Broncos' Losing Habit & How Sean Payton Can Snap it
Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
Arguably the greatest coach in NFL history was right then as he is now. The Denver Broncos are habitual offenders when it comes to losing football games.
The stink of six straight losing seasons does not wash off easily. It's time to understand the makeup of the players on the Broncos' roster to understand why.
When the Broncos are making the same old mistakes but with a different and more competent head coach, it isn’t the coaching. The Broncos lead the league in penalties.
The Broncos are losing games by a one-score difference and are committing mental errors throughout games. The Broncos can't take care of all the little things that lead to winning. Sound familiar?
This team's losing ways have become a habit. One can point to more than just six straight losing seasons prior to starting 0-2 in 2023.
The Broncos' roster is made up mostly of players who have a history of defeat in the NFL. Denver's 22 starters combine for a record of 782-932-1. Furthermore, there are only five starters who currently have a winning record during their time playing professional football.
To make matters worse, the Broncos' defense, which is the weakest link on the team two games in, has zero players with a winning record. The two captains on that side of the ball are 52 games below .500.
Justin Simmons has only experienced one winning season (2016), and the last time Kareem Jackson had one was with the Bill O’Brien-coached Houston Texans in 2018. If your team leaders don’t know what it takes to win, how can they instill a winning attitude in others?
Added to a defensive roster full of players who only know losing, Vance Joseph has only experienced two winning seasons out of seven as either a head coach or defensive coordinator. That's a legacy in the world of suck.
Sean Payton has a tough task turning this ship around. 2023 will look more like the Titanic trying to swerve past the iceberg than it will a naval warship headed into battle.
Payton is stuck with the roster as-is for this season. The trade deadline can bring some cleansing of the losing habit, but that would take guts.
Payton will need to withstand the fan backlash when he trades players like Simmons. Turning the losing habit into a winning culture will take time. Until the roster can manufacture a predominantly winning record, fans will have to endure bad football for a while longer.
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