Sean Payton Sends Message to New Broncos Kicker After 4-FG Game

The window opportunity can open and slam shut rapidly in the NFL. That slim margin for error is amplified for kickers.

When Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton controversially cut veteran kicker Brandon McManus this past offseason, not only did he dispense with the very last remnant of the Super Bowl 50 team, but he also ran the risk of it blowing up in his face.

Wil Lutz quickly became Payton's hand-picked replacement, but after missing an extra point and a 55-yard field-goal attempt in Week 1's single-point loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the pressure was on. To his credit, Lutz immediately bounced back, and he's connected on every subsequent kick attempt, including four field goals in Sunday's 19-17 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Kicking is said to be the loneliest job in football, so it helps to have a coach like Payton who understands what goes through the head of his specialist.

"Like all kickers, they're a little bit, sometimes, like golfers where they're going to have a stretch maybe where it's not hitting the fairway," Payton said on Monday. "That being said, there's talent. You see that. There's leg talent, right? Then there's the stuff between the ears that's so important. There's a confidence level, and from having experienced it before with him, I was proud to see—but he also hit it really well. That was a good game for him. It was a good game for our special teams... Overall, those were four big kicks."

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Payton's confidence that Lutz has the mental strength required to answer the bell when his number is called is reassuring. On the flip side, the Broncos went 1-of-4 in the red zone vs. Green Bay, which is why he was kept so busy with the field goals.

Payton wants to perform much better in the red zone, so he can watch Lutz kicking extra points rather than field goals. Misfiring in the red zone was an obstacle the Broncos managed to overcome on Sunday, but don't expect such failures to go unpunished by Patrick Mahomes and the high-powered Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday.

Red zone issues often lead to finger-pointing, but Payton was earnest in hammering on the variables that the Broncos have to better control on every trip inside the 20-yard line.

"For instance, we're down at six. We get the rushing touchdown, and it's called back because of holding," Payton said. "That's the early one. You have a penalty in the red zone. When you convert a first down in the red zone, you look at the odds jump in your favor. When you have a penalty against you in the red zone, they go the opposite. No minus plays, no penalties, no exotic snap counts, no turnovers. There are certain standards. When you have a penalty in the red zone, it's pretty difficult to overcome, relative to scoring."

Ironing out the finer points of execution ahead of the upcoming rematch with the Chiefs affords the Broncos more preparation time than was available prior to their previous contest on Thursday Night Football. When Payton trots out his kicker this Sunday, he will be banking on them being extra points instead of chip-shot field goals.

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