For everyone who wanted to listen this offseason, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton had the same message: He believed his team was a Super Bowl contender.
Payton believed this was the most talented team he ever coached. Quite a compliment when you consider his run with the New Orleans Saints included winning the Super Bowl after the 2009 season.
So far, Payton’s team has seemed to do everything they can to prove their coach wrong, including consecutive last-second losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers and a 1-2 record headed into Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s why The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia called the Broncos the NFL’s most disappointing team through the first 3 weeks of the regular season.
“So I’ve actually got the Broncos as the most disappointing team through 3 weeks … but I’m not telling you they’re going to stink,” Kapadia said on The Ringer NFL Show on September 25. “I think they’re going to be a good team, but I definitely need to see more before I can decide and all of the Sean Payton propaganda tour in the summer was warranted and they can actually be a Super Bowl contender.”
Broncos Coming Off First Playoffs Since 2015
The reason for the Broncos having such high expectations this season came after they made the playoffs for the first time since 2015 last year and doing so with the largest single season dead cap hit in NFL history at $53 million and with a rookie quarterback in 2024 first round pick Bo Nix.
Those things, combined with having everyone back from a defense that led the NFL with 63 sacks in 2024 had the Broncos as a super trendy pick as contenders this season.
Through 3 games, the defense has looked great at times and totally undisciplined at others. While they’re leading the NFL with 12.0 sacks, their 19th in team defense.
“The big difference this year is the defense is not as good,” Kapadia said. “And I think that’s the disappointing part because a lot of people were expecting this to continue to be the best defense in the league, which is hard to do.”
One Player Who Can Change It All: Bo Nix
While the defense has been a disappointment thus far, the single player who seems to have regressed the most is Nix, who has arguably been one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks through the first 3 games.
Nix, who seemed like a veteran quarterback at the end of last season, has struggled to hit wide open receivers on deep routes and with his decision making overall.
While the excruciating thing about watching Nix play has been the downfield misses, the numbers back up exactly just how bad he’s been — he’s ranked 41st out of 43rd eligible NFL quarterbacks this season with a 47.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
“Bo Nix needs to take a long/hard look in the mirror and decide what he wants to be,” Mile High Sports’ Swipa Cam wrote on his official X account. “He is the reason the team is 1-2 and not 3-0. You’re the QB. I’m tired of you getting your dome rocked at the end of every game and falling apart when the team needs you.”
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