ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the Broncos move forward from a season-opening loss in Seattle, Head Coach Sean Payton said he believes in his team's ability to respond.
"I personally think we're built for this," Payton said the day after a 26-20 loss.
The key to responding to the Broncos' Week 1 game against the Seahawks, in part, is to better control the momentum of the game.
"This pendulum swings back and forth in a game," Payton said. "The momentum obviously swung to the right in our favor for pretty much most of the first half. It felt like we played the first half on their end of the field. Then the third quarter came, and the pendulum began to swing back. The teams that become more battle-tested and experienced are able to keep the momentum a little longer. Then when the pendulum swings back, they can quickly correct it."
Payton said part of the correction process requires "looking inward," and he detailed a number of areas that coaches and players alike will need to be better to earn a win against the Steelers in Week 2. And yet, there's also a critical element of not letting the loss to the Seattle bleed over to the next week of the season.
"At the end of the day, we have an opponent coming here next weekend, and there's nothing we can do about the Seattle game now but make the corrections and things like that," defensive tackle Malcolm Roach said Monday. "Don't let the same team beat you twice. When I say that, it's like, don't let that just keep you down. We still have to get back emotionally stable, get back balanced and get ready to attack this full force and with laser-like focus. Go even harder. Correct the things we did wrong in that game, and learn from our mistakes and get better and get ready for a good Pittsburgh team coming here this week."
Guard Quinn Meinerz, a first-time team captain, added the Broncos need to "stay the course" as they continue with a young season.
In the Broncos' home opener, they'll get a chance to do just that against the Steelers (1-0).
"With this team, this young and hungry team, you can tell that this team is thirsty," Roach said. "Guys are out there trying to make plays and things like that, trying to get to that next level. That's something that I know as a group, we can't wait to get back out there on the field, put in this week of work in practice. [We] can't wait to just go out there in front of our home crowd and showcase something good."
'MINI BUS'
One of the keys to finding success in the NFL is to know who you are as a player, and rookie running back Audric Estime has a picture in his locker to serve as a reminder.
Payton revealed Monday that Estime has a side-by-side printout of pictures of a pair of Hall of Famers in Barry Sanders and Jerome Bettis. Over the image of Sanders, there's a red circle with a line through it.
The first carry of Estime's NFL debut went for 13 yards, but he lost the ball as Julian Love punched at the football as Estime tried to hurdle the defender. While Payton said he doesn't coach against leaving the ground as a running back and said he doesn't "ever want to take away from their instincts," he did acknowledge the importance of playing to one's strengths.
"You have to know what kind of runner you're going to be in this league," Payton said. "I didn't see many times where Bettis was leaping over people."
Payton isn't the only one who has likened the Notre Dame product to the famous Fighting Irish alum.
"I call Audric 'Mini Bus,'" Roach said. "He runs like Jerome Bettis, and he went to Notre Dame. He's like the 'Mini Bus.' He's a tough runner. He's somebody who's trying to put pads on somebody every time he's getting through the line. There are things that he has to learn from. You have to protect the ball and things like that, but I feel like over the course of the season as it keeps going [and] he keeps getting those touches, he could be a real big short-yardage threat or he could be a goal-line threat, be able to step up in pass protections and do his job. As he keeps continuing to get those reps, I think Audric's going to be a good back in this league. Any time you get a physical back, somebody that's trying to run between the tackles and things like that, get that tough yardage, you never know. When it gets to the fourth quarter, before you know it, those three-yard runs become seven-yard runs, 15-yard runs. To have a back like that on our team, that's always good."
A NEW CHALLENGE
The Broncos will move toward a Week 2 game vs. Pittsburgh, but it's clear the challenge for Denver's offense won't be any easier.
The Steelers held the Falcons to 10 points — including none in the second half — in Week 1 and picked off Kirk Cousins twice while holding him to 155 yards and a 59.0 quarterback rating.
"Certainly, the Steelers' defensive tradition and how they've performed over the years is deserving of the accolades and all the success they've had," Payton said. "It's tough, it's physical. They do a lot of things extremely well, and that's not by accident. I think we'll be seeing a better defense this weekend, and that's with no disrespect at all to Seattle. It's just a more experienced defense — that's a better way to say it. We'll have to obviously make the corrections and then get ready for a good week here for a home game."
