At the halfway mark of the 2024 season, the Denver Broncos sit in a playoff position.
Denver’s 28-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday marked its fifth win in the last six games after an 0-2 start. The Broncos sit second in the AFC West and currently hold a wild-card position.
But coach Sean Payton was far from satisfied with the Broncos’ play against Carolina, particularly in the turnover department. While rookie quarterback Bo Nix remained interception-free for the fifth time in six weeks, the Broncos lost two fumbles, including one on the opening drive of the game.
“Here’s the thing, we can’t turn the ball over the way we did offensively,” Payton said Monday. “We can’t fumble on the first drive, (and) we can’t fumble later in the game. I put up some numbers for these guys just to see where we’re at relative to the season and relative to history. It’s not the perfect game we’re searching for, but it’s the game that we know when played with bigger stakes against a better team, it’ll cost you.”
More mistakes like that, Payton warned, and the Broncos will be cleaning out their lockers the day after the regular season ends, with no trip to the playoffs.
“We have to be better at that. The turnovers bothered me,” Payton said. “The late drive and how we played defensively bothered me. Look, I just think, âWhat’s the bar? What’s the expectation?’ It has to meet or exceed mine.”
The fumble culprits Sunday were receivers Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Courtland Sutton. Humphrey had the ball jarred loose after catching a pass on the third play from scrimmage. Sutton fumbled afer a reception near the goal line with 2:13 left to play, setting the Panthers up for a 98-yard scoring drive that cut the deficit from 21 to 14 points. Shy Tuttle recovered both fumbles for Carolina.
Payton was asked if his team has been forming a personality with an edge to it, and he replied that he’d rather the Broncos take on “a winning personality.” But it wasn’t all doom and gloom from the veteran coach, who won Super Bowl XLIV with the New Orleans Saints.
“I’m pleased with our younger players that are getting to play,” Payton said. “We have a young group and a young team. We have some veterans mixed in. We just have to continue. Much the same as we’re developing the quarterback — which obviously gets a lot of the attention — we have to be developing these other younger players just as well.”
A pair of big road games lie ahead: at the Baltimore Ravens, who are tied with Denver at 5-3, and the Kansas City Chiefs, the undefeated division leaders.
