The Denver Broncos finished their first season under coach Sean Payton with an 8-9 record. Believe it or not, such a record is a sign of progress.
Denver did not manage to post a winning record, but eight wins marked the team’s best win total in a single season since 2016. The Broncos’ offense also improved from scoring 16.9 points per game in 2022 to 21.0 PPG in 2023. Still not ideal, but a notable improvement.
While there are positive takeaways from Payton’s first season, not qualifying for the playoffs was disappointing (especially after Payton said during the summer that he would be “pissed off” if Denver did not make the postseason this year).
So, with the positives and negatives taken into account, does Payton consider the 2023 season a success?
“I have a hard time saying something like that,” Payton said during his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday. “My appetite is where it should be — a little bit stronger. I said this at the beginning of the season, and it was really a discussion off the record. I felt like we had a chance, and this team had a chance to get into the postseason. I feel that same way now. I’m disappointed because of that, and disappointed that I look back on a handful of things that I could have done differently and better.
“Now make no mistake about it, we finished where our record was. We could point to a few games that would have gotten us to nine or 10 [wins], but we could point to a few games that got us to six really quickly as well. That’s generally the case each year. [There’s] no pass-fail, success-non-success. It is what it is. [It] just leaves a taste in your mouth [leaves] you [looking] forward to the work. The tough thing about it is that you don’t get to erase it next Sunday. Here it is. That’s the truth.”
Payton knows the Broncos squandered multiple opportunities in 2023, and as the head coach, the blame ultimately falls on him. Now going into Year 2 with the Broncos, Payton will aim for a successful 2024 campaign.
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