Just lose, baby.
If Broncos coach Sean Payton is such a football genius, we need to know:
Will Payton cut off his stubborn nose to spite his arrogant face?
“We’re trying to win them all,” Payton insists. “We’re trying to win every game we’re playing.”
As insufferable as Payton can be in victory, he’s even more miserable in defeat.
But in their NFL season finale against duh hated Rai-duhs, the team that Dirty Al Davis built, your beloved Broncos should be of one mind and a single mantra:
Just lose, baby.
To earn the best first-round pick possible in the 2024 NFL draft, a team that absolutely needs to find a franchise quarterback, a legit No. 1 receiver or an elite cornerback to pair with Pat Surtain II, should be on a mission Sunday to extend its seven-game losing streak to the Raiders to eight games and finish with an 8-9 record.
Payton doesn’t want to hear it. He’s competitive and proud by nature. I get it.
“I think getting nine wins is important, and I think it’s important for our players to understand that,” he said, before adding the exclamation point of the oldest coach’s cliche in the book: “Finishing strong is important.”
Ignore all his bluster. Beating the Raiders is one game. Getting back to Super Bowl contention is the long game.
I’m here to tell you: Payton can’t — and won’t — win a Super Bowl for the Broncos without a quarterback who has the same Hall of Fame tendencies of Drew Brees.
While he acted as if masking the faults of Russell Wilson were one of the 12 labors of Hercules, Payton couldn’t fix DangeRuss. So he threw him under the bus.
And even a knucklehead like me can see Payton won’t win a championship with Jarrett Stidham. Guaranteed.
What’s most important to the Broncos is not finishing strong. Beating the Raiders one time isn’t enough to build a winning culture.
What Denver needs most at this point is more winning players who can impact the scoreboard.
Lose to the Raiders, and the Broncos could pick as high as 11th in the first round of the draft. Beat the Raiders, and they could draft as late as 16th in the opening round.
When Denver benched Wilson for obvious financial reasons, Payton insisted it was all about finding a spark that would give the team its best chance to put points on the scoreboard.
“I’m only interested in winning,” Payton said.
Football is a tough business. For those who argue that the Broncos trying to coerce Wilson into making financial concessions to his contract was merely an example of how the dirty business of football must be done, please tell me why losing a game that’s meaningless in every way except for establishing draft position is some kind football blasphemy.
“You hear teams talk about, ‘Well, if they win too many games, they’re not going to be in a position to select Player A or B,’” said Payton, insisting his personal agony is too great to accept any single defeat.
For any heart that bleeds orange and aches for Denver’s long playoff drought to end, winning is not an option for the Broncos in Las Vegas.
If “Sparky” Stidham proves himself to be a better quarterback than the less-than-immortal Aidan O’Connell and allows Denver the temporary smile of its first winning season since 2016, what does that mean?
Well, first and foremost, it means another team in need of a quarterback will draft ahead of the Broncos.
And how will you feel if with the 11th pick in the NFL draft, the Raiders choose quarterback Michael Penix Jr. of Washington, while the Broncos brain trust is twiddling its thumbs at team headquarters, waiting for its turn to make a selection?
As the recent announcement of Pro Bowl rosters revealed, what the Broncos lack most in their quest to become relevant again in the playoff conversation is playmakers.
We all realize that despite Payton’s limited emotional intelligence, he’s a far smarter football man than you, me or Vince Lombardi.
So if the rookie Payton thinks the Broncos need most to hasten the process toward playoff contention is Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins or Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse, it makes far more football sense for Denver to have the best possible position on the draft board.
In the final game of another season full of frustration for the Broncos, they have one mission in Vegas.
Just lose, baby.
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