The Denver Broncos fought their way to their fourth win of the 2026 NFL season, a 17-14 overtime win against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football in Week 6.
After delivering a defensive masterpiece in primetime, the Broncos pulled out yet another one-score win, despite offensive ineptitude and special teams blunders. After the game, coach Sean Payton delivered an impassioned message to his team in the locker room.
"Everyone, when you play a game, you have to hear one thing; there's a way to win each one of them and you have to understand that," Payton said. "You follow me? Offense, we came out and then it became tough, but you know what? Not one turnover — we put it on their end of the field; they had three.
There's a way to win each one of these games. We just have to promise ourselves we're still improving. Just promise ourselves we're still improving."
You can see the entire short speech below.
"Just promise ourselves we're still improving."
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) October 16, 2026
Sean Payton speaks to the victorious @Broncos locker room!#TNFonPrime pic.twitter.com/a8cma9VZjt
Payton elaborated on his locker room message in his postgame press conference.
"Here’s what I said to them," Payton told the media. "There’s still obviously a lot of things that we can improve on, we have to. When this initial stretch was given to us, it’s hard to figure out in our league, you guys know that. When you look at last season and then you project what teams are going to be like, it’s hard to do. We found a way to get four wins. We understand that certainly we have to become more effective, more efficient offensively and yet… Even in the kicking game, I thought we hit the huge field goal, but they won that battle tonight, they did relative to field position. Defense really was lights out. So obviously it’s easier to make these corrections when you get a win... It was a good win, but there’s a lot of work to do.”
Payton knows the 4-2 Broncos at this moment could just as easily be 2-4, or worse. After an opening game blowout loss, Denver has rebounded, although it hasn't always been sunshine and roses. The Broncos have overcome adversity on the field by continuing to go to the next man up, and off the field by trying to get better in practice leading up to these contests.
The Broncos have to do some serious reflection before moving on. The tape won't be pretty or easy to look at, but Denver has to find their groove to get back to playing like they did in January: 60-minute, complete football from start to finish. Whether it's changing out offensive personnel, or switching things up in a big way, the Broncos have to find a rhythm on the football field.
The Broncos play next in Week 7 on Oct. 25 against the Arizona Cardinals.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Watch Sean Payton’s locker room message after Broncos beat Seahawks
