After acquiring veteran quarterback Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks last offseason, the Denver Broncos expected a major boost in their performance, however, the projection miserably went wrong and the team’s first-year Broncos head coach Sean Payton is adamant on not letting the same history repeat again.
Payton is renowned for calling out players on the spot and he is leaving no stone unturned to rectify the team’s past mistakes by emphasizing the need for improved discipline as they prepare for the upcoming 2023 NFL season.
Why did the Denver Broncos do so bad last year?
The Broncos found themselves in the last spot of the AFC West after a disappointing 5-12 record in the 2022 season and also missed the playoffs for seven consecutive years.
After leading the Broncos to a miserable 4-11 record, the team’s head coach Nathaniel Hackett who got hired as head coach of the Broncos in January 2022, was fired two games before the end of the season. One of the major bad moves if the former coach was to part ways with veteran offensive line coach Mike Munchak and include unproven coach Butch Barry in his place.
Denver’s hope Wilson couldn’t prove his worth with the poor record of throwing threw a career-low 16 touchdowns and witnessed his completion percentage dip to 60.5, the lowest in his prolonged 11-year tenure in the NFL.
Besides bad coaching along with poor offensive play, injuries worked behind the major downturn as the Broncos had to place 28 players on injured reserve last season including Bolles, Lloyd Cushenberry, Ronald Darby, Greg Dulcich, Randy Gregory, Jonas Griffith, Dre’Mont Jones, Tim Patrick, Dalton Risner and Javonte Williams, the second-highest total in the league.
Sean Payton discloses demand ahead of the new season
Following a successful run with the New Orleans Saints, Denver’s new HC Payton is all set to kick off a successful stint with the Broncos as he vowed that no detail would be too small to matter back his introductory press conference.
The Super Bowl champion coach is known for his meticulous attention to detail and he recently insisted the Broncos’ athletes to give up their losing mentality to bounce back in the league.
Sean Payton with a very clear message to his team:
"Before you start figuring out how to win, you have to know how not to lose. Last year, we ranked—I don’t even want to give it to you—28th and 27th or 29th in pre-snap fouls on both sides of the ball. That’s going to change."
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) June 14, 2023
“Before you start figuring out how to win, you have to know how not to lose. Last year, we ranked—I don’t even want to give it to you—28th and 27th or 29th in pre-snap fouls on both sides of the ball. That’s going to change” passed a straight forward message to the team.
As the 2023 NFL season looms, the Broncos fans can be rest assured witnessing the positive impact of the changes brought by the veteran coach and can expect to see their beloved team following an upward trajectory in the near future.
