Sean Payton believes a good defense and strong rushing attack is what a quarterback needs

New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been making the rounds on radio row and television at the Super Bowl events this week. On Friday, he was asked by Chris Simms about his plan for Russell Wilson and he had a fairly good response.

“The two greatest allies for a QB are defense and a run game,” Payton said. “We need to take him off the high dive the whole time. He’ll need to be there 6-8 times per game though.”

That’s such a good response and something most of us hardcore fans understand. Even the greatest quarterbacks succeed the most when they have great balance around them. Frankly, I want the Broncos to be a run-heavy football team. That kind of attack opens up so many good opportunities for a good quarterback to capitalize on.

With Javonte Williams coming back from a very serious knee injury, the Broncos need to bring in some actual talent to bolster their backfield this offseason. I think we can count on Latavius Murray returning, but I would also hope to see additional backs brought in who have extensive playing time at the NFL level.

Of course, they also need to make sure the defense doesn’t take a huge step back. As good as they were last year, few people realize how quietly the Broncos defenses faded down the stretch. After being a Top 5 defense for the first half the year, they ended up 14th in points and 7th in yards overall.

It’s good to see Payton intends to try to hold that defense together and get the run game back on track as well. Both of these things should maximize Russell Wilson’s skillset too.

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