Broncos Rise in NFL.com's Power Rankings Entering Week 1
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We are only days away from the start of the 2023 NFL season. Broncos Country can’t wait to see what this year’s Denver Broncos can accomplish under head coach Sean Payton.
While there are already visible improvements from last season in terms of mindset and attitude, putting it all together in the regular season opener against perhaps Denver’s biggest rival, the Las Vegas Raiders, will determine the perception of the franchise throughout the football landscape.
In NFL.com's final power rankings post Week 18, the Broncos ranked 27th, and after free agency and the draft, they vaulted to 21st. With the home opener mere days away, NFL.com has released its official power rankings entering Week 1.
The Broncos have hopped up one spot. Here is Eric Edholm's analysis.
Denver Broncos Ranking: 20
We can slice and dice the roster any way we want, but let’s be honest: This season boils down to what Sean Payton and Russell Wilson do. Payton was out of the game for a year, but his offenses ranked in the top 10 in points and yards 11 times during his run in New Orleans. Wilson was on a sure-fire Hall of Fame track, a singular playmaker for a decade in Seattle before the bottom dropped out in 2022. Will this pairing work? How Wilson fares this season will go a long way toward determining his future in Denver. But it’s not just Payton helping him out. I highly recommend the recent feature by colleague James Palmer, which lays out just how important a role new quarterbacks coach Davis Webb -- only months removed from his playing career -- might play in a potential Wilson rebound.
Payton and Wilson will undoubtedly be the focal point for the Broncos’ performance in 2023. Wilson, in particular, has to prove he can be the franchise quarterback Denver traded for back in March of 2022. His play a season ago was shameful to the Hall of Fame-worthy resume he built in his years with the Seattle Seahawks.
Confidence in your quarterback and constructing a winning culture has alluded the Broncos since Gary Kubiak left town in 2017. While Wilson had his fair share of slip-ups in Denver, he didn’t have the right man overseeing him and the rest of the locker room. Former head coach Nathaniel Hackett is more suited to play the 'cool uncle' role than the leader of a football team.
Payton is precisely the shot in the arm that Wilson and the Broncos need. Boasting a top-10 offense in scoring and yards in 11 of his 16 years with the New Orleans Saints is phenomenal. Denver finished the 2022 season averaging 16.9 points per game, which was last in the NFL. With Payton at the helm, vaulting into a top 12-15 offense isn’t out of the question in Year 1.
Payton also enlisted the help of former Buffalo Bills and New York Giants quarterback Davis Webb. Webb is only 28, but Payton believes he is a valuable asset in the Wilson reclamation project. Despite his youth, Payton believes in Webb's potential as a quarterback whisperer for not just Russell but the entire quarterback room.
The Broncos have an astounding 18-2 record in home openers over the last 20 years. Denver will look to continue the streak while simultaneously breaking the six-game losing streak against the Raiders hold against them.
Week 1 will determine the Broncos' power ranking status but will, more importantly, set the tone for the rest of the year. Broncos Country will rock Mile High Stadium like never before on September 10.
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