The Denver Broncos comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2 was the perfect 'Broncos' game. When things got tough, the team played their best. It is a bit frustrating that the team doesn't seem to truly feel the urgency until it's late in the game, but we watched the team do that time and time again in 2025.
And if that has to be the identity of the team in 2026, then I guess the fanbase will have to deal. Despite the team having won 25 regular season games since the start of the 2024 NFL Season, things haven't always been trending upward.
In fact, the slow starts under Sean Payton are quite obvious and a bit troubling. With that said, the 1-1 Broncos do have a chance, for the first time in the Payton era, to end September with a winning record.
Denver Broncos have a chance to start 2-1 and finish September strong
Payton-coached teams are historically slow starters. It's simply something that Payton has not been able to shake as a head coach. For whatever reason, his teams begin to heat up in October and November after a slow September start.
As the Broncos head coach, here is how the team has performed in September:
2023: 0-3
2024: 2-2
2025: 2-2
2026: 1-1
As of now, the Broncos own a lousy 5-8 record in September, and are .500 in the month since the start of the Bo Nix era.
After those slow starts listed above, here is how the Broncos finished the 2023-2025 seasons:
2023: 8-6
2024: 8-5
2025: 12-1
So, when it's not September, the Broncos own a 28-12 record, which is a .700 winning percentage. Simply put, the Broncos being able to win in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams would be massive, and a huge change from what we're used to seeing.
While the Rams are every bit of a juggernaut, the Broncos get this game at home and will likely see Matthew Stafford at quarterback. Stafford just isn't a mobile QB anymore, so the Broncos being able to generate pressure would halt the Rams passing attack.
Even with Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence being quite mobile himself, Denver was able to frazzle him in the pocket. Doing so against a statue, in comparison, would throw off the Rams entire offensive gameplan.
The Broncos then proceed to play the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Arizona Cardinals in October, a month where the Broncos are a wicked 7-1 in the Nix era.
There really isn't much more to this idea - the Broncos start slow in September, but until they lose in Week 3, they have a chance to win and get to a strong 2-1 start before hopefully going on a run over the next two months.
With teams like Cincinnati and Kansas City already looking much better than in 2025, Denver could need as many wins as possible to even sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card team.
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