Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton has been getting accolades across the board for leading the Broncos an 8-2 record, but it hasn’t been all hearts and flowers lately. In Thursday’s post-game assessment, Denver Gazette columnist Mark Kiszla accused Payton of having a “bloated ego” that’s “wrecking Broncos’ championship run.”
Give Kiszla credit for not pulling any punches here. He stated bluntly that the offense “plays more to Payton’s ego than his team’s talent,” and like many other observers he added that Denver’s 8-2 record is beginning to look fraudulent.
Time to step back and take a deep breath. Kiszla’s argument was full of flaws, starting with the fact that the columnist thinks “Payton still seems lost in the dark about how to orchestrate complementary football with the one-two running punch of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey behind the road-graders on his well-paid offensive line.”
This conveniently ignores the fact that the Broncos are down two left guards, including stud Ben Powers, who’s out for the season with a torn bicep. The result has been a scramble, especially with backup Matt Peart now out for an extended stretch, and the Broncos were reduced to signing 41-year old Marcedes Lewis to help shore up the blocking at the end of the line.
There are backups playing everywhere, and it’s certainly fair to criticize Payton and his GM, George Paton, for not hitting the market at the trade deadline and shoring up the line.
It’s also fair to criticize Payton for his play-calling with Nix, who often veers from brilliant gunslinger to bumbling career backup within the same game. It’s Payton’s job to straighten that out, and at this point it’s hard to give him anything much better than a C- in the "consistency" department given what’s played out on the field for the last month.
But it’s also important to remember that Payton is one of the primary architects of the whole team, not just the offense and the quarterback. He worked together with George Paton to build the swarming defense that’s been dominant, and while there are signs of growing problems, that 8-2 record is what it is. Nix has also gone on some impressive tears that have set records, hence the need for that deep breath.
Payton does have an ego, of course, and while it may be tough to take from time to time, he’s been an excellent hire to date. The Broncos have capitalized on a soft stretch in their schedule to get those eight wins, though, and it’s time to tighten things up and become more consistent with the Chiefs coming to town.