Sean Payton went deep into his bag of tricks last year to try to jumpstart his first Broncos team in Week 1.
Denver attempted a surprise onside kick to open the 2023 season against Las Vegas and came within about a foot of success, but Tremon Smith touched the ball a shade before it traveled 10 yards.
The surprise onside, of course, is no longer available to NFL teams with the new dynamic kickoff rule in place. Last year’s gambit cost the Broncos valuable field position in a game they ultimately lost by one point.
Some way, somehow, though, Payton’s team has to find a way to start faster Sunday against Seattle and early in the season.
“At the start of camp, I just gave (the team) a five-week report card, and I started with the postseason on down (last year) and where the playoff teams were after five weeks,” Payton said Friday. “… It’s not any one game specifically. … Winning those close games early is important.”
A year ago, 11 of the 14 postseason teams were 3-2 or better after the first five weeks, and the other three were 2-3. That trio included outlier performances across the board. Green Bay saw a midseason transformation from quarterback Jordan Love. Houston saw quarterback C.J. Stroud develop into a star and the Los Angeles Rams had a big crop of rookies and young players swell in performance as the season progressed.
Overall, the playoff group averaged 3.3 wins over its first five games collectively.
Denver, of course, had one of the worst defensive starts in NFL history through the first quarter of the season and started 1-5 before reeling off a turnover-fueled midseason winning streak.
That stretch, though, represented the Broncos playing catch-up with the contending pack rather than separating from it the way they might have had they just got off to a decent start.
“For us and I think for every team in general, you see the teams that start fast make the playoffs and the teams that don’t, don’t,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton told The Denver Post this week. “We had a chance last year. If we’d have got the Raiders game and the Washington game, I think we do make the playoffs and it’s a lot less complicated. Instead, we put ourselves in a bad spot. The teams that make it are all 2-1, 3-1, so if we can go up (to Seattle) and start the season the way we want to, start 1-0, it’s a step in the right direction.”
Easier said than done, of course, considering Denver is a road underdog playing at one of the loudest venues in the NFL and is rolling out a rookie quarterback. A first-round rookie under center hasn’t won a season opener since Sam Darnold in 2018, and since then they are a collective 0-7-1.
“I’ve already been through several atmospheres,” Nix said of opening at Lumen Field on Wednesday after he became the first Broncos rookie named a captain since 1967. “This could be different, but I think having been through that and understanding what a loud environment truly means — I think it’s really important. It’s all about communication. It’s all about being on the same page, keeping it simple and going out there and executing your job.
“When you do that, usually you can take some of the crowd out of it. It’s definitely going to be the whole game. It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
Another factor for Denver: Three of its first four games are on the road. After Sunday the team returns home to face Pittsburgh in Week 2 and then has back-to-back road games at Tampa Bay and the New York Jets. In an effort to play better on the road particularly when traveling east, the team is expected to stay on the East Coast between those games.
First things first, though: a trip to the Pacific Northwest.
“I’m excited. I’m excited to see how we stack up,” Payton said. “Throughout the preseason, you’ve got different combinations of teams playing players, and there’s a lot going on. I am pleased with the energy and some of the things you guys can see just from the eye.”
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