Tag: Sean Payton

Sean Payton gives strong take on Mike Shanahan’s Hall of Fame candidacy

Sean Payton said Mike Shanahan has a better resume than some of the recent coaches that have reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Former Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is one of nine coach semifinalists for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

Sean Payton, Denver’s current coach, gave Shanahan a strong endorsement during his conference call with Broncos reporters on Monday.

“I’ve had a long friendship with him,” Payton said. “What he’s accomplished though in our game, he has two Super Bowl championships. He’s been behind, I would say, the minds behind so many coaches working right now. I’d say almost a third of the league at one point has been impacted by Mike. Not only the coaching tree, I’m talking about the offensive tree.

“When I got into the league, there were two or three teams that you studied, and Denver was one of them. We’re sitting here in 2024 and we’re looking at a guy — a candidate — who quite honestly has a lot better credentials than maybe some others [who] have gone before him as coaches. He was one of the guys. [He’s] extremely intelligent and then the Super Bowls, the quarterbacks, the success and all those other things. I don’t know when the vote is or how that all unfolds, but his candidacy for someone like myself, it’s easy.

“It’s all there right in front of you. Then go ahead and look back at the last — just take the last six coaches that have gone in. Just use that number and then throw their numbers at Mike and their accomplishments and I think that’s a simple way to look at it and arrive at the right decision.”

This certainly isn’t the first time Payton has backed Shanahan. Denver’s current coach previously noted that elements of Shanahan’s offense are still used in the NFL today, and Payton said last summer that Shanny should already be in the Hall of Fame.

We should find out soon if Shanahan is advancing in the voting process.

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Broncos coach Sean Payton had a funny response to the Bo Nix hype

Broncos coach Sean Payton is also excited about Bo Nix, but he had a funny response to the growing hype on Monday.

Following the Denver Broncos‘ big win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon, the Bo Nix hype has been off the charts (understandably so).

Nix had a record-breaking performance in a 38-6 win over the Falcons, completing 28-of-33 passes for 307 yards with four touchdowns and no turnovers. So it’s no surprise that coach Sean Payton was peppered with questions about Nix’s rise during his conference call on Monday.

Four of the first five questions during Payton’s call with reporters on Monday were related to Nix. After the fourth question, Payton had a funny response.

“Let’s not send this kid to Canton quite yet,” Payton said.

It’s an understandable stance for the coach to take. Nix has shown incredible improvement from earlier this year, but there’s still plenty of room for more improvement.

“We’re sitting here in the middle of the season,” Payton said. “He’s playing well. I’m excited. The film showed that he’s playing well. The film showed a few things though that I wanted to scream at him about. We’ll keep correcting those things.

“I like the way he prepares. I love the way he comes to work. I love his enthusiasm. I think it’s naturally contagious. I think he’s a winner. It’s interesting because you guys [in] real-time are seeing it just like we are. I’m real encouraged by that.”

Through 11 games this season, Nix has completed 65.5% of his passes for 2,275 yards with 14 touchdowns against six interceptions. He has also rushed for four touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass this season.

Nix is making a strong case for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, but Payton doesn’t want the hype to get out of control. After years of waiting for their next franchise quarterback, though, it’s hard to blame Broncos fans for being excited.

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Broncos released frustrations from Chiefs game on Falcons

Being the next team on the Broncos’ schedule after the Chiefs loss was very bad news for the Falcons.

After suffering a heartbreaking 16-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week following a blocked field goal, the Denver Broncos were motivated to bounce back in a big way in Week 11. 

Unfortunately for the Atlanta Falcons, they were next on Denver’s schedule following the game in Kansas City.

The Broncos dominated the Falcons in a 38-6 victory on Sunday.

“That’s a thing that I was really most proud of and excited about was obviously the response coming off of a tough loss,” Denver coach Sean Payton said after the game.

It appeared that Broncos players stored up their emotions from the Chiefs loss and unleashed their frustrations against the Falcons.

“I think it started early in the week,” Payton said. “It still gets back to the players and the make-up. It gets back to the things we keep talking about: the grit, the toughness. This is a team that [is] different from a year ago and kind of has that. Their response was really good.”

Denver left tackle Garett Bolles said the team was “relentless” on Sunday.

“The more time we spend together, we’re just a tight-knit group of dudes,” Bolles said. “That’s what happens to teams with a tight group of dudes, we put points on the board, and we win games like that.”

Denver’s offense scored a season-high five touchdowns against Atlanta. The defense also dominated, holding the Falcons to just two field goals.

“It’s great because we’ve been talking about having our first complete football game,” wide receiver Troy Franklin said after the win. “A full four quarters where everybody’s playing, giving effort and executing. I think we did that today.”

Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix said the team was eager to bounce back after last week’s last-second loss at Arrowhead.

