Sean Payton Puts Finger on Reason for Broncos' Tackling Woes

After being carved into the Mount Rushmore of NFL blowouts last Sunday, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton had much to digest. Those Broncos fans expecting to wake up Monday morning to news of under-fire defensive coordinator Vance Joseph being removed from his post were left disappointed, but there's still time yet for that to happen.

In the wake of Denver's historic humiliation, it's up to Payton to pick up the pieces and isolate the problems that so brutally cut the team down at the knees. For as much as Joseph's coaching deficiencies are justifiably garnering the most heat, Payton noted how bad tackling angles and execution had Denver's defensive players grasping at Miami Dolphins ghosts on Sunday.

"I think it's a byproduct of a couple of things: leverage, speed," Payton said of his team's tackling woes. "When you're a half-step behind, the last thing you're thinking about is stripping the ball carrier. You're thinking about just getting them down. It felt like with each run—it felt that way when we watched the game live and then watching the tape this morning."

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Meanwhile, Payton's postmortem review of how the wheels fell off the Broncos' wagon would see none spared of his wrath. Beyond the Broncos' turnstile of a defense, Payton pointed to the costly turnovers on offense — two of which belonged to team captain Courtland Sutton.

"Offensively, those turnovers—we really put our defense in a bind," Payton said on Monday. "If you just saw that and you didn't look closely at the game, you didn't really get a true tale of 21 other points along with the two touchdowns that we had an opportunity to score. It was a tough day. Today is not going to be fun, and it probably won't be fun anytime soon until we start winning some games."

It's early, but the Broncos' fabric for rips and tears is familiar territory, especially after getting blown out in record-breaking fashion. Payton laying substantial blame on the doorstep of the offense could be perceived as a slight, but it's more reflective of his pre-game strategy to have the offense protect his defense, all of which went spectacularly wrong.

Any positive spin on Week 3's abomination would only pour salt in Broncos Country's open wound. Payton was mostly apologetic when he faced the music on Monday via conference call, and he admitted that only true grit will pull the Broncos out of their collective tailspin.

"Grit applies for all of us. It's not just a player thing, it's a coach thing. It's for every one of us," Payton said. "There's a mental toughness and fortitude. Is it something you're born with or something you develop? Probably a little bit of each."

In truth, only finding those reserves of inner fortitude will see the Broncos refocus for Sunday's home tilt vs. the Chicago Bears — a less-than-marquee NFL matchup. But in this coming tilt of 0-3 squads, something has to give.

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