The tall task facing the Denver Broncos and Sean Payton in 2023

It’s been a long time since the Denver Broncos were in the NFL playoffs. Will a Super Bowl-winning head coach get this franchise back on track?

It was a franchise that failed to post a winning record in any of its first 20 seasons. The New Orleans Saints finally broke through in the strike-plagued 1987 campaign. The club reached the playoffs with a 12-3 mark but fell to the visiting Vikings in the wild-card round.

Still, during the team’s first 39 years of existence from 1967 to 2005, the Saints owned a 1-5 postseason record. In ‘05, the franchise had to deal with the ramifications of Hurricane Katrina.

Then came the hiring of head coach Sean Payton and the signing of free-agent quarterback Drew Brees. During his 16-year stay in the Big Easy, the club won seven NFC South titles, forged a winning record in the playoffs (9-8), and defeated the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17.

Payton was a member of the media in 2022 but he’s returning to the sidelines this upcoming season as the sideline leader for the Denver Broncos. He inherits quite the project and hiring a Super Bowl champion coach comes with some pressure. The team from the Mile High City has not won a playoff game since defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

The club has not even been to the postseason since then. In 2016, the club got off to a 4-0 start but collapsed the rest of the way and finish 9-7. In each of the past six seasons, the Broncos have finished below .500 and have resided in the AFC West basement four times over that span, including these last three seasons.  Dating back to 2017, the Broncos own a 35-63 record. These are rough times for the franchise.

Of course, there were high expectations a year ago after the club gave up plenty to acquire nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks. New head coach Nathaniel Hackett didn’t make it through his first season with the club. Wilson was a disappointment and the Broncos and the team finished dead last in the league in scoring.

How bad was it for the Broncos in 2022? Seven of the eight teams that finished in their division in ’21 won more games than the previous season. In fact, four of those seven clubs (Ravens, Jaguars, Giants, and Seahawks) made the playoffs. The lone exception was Denver, who finished 5-12 one season after a 7-10 showing.

Only the New York Jets (2010) own a longer current playoff drought in the league than the Broncos (2015). Payton and the club have their work cut out for them over the next few months. They reside in a division owned by the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (who Denver has lost 15 straight games to). Will it prove to be too tall of a task for the successful coach?