“It kind of felt like last week at the end of the game we could have lined the ball up and played another four-quarter game against another team,” Nix said. “We just wanted to go right back into the fire. It is hard when you lose a game like that. You feel like that one was stolen from us, but I want to get right back on the field. I want to go out there and play again. That is kind of how we felt this week.

“We had a great week of practice. The preparation was phenomenal. Offense, defense, special teams, we prepared like crazy. We fixed our mistakes that we wanted to fix. We came out and played with great effort, great intensity and great love for the guys around you. You can just see our sidelines and see everybody on the field. When another guy has success, you can see all the fun and enjoyment we get out of it.”

Following the big win, Denver is now 6-5 and currently on pace to make the NFL playoffs. Up next is a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) in Week 12.

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Sean Payton moved to Denver and still owns the NFC South

Sean Payton swept the NFC South, proving nothing’s changed but his address. Unfortunately, his dominance now includes the Saints:

The Atlanta Falcons were painfully reminded of something that has been true for nearly 20 years. Sean Payton has partial ownership in the Atlanta Falcons. Maybe they hoped things changed since Payton was no longer leading the New Orleans Saints.

However, when the Falcons visited the Denver Broncos, Payton showed the new emblem on the hat doesn’t lessen his dominance over the Falcons. Payton improved his record to 22-9 against the Falcons with a dominating 38-6 victory.

Atlanta wasn’t the only team to get this reminder. Payton swept the NFC South this year and showed them why they all felt relieved by his temporary retirement. This included Payton’s first career victory over the Saints.

The games haven’t been too close either. The Carolina Panthers kept it the closest, and they lost by 14 points. At the end of that game, Payton flat out said Carolina isn’t a good team. Maybe that was the jolt Carolina needed because they haven’t lost a game since those comments.

During his 16-year run with New Orleans, Payton had a winning record against every team in the division. As the coach of the Denver Broncos, he’s undefeated against his former division.

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Take that, Craig Carton: Broncos hit the over on 2024 wins

This summer, Craig Carton said the Broncos’ over/under win line should be 2.5. They just hit the over on the actual line of 5.5 wins.

Oddsmakers had low expectations for the Denver Broncos going into the 2024 NFL season, setting their over/under win total at 5.5 this spring.

NFL experts — Craig Carton among them — also had low expectations.

“The Broncos are going to stink,” Carton said in August. “There’s no talent on that team … I’m looking at the Denver Broncos going, that over/under should be 2.5! Where are the wins coming from?”

Eleven weeks into the season, the Broncos secured their sixth win with a convincing 38-6 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. With six games remaining on the schedule, Denver should finish well above the “over” line in 2024.

This, of course, is no surprise to Broncos coach Sean Payton.

In an offseason interview with Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune, Payton was told about the team’s 5.5 over/under win line for the 2024 campaign.

“I love being the underdog. The next time I only win six games in a season will be the first,” Payton said in August.

Payton has never finished with fewer than seven wins in a season, a streak Denver will aim to continue when the Broncos go on the road to face the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) in Week 12.

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5 takeaways from Broncos’ 38-6 win over Falcons on Sunday

The Denver Broncos took care of business against the Atlanta Falcons with a 38-6 win on Sunday. Here are the key takeaways from the win.

The Denver Broncos (6-5) took care of business against the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) on Sunday afternoon with a convincing 38-6 victory at home. Here are five quick takeaways from the win.

1. Alex Forsyth bounced back: After not holding up in protection on the team’s crucial blocked field goal last week, Broncos lineman Alex Forsyth was moved from the “tight end” position to the “wing” spot for Denver’s kicks against the Falcons. The switch — and Forsyth’s resilience — paid off as kicker Wil Lutz went 6-of-6 on his kicks against Atlanta.

2. Perhaps Audric Estime isn’t the new RB1: After the rookie dominated the backfield touches last week, we assumed Audric Estime might be the Broncos’ new starting running back going forward. Instead, Javonte Williams was back to leading the team in carries (nine) and rushing yards (59) on Sunday. Jaleel McLaughlin (4/19) and Estime (6/16) mixed in. Denver’s staff seems poised to take a “hot hand” approach for the RB rotation.

3. Bo Nix has arrived: What a performance! Nix went 28-of-33 passing (84.8%) despite multiple drops from his receivers. Nix also posted career highs in passing yards (307) and passing touchdowns (four) before being replaced by Jarrett Stidham in the fourth quarter when the game was decided. Nix has shown incredible improvement from earlier this season and the Broncos appear to have found their new franchise quarterback.

4. Sean Payton swept NFC South: Following the 38-6 win over the Falcons, Denver is now 4-0 against coach Sean Payton’s old division. Earlier this year, the Broncos beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (26-7), New Orleans Saints (33-10) and Carolina Panthers (28-14).

5. Broncos hit the over: Eleven games into the 2024 season, Denver has hit the over on their over/under line of 5.5 wins established by oddsmakers before the season. The Broncos now have six victories under their belt with six games remaining this fall. Up next is a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) in Week 12.

