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Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos are 7-5 on the season after beating the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12, putting them one win back from their 2023 total.
They could finish with their first double-digit win season since 2015. Las Vegas took a 13-9 lead into halftime but the Broncos outscored them 20-6 after the break. After the game, Payton credited the Raiders for their determination.
Payton’s message also came with a harsh reality check that no moral victories exist.
“Credit Vegas. They came out and had some fire about them,” Payton told reporters on November 24. “But they lost.
The loss dropped Vegs to 2-9 on the season.
They also lost starting quarterback Gardner Minshew to a broken collarbone, which will end his season. Broncos linebacker Cody Barton and edge rusher Jonathon Cooper got to the Raiders QB in the fourth quarter.
“Look, Gardner is tough when he gets out of the pocket,” Payton said. “So every time he got out of the pocket, I’m screaming at [Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph] and every defensive coach, ‘We want to cage rush him.’ And when we can keep him there – but turnovers came. And those really proved to be the difference and they will in most games.
“I thought we handled the run game. They give you some eye candy, motion stuff. We missed a few relative with coverage assignments. 89 [Brock Bowers], 98 [Maxx Crosby], 19 [DJ Turner], those are really good players. But we didn’t hear from them a lot.”
Bowers and Turner combined for six receptions for 43 yards on 14 targets. Crosby had 5 tackles, three of which were for a loss, and 1 QB hit.
The Raiders got strong contributions from Jakobi Meyers (10-121-0) and Tre Tucker (7-82-0).
The Raiders replaced Minshew with former Atlanta Falcons third-round pick Desmond Ridder who was sacked and fumbled on his second play from scrimmage. This marks back-to-back wins for the Broncos, giving them four in their last six outings.
Sean Payton Shades 2023 Broncos Team
GettyFormer Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson #3 warms up before facing the Las Vegas Raiders.
Payton’s cold truths were not limited to the opposition. He also shared his message to his team postgame, which included shade for last year’s Broncos squad that Payton downplayed.
“I said this to them: The elite teams, in 17 regular season games, will be really ready for 13 or 14 of those games, and then the ones they’re not, they still find a way to win. And they may lose a few, but they find a way still, And I said to them today, ‘Our team a year ago doesn’t win this game, but this team did. And you built some grit. We won the turnover battle again. We were the better team today. And we didn’t always play like it. But we’ll get those things cleaned up,’” Payton said.
“I’m just talking about what I see with the mental toughness, the grit, fortitude. How they work has been – this is an entirely different team from a year ago. And then, that’s no discredit to last year’s team. Just is what it is.”
The 2024 Broncos roster 40 players from the 2023 squad.
The most notable subtraction was quarterback Russell Wilson, who the team cut in March despite incurring an $85 million dead cap hit.
Sean Payton Name-Drops Courtland Sutton After Win
GettyCourtland Sutton #14 and Justin Strnad #40 of the Denver Broncos leaves the field after beating the Las Vegas Raiders.
One of those holdover players from 2023, Pro Bowl wide receiver Courtland Sutton, received brief praise from Payton.
“I probably should have gotten into some heavier personnel groupings,” Payton said in response to a question about pressure on QB Bo Nix early in the game. “But we really felt we had some matchup advantages, and we took advantage of them. Courtland played tremendous.”
Sutton led the Broncos with eight receptions and 97 yards in the contest.
