Sean Payton set the tone for this Denver Broncos season when he started talking Super Bowl during training camp. The head coach hasn’t walked his thoughts back, but he certainly didn’t seem as positive when giving an update on his thoughts about the team’s ambitions.

Granted, Payton was talking after a disheartening 13-11 win over the New York Jets, but from London, Payton was asked about his preseason championship mention to Kay Adams.

“Each year, you set your goals relative to… it starts with winning your division, right?” Payton said. “There are four teams in each division, and that’s catching Kansas City, and respectfully, they’re one of those teams, and then it’s your best seeding, and then to play for a championship.”

At 4-2, the Broncos are tied with the Chargers atop the AFC West, ahead of the perpetually dominant 3-3 Chiefs. So it’s been a decent start in Denver with some runway to take off.

“I felt like we had just made a number of acquisitions and drafted a handful of players that were going to be able to help us. And I still think we’re going to be a team that’s in the hunt,” Payton said. “We got to certainly have to improve, though; there are a lot of things that you can’t do to beat yourself. And I think our penalty numbers are still poor. Our turnover ratio is still it’s not anything special. Those things have to improve. And I think our players understand that.”

Of those acquisitions, Talanoa Hufanga was a standout part of Sunday’s win. The same could be said for the tandem of J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, who dashed over the Bengals in Week 4. But we’ve yet to see Dre Greenlaw in Orange and Blue, while Evan Engram has been limited — meaning the two biggest ticket items from George Paton’s offseason are still on the way.

Payton is right about the penalties and turnovers. Denver has been assessed 49 flags, which is the fourth most in the league, for 448 yards, which is the second most ground lost due to penalties. Meanwhile, the team is toward the bottom with a -3 turnover margin.

With some basic fixes and new additions coming soon, hopefully, the Broncos could be even better than what we’ve seen so far — which hasn’t been great, but it’s been good enough to co-pace their division.