Sean Payton has a monumental task in preparing his team for Sunday’s wild-card game at Buffalo, so the second-year Denver Broncos coach isn’t wasting time relishing in proving his doubters wrong.
The prospect of the Broncos ending a playoff drought that had dated back to their Super Bowl-winning season of 2015 appeared dim after Payton’s first year in Denver ended with an 8-9 record and a parting with quarterback Russell Wilson.
But in stepped rookie Bo Nix, who threw a career-high-tying four touchdown passes in leading Denver to its 10th victory of the season on Sunday. In doing so, the Broncos clinched the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs and a date with the second-seeded Bills on Sunday.
It has been a quick and dramatic turnaround for a franchise that was mired with massive salary cap restraints when Payton arrived just two years ago.
“We all like a challenge, right? I guess it’s like a challenge when someone says ‘X.’ The first thing I think of is, ‘Who is that someone?’” Payton said Monday. “… I think your players certainly do have a little bit of a chip when they see those initial prognostications or whatever. Then eventually when you’re in this long enough, you tune that stuff out because half those people don’t have a clue what they’re talking about.
“Yes, who’s done this before with over $80 million (in dead cap) — all those things you think about. No one’s done that before. Let’s be the first one.”
Payton faces a different type of challenge in preparing his team for the Bills, who went 13-4 during the regular season and are led by quarterback Josh Allen, who many believe will win his first Most Valuable Player award.
Buffalo went 8-0 at home during the regular season, and began the week as a consensus nine-point favorite.
“Put your best foot forward in preparing to play your best game against a real good football team. That’s where the focus is,” Payton said. “I probably — as the head coach — paid attention to, âWhat are these things that can possibly distract from that process outside the building or even inside the building?’
“The euphoria of, âWe’re back in the playoffs. We finally have gotten back in.’ Trying to monitor that and understand how that may — or try to prevent that from impacting the edge and the preparation. I think that comes up often as a head coach sometimes and vice versa during the season when the sky is falling. Making sure that your players understand that it’s really not. It’s just cloudy, rainy and stormy, but it’s going to be sunny again.”
The actual skies might be anything but sunny on Sunday in Buffalo, where the gametime forecast currently calls for clouds and temperatures in the low 30s with the potential for snow flurries. Add that to the prospect of facing Allen, who finished the regular season with 3,731 passing yards and 28 touchdowns while adding another 531 yards and 12 scores on the ground.
“We shift gears completely,” Payton said when asked about preparing for Allen. “Obviously there are a lot of challenges. He’s had an MVP season. He’s strong. I think it’s one thing to get to him, but then the other thing is how many times do we see him come off of the initial tackler? How do you bring him down? Who can bring him down? He does such a good job with plays that are broken down. There’s a lot that goes into that.
“The focus this week will be obviously shifting all towards Buffalo and how to slow down a team that’s as hot as anyone in the league.”