Sloppy Coaching From Sean Payton and Staff is Hurting the Broncos

Slopping coaching from Sean Payton is hurting the Broncos.

The Denver Broncos are contenders, but they can only go as far as Sean Payton and the coaching staff takes them.

This is a young team, with young and emerging stars, who need the strong leadership from Payton and his staff.

But what we've seen this season is a handful of sloppy coaching issues and they're worsening in some areas, while improving in others.

Marvin Mims Sustained a Concussion Because of Poor Coaching Communication

There are many ways in which the Broncos coaching staff has let down their players, but the most glaring is the fact that Marvin Mims is now in concussion protocol.

Despite the Broncos being up 20 points on the Cowboys with 4:44 to play, Mims was still in on the kickoff. He sustained a concussion and now he's likely to miss the game this week against the Texans in Houston.

"I know Riz' was trying to send in Tyler Badie for Marvin," Payton said to the media on Monday morning. "Somehow, the communication failed. Tyler went in for RJ (Harvey), but fair question. Right at that stage of the game, you're trying to be smart."

Smart is pulling out your All-Pro return man and receiver/gadget guy who can do a little bit of everything on the field. He didn't have a reception on Sunday, but ran three times for 18 yards and added a nice wrinkle to the offense. He also had 3 kickoff returns for 93 yards and 2 punt returns for 26. Mims is also the third-leading receiver on the team.

That huge, glaring mistake is on Darren Rizzi's hands.

And while we're on Rizzi, his addition has not been great for the Broncos this year.

The Broncos are second-worst in the NFL in combined punt and kick return yardage allowed, giving up 29.1 yards per return.

Sean Payton hired his old buddy Rizzi–they coached together in New Orleans–and that's looking like a poor decision halfway through the 2025 season.

Broncos are Worst in NFL in Penalties; That's Sloppy Coaching

The Denver Broncos currently lead the NFL in penalties, with 85 calls going against them and an absurd 617 yards lost on those flags.

While the Broncos finally tasted greatness in their win over the Cowboys this week, they're a team that doesn't have a lot of room for errors typically.

Denver Broncos Tasted Greatness for First Time in Sean Payton Era

The Denver Broncos were great in their 44-24 blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was the first time they tasted greatness under Sean Payton.

Broncos BlitzRich Kurtzman

Many Broncos fans have said, "Man, this team could be 8-0!" but, once you look at the penalty numbers, it's clear this team is undisciplined and earned their 6-2 record.

Of those 85 penalties called against them, 17 were declined and 68 were enforced. The Broncos have lost 142 yards on those penalties, which are second-worst to Chicago.

"Both sides of the ball, that's concerning, and we've addressed it," Payton said last Wednesday. "We'll continue to address it. It's one of those items that has to get cleaned up."

He continued, "So that has to change to get where we want to go," which is presumably the Super Bowl.

At least 12 of those enforced penalties were pre-snap (delay of game, false start) with illegal formations falling under the "other" category, in which Denver has 9 such penalties.

"The pre-snap, alright, those are [our] focus and then during the snap, oftentimes it's technique," Payton explained.

Simply, leading the NFL in penalties against is a poor reflection of the coaching staff. This is on Payton and Co.

Payton's Play Calling and 4th Down Decisions Have Been Bad

Outside of a handful of quarters, Sean Payton's play calling has been befuddling.

Those quarters are:

• 4th quarter vs. the Eagles
• 4th quarter vs. the Giants
• Entire Cowboys game

Early in the year, Broncos Country wanted the team to run the ball more. They've done well in that area as the year has gone on as Payton adapted, and are currently third in rushing yards.

But when it comes to passing, Payton's been really frustrating. He calls too many screens, swings, and short passes near the line of scrimmage. There was a point in the Giants game where Denver called so many swing passes to the flat in a row New York read it and dropped the receiver behind the line.

When it's not a short pass, it's a deep ball.

The Broncos passing offense has been a lot of boom or bust this season outside of the last five quarters and that Eagles 4th. It was enough for an NFL defensive coordinator to tell James Palmer they've figured Payton's offense out and when the Broncos can't run the ball, they're not worried about getting beat deep.

There have been a ton of bad play calls this year. Some of the ones that are top of mind are:

• 3rd and 10 fullback dive vs. the Jets in London
• 4th and goal from the 2 vs. Giants: Nix screen to Courtland Sutton, stuffed
• 2nd and 10 screen to J.K. Dobbins vs. Chargers 2:25 left: Needed a first down but went 3-and-out, Chargers marched to win

I'm sure there are many more, but those few really stuck out to me.

And beyond those individually bad play calls, Payton has been bad when it comes to Doing The Dumb Thing, as Ben Baldwin calls it here. That's running the ball when it's 2nd and long. The Broncos are 10th-worst at this. Meanwhile, the Chargers are best and Chiefs are third-best.

Go for it on 4th more, Coach!

Then, there's choosing to go for it on 4th down or punting.

Dan Campbell has made the Lions one of the most-feared teams to play against because they go for it on 4th down. All. The. Time.

Other teams have caught on. You can see from the chart below by Ben Baldwin that the Chiefs (5th) and Eagles (3rd) are among the best at going for it when they should. And what do you know? Those three teams are all serious, legitimate Super Bowl contenders this year.

Denver is way down at the bottom, in fourth-worst position.

Going for it when they should is determined by gaining win probability percentages of 1.5% or more from that decision.

Payton is terrible at it and has been for years.

To be clear, I'm not calling for him to go for it all the time. Payton needs to go for it when it benefits the Broncos in terms of winning that particular game. It's situational coaching, much like play calling.

Andy Reid is probably the best in the league at calling the right play at the right time, and/or going for it to guarantee a win or demoralize a defense.

What has Sean Payton Been Thinking with his Behavior Lately?

Payton ran onto the field against the Giants and yelled at the officials, earning an unsportsmanlike penalty, and then he talked trash about Russell Wilson in a postgame press conference.

I don't remember the last time I saw a head coach run to the middle of the field, some 25-plus yards off the sideline, to yell at the officials before he did that in the fourth quarter against the Giants.

Even when Bill Cowher did it, and assaulted the referee 30 years ago, it was during halftime. And Cowher, who talked about it on the Manning Cast, said he isn't proud he did that.

When Payton ran onto the field and yelled at the officials–for a terrible DPI call on Riley Moss–he set the example for his players, and Dre Greenlaw ran after the referee and threatened him, only to be suspended for one game.

Sean Payton’s Poor Leadership Led to Dre Greenlaw’s Suspension

Sean Payton left the field and yelled at the officials. Dre Greenlaw’s suspension is from following in his coach’s footsteps.

Broncos BlitzRich Kurtzman

After the game, Payton basically said he wished the Broncos played against Wilson instead of the rookie Jaxson Dart.

He said he wished the Giants switched the Dart "long after our game." It certainly came off as a swipe at Wilson, who fired back calling Payton "classless."

Obviously, the classless remarks were the smallest of the concerns, but they do reflect on Payton's lack of leadership and professionalism.

There's no doubt he's the caliber of coach that can take the Broncos to the Super Bowl. But before he can do that, he has a lot to work on.