The Denver Broncos decided to get serious after the failure that was the Nathaniel Hackett era back in 2022. Denver traded multiple high NFL Draft picks for Sean Payton, and this could go down as one of the best decisions any NFL team has made in decades.
The 2023 season got off to a rocky start, but Denver did rally to finish with a respectable 8-9 record. The 2024 season was even better, as the Broncos shocked the NFL world with Bo Nix and finished with a 10-7 record, making the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Now, here in 2025, we are seeing just about everything come together for Payton's Broncos. They have not lost a game since September and could win out for a sensational 15-2 record, a win mark that few teams are able to achieve. Well, with one more win, Sean Payton could join a seat at the all-time table that only has Bill Belichick.
Sean Payton is on the cusp of joining company alongside Bill Belichick in all-time NFL history
Sean Payton could join Bill Belichick as the only two head coaches in the history of the NFL with five seasons of at least 13 wins:
With a Broncos win on Sunday against the Jaguars, Sean Payton will join Bill Belichick as the only head coaches in NFL history with at least five 13-win seasons.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 19, 2025
Alongside Bo Nix, Payton is one of three coaches since 1950 to lead a team to 10+-wins and a playoff berth in each of… pic.twitter.com/pthpLdHq9e
This might feel like an arbitrary statistic, but it's clear that it's the total opposite. Payton now has a record of 30-18 with the Denver Broncos and a 182-107 overall record. In prior seasons, Sean Payton finished with at least 13 wins in the 2009, 2011, 2018, and 2019 seasons.
Denver has two more games at home this year, and their remaining away game is going to be against the Patrick Mahomes-less Kansas City Chiefs, so there is reason to believe that Denver finishes with, at least, a 14-3 record season record.
Oddly enough, Payton has never won more than 13 games in a season. The Broncos are set to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Chargers. I would be shocked if Denver was not favored in all three of those games, so it's not impossible that Denver wins the final three.
Payton is turning 62 years old at the end of the month. It's hard to say how much longer he'd plan on coaching, but it feels like he'll be here for the next five years, at least. When Denver hired Payton, things turned around, and this train keeps moving in the right di