Denver Broncos head coach<\/a> is trying to become the first coach in NFL history to lead two different teams to Super Bowl championships. He needs three wins to get it done, starting with Saturday\u2019s AFC divisional playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\nHistory tells us the task ahead is a daunting one.<\/p>\n
Only seven coaches have managed to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl: John Fox (Panthers, Broncos); Mike Holmgren (Packers, Seahawks); Bill Parcells (Giants, Patriots); Dan Reeves (Broncos, Falcons); Andy Reid (Eagles, Chiefs); Don Shula (Colts, Dolphins); and Dick Vermeil (Eagles, Rams). None has managed to pull off the Super Bowl daily double, underscoring the difficulty of the challenge Payton faces.<\/p>\n
Before the season, Payton told me and others he had a team talented enough to reach the Super Bowl and win it. I took his words with a grain of a salt, assigning his enthusiasm to the normal preseason optimism. Turns out, he wasn\u2019t just talking out the side of his neck. The Broncos went 14-3 and wrested AFC West supremacy away from the Kansas City Chiefs, the division\u2019s longtime kingpins.<\/p>\n
A year ago, Payton surprised the league by steering his second Broncos team to the playoffs, but that bunch was not ready for prime time, and it showed in a 31-7 blowout loss to the Bills at Highmark Stadium.<\/p>\n
This year is different. The Broncos are the top seed in the AFC. Expectations are high in Denver, where the Broncos will be playing their first home playoff game in a decade. If you\u2019ve ever been to Invesco Field, you know the atmosphere will be electric for four quarters. Broncos fans have endured years of frustration, embarrassment and heartache to reach this point. They\u2019ll be ready for this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter last season, the expectations rose internally as well as externally,\u201d Payton said. \u201cAfter free agency, I told some (reporters) that I thought this team had a chance to be unique, and I feel the same way now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rest assured, Payton knows what\u2019s at stake during this playoff run. He\u2019s a student of history and aware of what a second Super Bowl title would mean for his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and legacy.<\/p>\n
He also understands the importance of opportunity. The Broncos are rested, relatively healthy and blessed with the home-field advantage in the AFC thanks to their No. 1 seed, a luxury Payton enjoyed just twice in 16 seasons with the Saints. He knows how rare these opportunities can be and the importance of taking advantage of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. 1 seeds are not like car-wash coupons; they\u2019re hard to get,\u201d Payton said this week. \u201cI told the team (this week), we only have four weeks left together as a team. Let\u2019s make the make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His team is good enough to garner a fourth Lombardi Trophy for the Mile High City. They are talented along both lines and boast the more fearsome pass rush in the league. But the Broncos are far from dominant. While they posted a league-best 14-3 mark, they only outscored opponents by 5.3 points a game, seventh-best in the league. Eleven of their wins came by eight points or fewer.<\/p>\n
The Bills game has all the ingredients for compelling theater. Reigning MVP Josh Allen is trying to lead the Bills to their first Super Bowl in more than three decades. The Bills began the year as favorites to win the AFC and represent the conference in Super Bowl LX. In beating Jacksonville last week, Allen ended a four-game losing streak in playoff road games. He won\u2019t be intimidated by the environment and will be right at home in the frigid conditions on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The game features another interesting subplot. The Buffalo coaching staff is filled with former members of Payton\u2019s old Saints staffs, including offensive coordinator Joe Brady, offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry and defensive assistant Ryan Nielsen. Combine that with a Broncos staff featuring seven coaches with Saints ties and you have two teams that are intimately familiar with each other, what they want to do and how they want to do it.<\/p>\n
As Saints fans know, Payton\u2019s closing run in New Orleans was hugely disappointing. For all the success he had, the second run of the Drew Brees era left fans feeling empty and unfulfilled.<\/p>\n
His teams lost home playoff games they were favored to win in each of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons. The infamous NOLA No-Call derailed the 2018 team, but there was no officiating gaffe to blame in 2019 and 2020. The Saints were just outplayed and out-coached by the Vikings and Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
Now, Payton gets a chance at a second run at coaching immortality.<\/p>\n
Win it all, and he books his ticket to Canton.<\/p>\n
Fall short, and he\u2019ll provide more fodder for his critics, who cite his 9-9 career playoff record among the shortcomings on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u00a0History awaits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sean Payton begins his quest for history this weekend. The Denver Broncos head coach is trying to become…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,4095,896,55,2572,2571,6,397,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-679585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-hardwall","10":"tag-new-orleans","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints","12":"tag-neworleans","13":"tag-neworleanssaints","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-saints","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115899944574071113","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}