individual training and then compete a little bit.”
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McGlinchey agreed with his coach that the film review was uncomfortable and full of warnings.
“First and foremost, the obvious thing is to enforce in the red zone,” he said. “You’ve got to convert field goals into touchdowns, that’s how you win games, especially late in the year, especially when you get to the playoffs. Gotta do better on third downs – by doing better on first and second downs. … We’re just going to clean up the details and we’ll be fine.”
After another similar practice on Saturday, the Broncos will get back to work on Monday or Tuesday, depending on when their first game is.
“You play great teams in the playoffs, that’s the bottom line,” McGlinchey said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. No matter who gets here, it’s going to be a big challenge for us and when we get there, we’ll cross that bridge.”
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NOTES: Payton said he expects ILB Dre Greenlaw (hamstring) to return in the playoffs, but added he’s not ready to make a prediction on RB JK Dobbins’ return from Lisfranc foot surgery.
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