ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — In the immediate aftermath of the Broncos' stunning 33-32 win over the Giants, Head Coach Sean Payton was looking toward what comes next.
The victory, as he said Sunday and again Monday, showcased the grit and the fight and the resilience of the now-AFC West leading Broncos.
But Payton also emphasized the necessity of not allowing the final result to hide the reality of where the Broncos must improve.
"It's important we don't let the euphoria of a win like that cloud the things that need to get cleaned up tomorrow," Payton said Sunday. "So, they'll enjoy it tonight, but there are a lot of things that we're still doing, particularly offensively, that trouble me, and we'll get it fixed. We have to get it fixed."
Payton echoed that message on Monday morning, citing a need for the Broncos to perform at a higher level earlier in games and not rely on double-digit fourth-quarter comebacks.
"It's been encouraging that we've been able to finish some games," Payton said, "and yet … we're going to play in bigger games, and we're going to have to be a lot more efficient in the first half of games."
The Broncos, offensively, were held scoreless in the first three quarters, and Payton pointed to "mental errors, mistakes, snaps, wrong reads — you name it" as areas where Denver needs to improve.
"Offensively, we really didn't amount to anything until we got into the end of the game, fourth quarter," Payton said.
The Broncos were 2-of-10 on third down and managed 180 total yards until the final frame, and guard Quinn Meinerz said the early struggles revealed a key area where the Broncos must be better.
"We need to get sharper with our details," Meinerz said. "After watching the film, you see tons of yards left out there. That's why football's such a great sport — you've got to have all 11 out there on the same page doing their thing. I think there were too many plays, obviously in the first three quarters, that we were one thing away from having a more explosive play. … And then you're able to see in the fourth quarter when we were humming and everyone was doing their job what we're capable of doing."
Defensively, the Broncos forced four three-and-outs and six total punts, but they also allowed several chunk plays. New York recorded seven plays of at least 20 yards, including touchdowns of 44, 41 and 31 yards. A week ago against New York, the Broncos didn't allow a single play longer than 11 yards.
As Payton noted, the Broncos also allowed conversions on several third- or fourth-and-long situations. New York converted five third downs of at least 10 yards — multiple of which came via penalty — and a fourth-and-19 on the Giants' final touchdown drive. A pair of those third-and-long conversions resulted in touchdowns.
Safety Talanoa Hufanga shared Meinerz' perspective in how to fix those issues.
"Defensively, I think, for us, it's just being detailed," Hufanga said. "If we can be exact on what our assignments are, detailed in our gaps, detailed in our coverages, it makes for a better [chance] for success. We know what we're capable of. We've put it on tape. Now, it's just being consistent as much as possible. We are striving to be the best defense that we can be.
"That means we've got to be on the details each and every week."
As the Broncos prepare to welcome a Cowboys team that has won two of its last three games, Denver's attention must be on those details — and on finding earlier success.
