Coach Sean Payton was ready to call a spade a spade two days after the Denver Broncos' playoff hopes took a mighty hit in a 26-23 home loss to the New England Patriots.
Yes, the final tally wasn't ugly on the scoreboard. But the Broncos had to stage a furious rally from being down 23-7 to begin the fourth quarter. They ultimately tied the game before Patriots rookie kicker Chad Ryland drilled a 56-yard field goal to provide the winning margin.
The Broncos were heavy favorites against the Patriots, who arrived in Denver with a 3-11 record. But a pair of lost fumbles were just part of a bevvy of issues for the Broncos' offense.
Quarterback Russell Wilson fumbled twice, although Denver recovered both. He was also sacked five times and hit numerous others as Denver managed only three points until the fourth quarter after scoring a touchdown on their third possession of the game.
"So many times, when we look at some of that stuff, it's self-inflicted problems," Payton said Tuesday. "That has to get cleaned up. That's communication.
"Is there too much in (the gameplan)? Right now, we're average to below average in a lot of things offensively, and it's not good enough."
Denver is 25th in the NFL in total offense and passing offense and 14th in rushing yards per game. The Broncos are a respectable 16th in points per game at 21.8 and have a plus-4 turnover margin.
After a 1-5 start, Denver strung together a five-game winning streak to get into the thick of the playoff picture. However, the hopes are slim at best after dropping three of the past four games to fall to 7-8.
"We were protecting the ball better," Payton said when asked to assess what the team was doing better during the winning streak. "It's out all the time now, meaning it was out the other day. We're lucky we only had two turnovers."
After stalling out for the better part of three quarters against the Patriots, the Broncos' offense got rolling in the fourth quarter. Wilson threw a pair of touchdown passes and converted two-point conversions after each one.
However, Payton was honest in his assessment that it was due largely to playing in a hurry-up, spread attack while staging the late rally.
"We were in a stage of the game where we weren't in hurry-up two-minute, but we certainly were up-tempo. A lot of it was empty with no (running) back, and we made some plays," he said. "It's hard to say you're going to make a living that way as your base offense."
The upset defeat to New England has forced Payton to adjust his goals for the final two games of the regular season. The Broncos face the Los Angeles Chargers at home, where they are 4-4 this season, before closing out at the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18.
Is Payton discussing the playoff picture with his team?
"The way it's covered, I don't think I have to discuss it," he said. "The message is going to be about winning this game -- our last home game. We haven't played well at home, or at least to the expectations certainly from Broncos fans and then from my experience of playing at home. This is our last opportunity to play a home game, and it's going to be about getting this win.
"It's going to be that short-sighted if you will. The next seven days, and then kind of go from there."
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