Earlier this week, I asked Denver Broncos fans if they thought the hiring of Sean Payton will have this team a playoff contender next season. Surprisingly, the results were overwhelmingly positive. I would have thought there would be a lot more of us who are jaded with this seven year run of ineptitude.
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Frankly, I am inclined to agree based on what I’ve seen of Payton’s career with the New Orleans Saints. On the day the news broke, I wrote about a study done on head coaches expected win rate and how Payton was third-best in the NFL since 2009 at coaching his team above and beyond their talent level.
But if more convincing is needed, we’ve got a seven year cut up of every single goal-line passing touchdown play by the Saints from 2012-2018.
Since Sean Payton is relevant again, here's a 21-minute cutup of all of the Saints' goal-line passing touchdowns from 2012-2018:https://t.co/w0QO00Ooc8
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) February 1, 2023
The thing about that video is to note how there are very specific and similar plays called over and over and over again. Then by the next season, there is something different used and so on. Payton finds what defenses struggle to defend and he gets his offense very skilled at running those plays.
Scoring touchdowns inside of the five-yard line is something the Broncos have not done well in recent years. Turning the Broncos’ offense into a Top 10 unit at red zone efficiency would instantly make them a playoff-caliber team. So I’m slowly coming around to some optimism heading into this offseason, but I will need to do my best to keep it tapered. They need to show me this time. I’m not yeeting into this season with that “Let’s Ride” shit. Go out there and win some games, then we’ll talk!
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