The Denver Broncos are 9-2, but they are far from a perfect team. Despite the miscues and the drama, the team is now atop the AFC once again and can get healthy going into the bye. With six games remaining, Denver may only have to win one of those to make the playoffs.
And, at this rate, Denver might be able to win the AFC West with two or three more wins. The Broncos' remaining schedule, though, is definitely favorable. and another four wins is certainly possible. Now on the bye, the Broncos can get away for a little bit and regroup for the stretch run, which could include six regular season games and a few playoff games.
However, there is a glaring issue that, at the end of the day, Sean Payton knows will not get fixed, period.
Sean Payton keeps talking about penalties, but they aren't going away...
Every week, it seems like Sean Payton is asked about penalties and always has the answer of "we'll clean it up," or something like that. Well, in Week 11, Denver got called for 10 penalties that resulted in 147 yards. It was, simply, an inexcusable outing in that regard.
Now on the season, the Broncos have been called for 93 penalties in 11 games. They have eight more penalties than the next-closet team. Those penalties have resulted in 883 yards, which is well over 100 more yards than the next closest team.
In 2024, Denver had 111 penalties in 18 total games, so they are, unfortunately, on pace to finish with more than that this year. If this is still a trend after 11 games, it is going to remain a trend for the rest of the season, unless a miracle happens.
It's a sad reality of the Denver Broncos, but them being able to overcome these penalties and win nine games thus far is flat-out amazing. This only proves how good the team can be. Imagine if Denver was closer to the league average and had, let's say, 70 penalties?
We could be talking about an undefeated team right now. Anyway, the penalties are there, they happen every week, and they do not seem to be getting fixed. This issue is going to catch up to the Denver Broncos at some point, and it's honestly a bit surprising it did not catch up to them in Week 11.
Perhaps having the bye week is something that can reset the players' minds and get them playing cleaner football.