When most NFL coaches and players reference the “L” word, you don’t exactly have to be a football genius to be able to frame the discussion. But Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton has always seen things a little differently, and his “L” word message to his team this week has nothing to do with losing.
It’s about logistics, actually. Payton is concerned about one of those weird NFL stats that has the team that was on the road before a London game going 10-17 after making the jump across the pond, according to Diana Russini of The Athletic.
This might sound like coaching minutia and over-preparation, but Payton actually has a pretty good point. The Broncos were already playing on a short week when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles, and according to reports during the game broadcast, they spent the night in a hotel before heading off to London. It’s an exhausting road trip, and anyone who’s ever done cross-Atlantic travel knows how strange things can get when it comes to jet lag and settling in. The NFL version of this comes with all kinds of intrinsic distractions, and Payton doesn't want his team to fall victim to them.
Payton has another concern here, too. Sunday’s opponent is the 0-5 New York Jets, who are basically the definition of a trap game coming into this one. Payton is trying to prevent his players from taking the J-E-T-S too lightly, which would be a natural tendency given how many unique ways the Jets have found to lose this year.
Jet quarterback Justin Fields is an interesting part of this discussion. He's not the answer at quarterback in New York, but he has been dangerous at times. Fields had 283 yards passing and two touchdowns in New York’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys last week, and the Jets running game has definitely been dangerous. Fields has just four touchdown passes so far this year, but running back Breece Hall has 351 yards rushing with a 5.3 yards per carry average, and the quarterback has added 204 yards of his own to go with three TDs on just 31 carries.
Payton has a dominant defense this year, and he wants to keep them focused. Ideally he and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph would love to shut down Fields and have this game basically be over at halftime. He also wants quarterback Bo Nix to be focused enough to play a clean game, but wonky things have been known to happen in London due to the brutal scheduling that sometimes precedes them.