New Stat Makes Sean Payton’s Coach of the Year Case Impossible to Ignore

Bo Nix has forced his way into the MVP race. Now, it's time for the NFL to recognize Sean Payton as a leader in the Coach-of-the-Year sweepstakes.

Dec 14, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton stands on the sidelines during the second quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Empower Field at Mile High. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Sean Payton isn't getting the national recognition he deserves. You don't hear Payton's name mentioned among the leading NFL Coach of the Year candidates, despite the 12-2 Denver Broncos having the league's best record.

If the Broncos beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Payton will have accomplished something only Bill Belichick ever has. Plus, his achievement with Bo Nix — as illustrated by ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday — should be the cherry on top of Payton's Coach-of-the-Year worthiness.

"With a Broncos win on Sunday against the Jaguars, Sean Payton will join Bill Belichick as the only head coaches in NFL history with at least five 13-win seasons," Schefter posted on X. "Alongside Bo Nix, Payton is one of three coaches since 1950 to lead a team to 10+-wins and a playoff berth in each of a quarterback’s first two years."

With a Broncos win on Sunday against the Jaguars, Sean Payton will join Bill Belichick as the only head coaches in NFL history with at least five 13-win seasons.

Alongside Bo Nix, Payton is one of three coaches since 1950 to lead a team to 10+-wins and a playoff berth in each of… pic.twitter.com/pthpLdHq9e

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 19, 2025

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Payton's Mountain of Work is a Mile High

Nov 6, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton talks with quarterback Bo Nix (10) during the second half at Empower Field at Mile High. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Rewinding back three short years, Payton inherited a five-win team with a dearth of talent and weighed down by an albatross of a quarterback contract. Payton tried to make it work with Russell Wilson in 2023, and while he improved the Broncos' win total by three games, he ultimately made a quarterback change with two games left to go.

The Wilson era ended with a controversial whimper, as the veteran quarterback levied accusations at Payton and the Broncos relative to his benching. The Broncos released Wilson in the face of an NFL-record $85 million in dead-money charges to the salary cap, which the team opted to split over the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Freed of the Wilson burden, Payton went back to the draft well, selecting Nix in the first round. It didn't matter that the Broncos carried north of $55 million in dead cap last year; Payton still willed his young team to a 10-win season and a playoff berth.

Nix passed for 29 touchdowns — the second-most by a rookie in NFL history — and rewrote the Broncos' rookie record books. Entering Week 16's tilt with the Jaguars, Nix is two touchdown passes away from becoming the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw 25-plus touchdowns in each of his first two seasons.

The enormity of that achievement, similarly, isn't fully appreciated, either. The dismissive refrain is that Nix landed in an ideal situation with Payton. And the same argument is used to minimize Payton's success: he lucked out by having Nix dropped into his lap in the draft. You can't have it both ways, though.

For reasons that aren't quite clear, though we can take a stab at trying to guess, the NFL world at large is generally reluctant to praise Payton. And the same trend has followed suit with regard to Nix through his first two seasons.

It all redounds to the Broncos' benefit, including the lack of national media attention. Payton uses it well to keep his team hungry and amped up. The Broncos have flown under the radar for most of the season, barely cracking the top 10 of the NFL power rankings around the web up until they upset the Green Bay Packers last week.

It might be hyperbole to say that the floodgates have opened since then, but some pundits and publications have changed their tune on Payton, Nix, and the Broncos. Still, not nearly enough.

Draft & Develop

Payton, working with Broncos GM George Paton, has done a phenomenal job in his three years in Denver, rebuilding this roster on the fly, and finding a way to win games, make the playoffs, and likely win the division this year despite the shackles of Wilson's dead money ($32 million in 2025).

Along the way, the Payton regime has shown an immense propensity for drafting and developing young talent, seeing the likes of Patrick Surtain II and Nik Bonitto becoming stars, while veteran holdovers from the previous regime have risen to new heights, like Garett Bolles and Courtland Sutton.

Payton has proven that he can draft and develop a franchise quarterback. Nix is just getting started.

Payton snapped the ignominy of the previous losing streaks held over the Broncos by the Kansas City Chiefs and (inexplicably) the Las Vegas Raiders. Payton is 3-2 vs. Reid's Chiefs since arriving in Denver, while sweeping the Raiders in each of the past two seasons.

However, it would be nice to see Payton get a lick in on the Los Angeles Chargers, a rival the Broncos have yet to vanquish since Jim Harbaugh became their head coach. Payton will get the chance to begin balancing those scales in the season finale, but by then, the Broncos could have the division crown and the AFC's No. 1 seed sewn up.

The Takeaway

There's a method to Payton's madness. And the proof is in the pudding.

Nix has forced his way into the MVP race. Now, it's time for the NFL to recognize Payton as a leader in the Coach-of-the-Year sweepstakes.