The Denver Broncos special teams unit had their worst game of the 2025 NFL Season in Week 9. The team managed to walk out of Houston with a huge victory, as they continue to remain in first place in the AFC West and have a realistic shot at an 8-2 start.
Denver hosts the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football and then host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11 before their bye in Week 12. Before we get there, though, it's imperative that the bad special teams performance gets talked about more.
Whether it was penalties, having a field goal blocked in the first quarter, a muffed punt by Michael Bandy, or bad kick and put coverage, Darren Rizzi's unit was downright terrible in Week 9, and it's been that way all season. Well, after the game, Sean Payton sent a huge message to Rizzi and the ST unit.
Sean Payton seems fed up with Darren Rizzi's unit after Week 9
The Denver Broncos simply cannot go forward with Darren Rizzi as the special teams coordinator if these errors keep happening, and that's an understatement. Well, head coach Sean Payton seems to be fed up:
Payton on a bad day on special teams: “We’ll get that cleaned up or we’ll find somebody that will.”
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) November 2, 2025
It's not super clear if Sean Payton is being 100% serious or just telling the media what they want to hear, as Payton is a bit of a stubborn coach and loves 'his guys' to no end, so we'll see. The Broncos parted with former special teams coach Ben Kotwica this past offseason and brought in Rizzi.
At the time, the hire was gassed up as the Broncos just landing the best ST coordinator in the NFL, but we have not seen that, and if the unit still looks bad after nine games, is it really going to improve? What is not clicking for Rizzi?
Whatever the issue may be; the Broncos have to consider making a coaching change if the unit cannot shape up, and they'll have a great chance to do that in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos have a quick turnaround, as they play on Thursday Night Football.