Sean Payton’s Broncos struggle in September, he’s shown he’ll fix it

KANSAS CITY , MO - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos scratches his head during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday, September 14, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) | Denver Post via Getty Images

The Denver Broncos looked downright ugly in their opener.

And that's being nice.

In the season opener with a national audience watching, Bo Nix, Sean Payton, and the Denver Broncos were unmercifully flogged. If it were a boxing match, people would have begged someone to throw in the white towel. Some still did.

This also isn't anything new. Payton-coached teams struggle in September. That's the case for his time in Denver, but his entire coaching career. After Monday night's 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Payton is 31-31 in September.

Sean Payton has a 4-8 record in the month of September with the Broncos

28-12 in the rest of the months pic.twitter.com/et1PKpibHw

- MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) September 15, 2026

With the Broncos, Payton is now 4-8 in September:

• 2023: 0-3

• 2024: 2-2

• 2025: 2-2

• 2026: 0-1

Last season in particular, Denver had two crushing, last-second losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers. The Broncos held on for the win against the Tennessee Titans in the opener. The Chargers' loss was especially infuriating since Denver blew a fourth-quarter lead.

The key to remember from all of this: Payton is 28-12 with the Broncos when it's not September.

Obviously, not a good evening," Payton said to the media after Monday's game. We didn't do a lot well at all in the game, so we will have to look at the tape tomorrow. I felt like all the key factors: they rushed the ball well, we didn't. It starts with me. It starts with our coaching staff. I thought they won, really, in every phase."

So the panic after the loss to Kansas City is justified.

The poor tackling. The horrible run defense for the third-straight game. The inept play-calling by Davis Webb. Nix looked disoriented most of the game.

With all of that in mind, it's also a terrible time to make sweeping conclusions about this team. Payton consistently gets his teams to improve. He's shown an ability to diagnose the problems (see above), make adjustments, and have his team playing its best football late.

I think you learn how important it is not to kill yourself," Nix said to the media after the game. That goes without saying, but when you do that in a game like today, it just raises that a little higher. I just felt like it was penalty, after penalty, after penalty. Nobody has good plays to call when you are in 2nd-and-long, 3rd-and-long. The play sheet is very small. We didn't put anybody in a good spot today. We really didn't."

What sucks is that this happened in the opener against a bitter division rival.

But it doesn't change the fact that Denver has some serious issues to fix. It also doesn't mean the season is over.

After all, this is September, and we've seen this movie from Payton before.

Since his teams have a knack for starting slow, let's let this one play out before making any bold proclamations about the Broncos or the season.

In other words, don't panic.

I think we just let ourselves down," Nix said to the media after the game. I think it's more disappointing than frustrating. I'm not necessarily filled with rage; we just let ourselves down, shot ourselves in the foot, literally gave ourselves no chance to succeed today. We made it easier for them, point blank period. We know we have to be better. There are a lot of guys in that locker room who are going to take ownership and be better. It starts with me, and it starts with our offense. We're going to be better. We don't have a choice but to get better. It was a nasty wakeup call today."