Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton looked relieved after his team survived the New York Jets on Sunday in London.
The Broncos defense came to play, posting a ridiculous nine sacks of Jets QB Justin Fields.
The offense, on the other hand, struggled mightily.
But a key drive led by QB Bo Nix late turned into a field goal, the Denver defense got two more stops, and the Broncos escaped with a 13-11 victory to move to 4-2 on the season.
After the game, Payton was asked about the ugly nature of it. Denver punted the football six times and scored only three points in the final three quarters after being up 10-6 after 15 minutes.
“It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing,” Sean Payton said. “The key is the corrections.”
Those corrections will, once again, focus on penalties and third-down. The Broncos were flagged nine times for 55 yards. They went just 5-15 on third-down.
“The troubling part is, it was a point of emphasis going into this game. That’s the thing that we have to look at ourselves, what we’re doing, how much we’re doing,” Sean Payton said.
And even though the Jets are now 0-6, it wasn’t pretty for the Broncos to keep them winless. Particularly on offense, while the Denver defense held New York to only 82 total yards.
“It’s frustrating, and we were fortunate defensively we rose to the occasion,” Payton said. “You’re disappointed you’re in a dog fight like that, but you’re in it, so you got to figure it out.”
A win is a win, there’s no question about it, but Sean Payton has to know deep down this should’ve been much less stressful.
Regardless, the Broncos are in first place alone in the AFC West for the moment, with the Chargers and Dolphins squaring off in Miami.
It might not have gotten done how Denver envisioned it, but like the head coach said, style points don’t count.