Denver Broncos Fans Prefer Deion to Sean Payton After Latest Loss to Raiders | Westword
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Broncos Fans Prefer Deion to Sean Payton After Latest Loss to Raiders

The biggest story in Colorado sports is no longer Denver's football team.
September 11, 2023
Sean Payton watching the final seconds tick away in the Broncos' loss to the Raiders on September 10.
Sean Payton watching the final seconds tick away in the Broncos' loss to the Raiders on September 10. CBS/Photo by Michael Roberts
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At this very moment, your Denver Broncos find themselves in an unfamiliar position.

For most of the franchise's existence, its first regular-season game has been not just the biggest story in Colorado sports, but the biggest story in Colorado, period. But after the CU Buffaloes, led by human supernova Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders, leapt into the college football top twenty after schooling the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers 36-14 on September 9, the Broncos needed a stellar performance the next day to retain their peak status.

Instead, Denver, under its own new leader, former Super Bowl winner Sean Payton, delivered another heaping helping of mediocrity en route to a 17-16 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders — the seventh consecutive failure to vanquish the outfit's historical rival.

Fans on the Service Formerly Known as Twitter definitely noticed. In the wake of yet another ignominious defeat, scads of posters compared Payton and the Broncos unfavorably to Deion and the Buffs. And this conclusion was spot-on.

Like Sanders, Payton has an ego large enough to require its own solar system, and he attempted to draw attention to himself on Sunday's very first play — an onside kick by new booter Will Lutz. The gambit would have been spectacular had it worked, but no. Although the Broncos recovered, Tremon Smith touched the ball before it traveled the required ten yards, resulting in a penalty that gave the Raiders the ball in ridiculously good field position, and they quickly cashed in with a touchdown.

The deficit Payton's showboating produced lasted longer than it should have. Quarterback Russell Wilson, the focus of the tedious "Russ is cooked" narrative for the better part of a year, subsequently led his charges on a fourteen-play, 86-yard march that resulted in a TD hurl to the amazingly named Lil'Jordan Humphrey. But Denver failed to tie the score when Lutz missed the extra point — and he proved equally inaccurate on a 55-yard field-goal try early in the third quarter.

These botches caused plenty of pundits to put Denver's demise on Lutz's shoulders, but Payton actually deserves the blame. It was the coach, after all, who jettisoned longtime field-goal specialist Brandon McManus during the off-season — an all-too typical move in a league where kickers are chronically, and foolishly, undervalued and treated as interchangeable. (McManus didn't miss a kick for his new unit, the Jacksonville Jaguars, on Sunday.) Moreover, Payton's decision to go for a low percentage three-pointer rather than attempt to pick up a fourth and three from the Raiders' 37 yard line displayed a lack of confidence in his own offense that proved his bravado to be more pose than reality.

Granted, Payton's offensive restructuring did good things for Wilson, who completed 27 of the 34 passes. But because Russ was seldom allowed to throw anything other than dump-offs, the yardage total was just 177 — and the grind-it-out approach essentially makes comebacks impossible.

Not that the Broncos had much of a chance to mount a rally. With the Raiders ahead 17-16 late in the game, the defense needed a stop but couldn't generate one, in part because its pass rush was pretty much nonexistent throughout the afternoon.

By finishing with 16 points, the Broncos actually fell short of their 2022 regular-season average of 16.9 — the very stat Payton's hiring was intended to address.

Watching Raiders field general Jimmy Garoppolo ending the contest in victory formation was even more humiliating for those of us who've been watching the CU Buffs' offensive explosion so far this season. Sanders made big promises, and thus far, he's delivered. But Payton? Not so much.

Yes, the Broncos could, and should, improve. But for the moment, they're no longer first in the hearts of local fans, as the following takes demonstrate. Count down our picks for the twenty most memorable posts below:

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BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.
Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
Contact: Michael Roberts
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