ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On the heels of the Broncos' largest margin of victory of the season, the team is embracing the confidence that comes with each win.
But Head Coach Sean Payton said Wednesday that Denver is also aiming to keep "a grounded nature" ahead of a Week 12 divisional road matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
"I mentioned [it] at the start of today's meeting," Payton said. "We went through the game awards, but I said, 'Look, this happens sometimes when we had a good win and then you go back and watch the tape and you realize, 'Ah, there's [mistakes].' And so, all right, that was good enough last week. But we're going to play in a game where we have to get those things cleaned up.
"There's no flat line. You're moving forward up or you're moving backward down. I do think it's gets to the leadership and the culture that you're trying to build."
Payton said with "each step, it builds confidence" within the team, but he emphasized the Broncos cannot allow that internal belief to become a negative.
"We can't allow it to build complacency, though," Payton said. "… It's like the clock's ticking to improve in this race that you're in."
As the Broncos continue that race, wide receiver Courtland Sutton is confident the Broncos "have a lot of really good guys in our locker room" that will prevent that sort of overconfidence or complacency.
"I think that everyone understands the significance of where we are at this point in the season, and I don't think that there is a [sense of] complacency," Sutton said. "I think that there's a lot of guys that are hungry for more."
Sutton did acknowledge the danger of a team that doesn't attack each meeting or practice with the proper detail, especially at this point in the season.
"You don't want that to become a thing, especially with a young locker room," Sutton said. "You don't want that to be a thing where it's like, 'Look at what we have done.' And then become complacent, and then next thing you know, you let one that shouldn't slip, slip. I think it's just having that sense of urgency in meetings and in practice, and I do think that we have guys that understand that and are doing that."
Cornerback Pat Surtain II said that complacency is easy to avoid when the team is striving to better each week's performance and routinely put great football on tape.
"We realize last game was a great game," Surtain said. "… Obviously we're [not] going to reach the perfect mode, but we're just trying to achieve greatness each and every week. That's the goal and that's the standard, and we're fully capable of doing it, because we've got all 11 guys that are willing to get it right, willing to do what's best for the team week in and week out. When you have a defense like that, that's hungry and ready to obtain those goals, the sky's the limit for us, for sure."
And as the Broncos look to earn their first road win over the Raiders since 2015 and their first sweep of their divisional rival since 2014, Denver's players seem to be far from the dreaded point of complacency. The maintained focus comes, in part, from the players' understanding of how a Week 12 matchup could have an impact on their postseason hopes.
"We can't get where we want to go if we can't get through these guys," cornerback Riley Moss said.
'YOU'VE GOT TO GO OUT THERE AND CONTINUE TO DO IT'
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix earned a pair of awards Wednesday, as he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week and a FedEx Air and Ground Player of the Week.
"I feel like I would need to go find me a good thesaurus to be able to find [the word] to be able to describe how excited I am for him and how happy I am for him," Sutton said of Nix. "The dude, I tell you guys all the time, shows up to work hungry for more. [He's] a student of the game [and] a guy that you can tell loves the game. He loves the game of ball. Listening to him talk ball, there's nothing boring about listening to him talk ball because he just has so many ideas. … To see him having the success that he's having, it brings me joy to be able to be a part of it, to be able to witness and just like I said, just be a part of his journey. I tell you guys all the time, it's only the beginning. He's going to have a long career. God willing, he's going to have a long, healthy, successful career. This is just the tip of the iceberg for him. … Man, the record book is going to be hit pretty hard by him, I think."
Payton said he is "proud of where [Nix is] at" and that the young quarterback "works tirelessly" to find the success he's garnered during his rookie year.
"The best part is — you guys know him now — he's very grounded," Payton said. "He's very team driven, relative to what's important, and so we just want to keep building on that. It's good with where we're at in the juncture of the season."
While Nix admitted it was "a great honor" to become the first Broncos rookie quarterback to be named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week, he also kept his attention turned solely toward what comes next.
"It doesn't end with just that," Nix said. "You've obviously got to continue to go back, and they only remember your last game, so you've got to go out there and continue to do it. It's a great honor. Many great players have won the award in the past, so it's an honor to be included and be that recipient. But, [there's] a lot of work left to be done."
