ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton has a new challenge this week. Not only does he need to knock of the 16-3 New England Patriots to earn his Denver Broncos a trip to the Super Bowl, he needs to do it with an arm tied behind his back.
“It’s happened to me a number of times,” Payton told reporters on Wednesday.
The Broncos put together a four-month stretch that most teams could only dream of. Their second-year quarterback took a step to become a star. They won 14 regular-season games, enough to win their division and the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Then they knocked off the Buffalo Bills, earning a chance to host the AFC title game, thanks in part to their young QB out-dueling the reigning NFL MVP.
Then the Broncos’ dream became a nightmare. Quarterback Bo Nix broke his ankle on the game-winning drive in overtime, knocking him out of the rest of the postseason.
Now, Denver’s hopes ride on the shoulders of 29-year-old journeyman backup Jarrett Stidham.
Payton’s job is to help Stidham lead the Broncos to a Super Bowl.
“He’s a pro,” Payton said. “He’s really in tune to it.”
Payton has 18 years of experience as an NFL coach. He’s had to build a game plan around a backup quarterback before. The most memorable example came in 2019, when Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees was knocked out of five games early in the season.
Teddy Bridgewater stepped into Brees’ role and won all five games.
“Our first team meeting, I made the same comment,” Payton said. “I said, ‘I’m not worried about Bridgewater. I’m worried about everyone else in this room making sure that their level is up to speed.’ [Alvin] Kamara was out then after that game, so Bridgewater, Latavius [Murray], they won two, won three, won four. After the fifth one, this is about when Drew’s thumb’s getting better. I was just kidding him… I called Drew and said, ‘How’re you doing?’ He said, ‘I’m getting ready to come back,’ and I said, ‘Well make sure you take your time. Things are going well here.’”
The challenge this time is tougher. Payton needs to prepare Stidham for playoff football. He hasn’t thrown a pass in a game-like environment since the preseason ended in August.
To solve this puzzle, Payton reached out to his mentor.
“We’ve had a couple conversations,” Payton said.
Payton spent three years as the Dallas Cowboys’ assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in the early 2000s. It was his last stop before becoming an NFL head coach. He worked under two-time Super Bowl winner Bill Parcells, who became a major influence on Payton.
Parcells is a particularly useful voice on the subject of backup quarterbacks in the postseason.
In 1990, Parcells’ New York Giants entered the season third in the preseason Super Bowl odds. All seemed to be going well until mid-December, when quarterback Phil Simms was knocked out for the rest of the season in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. Jeff Hostetler took over as the starting quarterback for the final two weeks of the regular season, the led the Giants to the Super Bowl where they earned revenge over the Bills.
“We’ve had a couple of conversations,” Payton said. “We speak regularly, so the topics might vary. Obviously that topic came up.”
The current situation isn’t quite the same as Hostetler’s—he had a couple of regular-season games to work out the kinks—but the story proves that a backup quarterback is capable of pulling off a Cinderella run.
“The most important thing is—and it’s the same with tight ends, or receivers or runners—’What are the things that they like? What are the things that they do well? What are the things…’ Then building it around that, and then understanding, ‘What kind of game do we see this being played?’” Payton said. “There are a number of things that go into a gameplan, but it would start with his skill set, but then also the opponent.”
A conservative gameplan probably won’t be enough to knock off the No. 2-seeded Patriots. Payton doesn’t expect Stidham to play scared.
“That’s his personality. He’s going to rip it, and that will be our approach,” Payton said. “He has this calm demeanor that I think suits him well. He’s played in big games, college. I said this at the start of the season, I felt like our [No.] 2 was inside the best 32 [quarterbacks], and I think everyone feels that way.”
