Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton knows how significant this Sunday’s game is against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Heck, all of Broncos Country does.
After Denver gagged a game away in Indianapolis last Sunday, they need to get things headed back in the right direction.
It’s fairly simple, with the Broncos being 1-1 and the Chargers 2-0.
With a win, Denver will be tied with L.A. atop the AFC West. A loss would send them to 1-2 and Jim Harbaugh’s bunch to 3-0.
The AFC West certainly wouldn’t be out of reach this early in the season, but it’d be a steep hill to climb.
After the Broncos wrapped up practice on Wednesday, Sean Payton met with the media and was asked about the challenge his squad faces this weekend on the road.
“Look, division games are important. Because if you’re able to win one then your division opponent loses one. And I can’t do the analytics or the math, but ultimately it’s an AFC opponent, it’s our first opportunity to play a division team and a team that’s playing well,” Payton said.
The Chargers beat the Chiefs in Brazil to start the season then smacked the Raiders in Las Vegas on Monday Night Football. It’ll be their home opener at SoFi Stadium, although the crowd should have a fair amount of orange sprinkled in the stands.
For Payton, it’s an opponent he knows well, as do his players. Still, the work has to get done this week to give the Broncos the best chance to win.
“I don’t think it changes in preparation, both teams are probably a little bit more familiar with each other, scheme and personality wise, personnel wise,” Sean Payton said. “But certainly the division games are really important.”
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what this game means to Denver. With a victory, a division title for the first time since 2015 feels like a real possibility. But if the Broncos are defeated for a second Sunday in a row, the path gets that much harder.
You can bet Sean Payton knows that, and it’s a point he’ll be making to his team several times over the next few days.