3 reasons Broncos fans should temper expectations for 2023

3) Denver Broncos Starting from almost scratch

The 2022 Broncos were one of the greatest embarrassments and disappointments in modern football history. After trading for one of the better quarterbacks in NFL history, signing him to a long-term deal to finally take the team out of quarterback purgatory, and hiring one of the brightest young minds in the game, the Broncos went 5-12 and orchestrated one of the worst offenses in football. The team was dysfunctional, seeing an offensive lineman trying to fight the backup quarterback, a backup defensive tackle screaming at the starting quarterback right behind the head coach, and worst of all, a Christmas debacle against the Rams that resulted in the firing of Nathaniel Hackett.

The Broncos were an embarrassment for the ages. Sean Payton is facing an almost impossible task: take the closest thing the NFL has right now to the vintage Browns and turn them into a winner. To expect this in just one year is placing impossible odds on the coach and his staff, and almost certainly sets them up for failure.

There is no doubt that the Walton-Penner group and George Paton are expecting improvements next year. Anything worse than what they did would be a hysterically bad start to the Payton tenure. However, building a winning and championship organization takes time and patience, and will not be done in a year. Sure, everyone would love it if this take ends up being wrong, but it just is improbable bordering on impossible.

Rome was not built in a day, and neither were the Patriots or Chiefs. If the Broncos want to reach that level, it will require a load of patience and understanding, and a grace period to bring a currently laughable franchise back to the prominence of the Bowlen days. Sean Payton is just the man the Broncos need to try and achieve this task, but he will need to be given time to do it correctly, and for that, there is no reason to assume a complete 180 from the 2023 Broncos.