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Broncos troll Kirk Cousins, NFC South with funny tweets

The Broncos had a perfect reaction on Twitter after beating Kirk Cousins and sweeping the NFC South.

After a convincing 38-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon, the Denver Broncos trolled quarterback Kirk Cousins and the entire NFC South division.

First up: a diamond-plated “W” necklace posted on their official Twitter/X page, a pretty obvious reference to Cousins and his “Kirko Chainz” nickname. Denver’s defense certainly got the best of Cousins on Sunday.

Cousins went 18-of-27 passing for 173 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He was also sacked three times for losses of 21 yards and Atlanta’s offense only managed to score two field goals on the day.

Another great tweet from the Broncos’ official page featured a WWE meme video of the team taking care of business against the NFC South this fall. Denver went 4-0 against coach Sean Payton’s old division in 2024.

After sweeping the NFC South, the Broncos will now look to get their second AFC West victory of the season when they host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12.

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Darren Rizzi becomes second 2-0 coach in Saints history

Darren Rizzi is just the second coach in Saints history to open up at 2-0 after New Orleans defeated the visiting Browns:

Darren Rizzi is just the second coach in Saints history to open up at 2-0, outside of just Sean Payton after New Orleans defeated the visiting Cleveland Browns, 35-14.

It’s worth noting this was expected to be a close game, with the Browns favored by one point. It was anything but that as multiple Saints hit milestones and put together a complete game.

That comes on the heels of the team’s 20-17 upset win over the Atlanta Falcons, who were one of the hottest teams in all of the NFL until last Sunday as the leaders of the NFC South division.

That’s not too shabby for a special teams coordinator turned interim head coach with what seems to be little or no notice. The changes the Saints seem to have made after the team parted ways with Dennis Allen have made the team almost unbelievably look night and day.

The Saints were struggling in all phases of the game under Allen after their hot 2-0 start in which they combined for 91 points on offense over those first two victories, but look refreshed and competitive now after snapping a seven-game losing streak.

New Orleans had had just five interim head coaches before Rizzi stepped in for Allen, and they combined for an abysmal 12-35 overall record.

Can Rizzi and the Saints stay hot moving forward? They will have a chance to prove they can do just that as they face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Dec. 1.

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Twitter reacts to Broncos’ 38-6 win over Falcons

The Broncos got a big win over the Falcons on Sunday. Here’s how Twitter/X reacted to the game.

The Denver Broncos had their biggest win of the 2024 season, a 38-6 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, at home on Sunday afternoon.

Here’s a sampling of how Twitter/X reacted to the big win.

Following Sunday’s big win at home, Denver will now go on the road to face the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) in Week 12.

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Broncos depth chart for Week 11 vs. Falcons

Here’s a look at the Broncos’ updated depth chart for Sunday’s game against the Falcons.

After making two roster moves earlier this week, the Denver Broncos have updated their depth chart ahead of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Broncos waived safety Keidron Smith from the 53-man roster on Tuesday. To fill Smith’s old spot on the active roster, Denver promoted fullback Michael Burton from the practice squad on Wednesday.

Smith was then elevated from the practice squad to the game-day roster along with linebacker Zach Cunningham on Saturday.

Following those moves, here’s how the depth chart stands for Week 11.

Broncos offensive depth chart

WR Marvin Mims Troy Franklin
LT Garett Bolles Matt Peart
LG Ben Powers Calvin Throckmorton
C Luke Wattenberg Alex Forsyth
RG Quinn Meinerz Alex Palczewski
RT Mike McGlinchey Frank Crum
TE Adam Trautman Greg Dulcich Lucas Krull
WR Courtland Sutton Lil’Jordan Humphrey Devaughn Vele
RB Javonte Williams Jaleel McLaughlin Audric Estime
FB Michael Burton Nate Adkins
QB Bo Nix Jarrett Stidham Zach Wilson

Broncos defensive depth chart

DE Zach Allen Jordan Jackson
NT D.J. Jones Malcolm Roach
DE John Franklin-Myers Eyioma Uwazurike
SLB Jonathon Cooper Jonah Elliss
WLB Nik Bonitto Dondrea Tillman
ILB Justin Strnad Zach Cunningham
ILB Cody Barton Levelle Bailey
LCB Pat Surtain Levi Wallace Tremon Smith
RCB Riley Moss Damarri Mathis Kris Abrams-Draine
NCB Ja’Quan McMillian
S P.J. Locke JL Skinner
S Brandon Jones Devon Key Keidron Smith

Broncos special teams depth chart

PK Wil Lutz
KO Wil Lutz
P Riley Dixon
H Riley Dixon
LS Mitchell Fraboni
KR Marvin Mims Tremon Smith Jaleel McLaughlin
PR Marvin Mims Tremon Smith

Sunday’s game will be regionally televised on Fox (view the TV map). Playing at home, the Broncos are considered slight favorites this week.

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