When the Denver Broncos brought in Sean Payton following their catastrophically bad 2022 season, Payton promised to bring the franchise back to its prior years of success. Denver was in the midst of a playoff drought that rivaled only the Jets for total years, and was now one of football's true laughing stocks. Payton had what seemed like an impossible task, and he made it harder at first.
When the Broncos brought in Payton, a great deal of the conversation around his hire was focused on Russell Wilson. After a mediocre season in 2025, Payton chose to move on from the veteran quarterback and induce the largest dead cat hit in football history. In a way that almost no other coach in sporting history has done, Payton bet on himself.
Not only has Peyton’s historic gamble on himself paid off, but it has also completely saved the Denver Broncos’ franchise. As a part of his gamble on himself, he selected Bo Nix, one of the more polarizing draft prospects in recent memory, as his quarterback with the 12th overall selection. The new duo in Denver has taken the Broncos to two consecutive playoff appearances and is well on its way to becoming one of the best coaching-quarterback duos in the entire league.
This key stat shows how the duo of Nix and Payton have saved the Broncos
For the first time since the 2015 season, the Broncos are champions of the AFC West and will host a playoff game in Denver. If they are able to win this Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, they'll be able to ensure that the entirety of the AFC's road to the Super Bowl in Santa Clara runs through Denver. Clinching the top seed would be an incredible accomplishment for the Broncos, and it would be an incredible boost for them.
To be able to bring home the entirety of the AFC playoff path, the Broncos need to finish with the top record in the conference. If the Broncos win next week, not only will they bring home the top record in the AFC, but they will also clinch a share of the best record in the NFL. Not even three years removed from fans counting down the play clock for the offense, the Broncos have a chance to finish the year with the football’s best record.
If Denver can indeed clinch the top overall seed in the AFC, it would be the perfect finish to what has been an incredible regular season from Payton's team. He promised a new day for the Broncos that saw similar success to what the franchise experienced for 20 years from the late 90s through Super Bowl 50, and he appears to be finally delivering. Who knows where the Broncos would even be without him?