Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Payton declares the Jets this year's Denver Broncos

Sean Payton launched a grenade at the New York Jets on Thursday.

The Denver Broncos head coach spoke with USA Today's Jarrett Bell and didn't hold back about what went wrong with the Broncos last season and how he sees the Jets taking Denver's place this season as the biggest disappointment in the NFL.

"It doesn't happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed... And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much [expletive] time trying to win the offseason," Payton said.

He followed that statement by assuring Bell that won't be the case in 2023, which is also when he took his shot at New York.

"We're not doing any of that. The Jets did that this year. You watch. 'Hard Knocks,' all of it. I can see it coming," Payton said, before referencing the 2000 Washington team that looked great on paper but limped to an eight-win season.

Payton knows how to stir the pot and his latest comments will undoubtedly ruffle the Jets' feathers. He blurs the line between confidence and arrogance as well as anyone, but talking down about a team when the Broncos have their own work to do is still surprising.

Coaches often talk about only worrying about what's happening in their building, not the decisions made by other teams. 

Payton, who has yet to prove he can win consistently without Drew Brees, might want to spend less time disparaging others when his words have the possibility of backfiring epically.

Per OddsChecker, the Broncos are -210 to miss the playoffs with their over-under win total set at 8.5 games.

"I'm going to be pissed off if this is not a playoff team," Payton said in his USA Today interview. Perhaps, then, he's only taking his anger out on the Jets as he comes to grips with reality.

While we wait to see how accurate Payton's prediction is, one thing is for sure. The Jets-Broncos game scheduled for Denver in Week 5 just got a lot more interesting.

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