After their 20-point loss to the Green Bay Packers last Friday, the Denver Broncos are back to the drawing board. It was an uninspiring performance with few things of note to write home about. With just one game left before the start of the regular season, there isn’t much time left for the Broncos to work out some of the major issues they’ve seen in the preseason.
Coming off back-to-back double digit win seasons and their first AFC West title in a decade last year, Denver enters the 2026 season with
big expectations and Super Bowl aspirations. They boast a quality roster that added more talent in the offseason, though face a daunting schedule to begin the year.
Head Coach Sean Payton wasn’t sure if the loss to the Packers last Friday was a minor wake up call for them. However, he reflected on his first three years coaching the team and came away with one big thing the Broncos need to be a lot better at—starting off fast.
“I always feel like during the course of training camp, you have this stretch and you have some peaks and you have some lows. You just hope that you’re moving the needle the right direction when you have those days. Now some days it might be better for the defense, not as good for the offense or vice versa,” stated Payton.
“All that, trying to keep in mind starting faster. I don’t think we’ve really started fast here in my three years. I’m pretty sure we haven’t, so I think that’s going to be important,” remarked Payton.
While the Broncos started off with a 9-2 recover before the Bye Week last season, a lot of those games were a lot closer than they would have liked. In six of those games, the team scored less than 21 points and struggled converting third downs. For as good as Bo Nix has been in his two years with the franchise, Year 3 will be a big opportunity for him to hit the ground running and perform better in the early half of the season.
There were some peaks as Payton had mentioned, but those lows and inconsistencies offensively held them back from their potential despite the number of marks in the win column. In that span, the offense had a combined 12 turnovers and with the lack of takeaways on defense—found themselves on the wrong end of turnover differential. Payton’s right—the Broncos have to find a way to come out the gate fast this season—especially with the number of high caliber teams they will face early on.
In three weeks, the Broncos start their Lombardi Trophy quest against a familiar and formidable foe. They kick off their regular season on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Every game in the regular season matters, but rivalry games in primetime hit different.
Veteran inside linebacker Alex Singleton diverged from Payton a bit with his commentary after practice yesterday. With the poor performance against the Packers, he believes it can be a spark to get guys to compete, take a good look in the mirror, and do whatever it takes to rectify those issues before the rubber truly meets the road at Arrowhead.
“I just think it should on a competitive level. Just to get that push, when that happens on Friday, then how we practiced Saturday and how we practiced today, just to see who guys are. Coach Payton always talks about the debrief after the game is more important than the game,” stated Singleton.
“It’s those things, just being able to look at yourself. People say when you point fingers, your thumb points back at you. So those things, it’s really, ‘What can you do to get better?’ We do get the preseason. You get time to learn those things about yourself, and your team and stuff like that. It is to use them as learning lessons and take advantage of that.”
This Friday, the Broncos will host the Minnesota Vikings in the preseason finale. It’s their last shot to try and solve some issues that have been constant throughout the preseason. Let’s hope the Broncos rise to the occasion and find a way to put their best foot forward as the regular season nears.
