NFL Coach Praises Sean Payton Game Plan, 1st 15 Plays Are a 'Motherf--ker' and 'Chaos'

Despite a rough debut season as head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2023, a terrific rebound year in his second season once again has opposing teams fearing what Sean Payton is capable of doing with his offense.

Speaking to The Athletic's Ted Nguyen, a defensive coach for an AFC team praised Payton's game-planning skills by highlighting his first 15 plays as being a "motherf--ker" and "chaos" trying to stop:

"The first 15 (plays) is a motherf--ker with them. It's big (personnel), little (personnel) every play, and they try to just create chaos with the subs and play games with all that s--t, and then they mix modes with the no huddle and all that. They put guys in the right spots, fit the pieces together well, where like everyone has their role with that. And then it's a diverse offense where you've got to defend two-back, one-back, four-by-one, RPOs, QB-driven, YY sets. And it's all the stuff you got prepared for. And that makes you just say, f--k it, we just got to be simple. There's so much noise where you can't really pin them down."

The notion of scripting the first offensive plays of the game was popularized by Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh with the San Francisco 49ers. The idea behind it is teams can spend most of their week practicing these plays, so when they put them to use in games, they should work smoothly, help give the offense positive momentum right out of the gate and force the defense to adapt on the fly.

It's easy to forget now, but there was some thought going into the 2024 season that Payton might be on the hot seat if the Broncos struggled. They went 8-9 in his first year with the club, and he made headlines for throwing Russell Wilson under the bus.

After being able to draft the quarterback he wanted to run his system by selecting Bo Nix with the No. 12 pick in 2024, Payton got the Broncos back on track. Their offense finished 10th in points scored and they made the playoffs with a 10-7 record.

One of the big reasons Nix was able to succeed right away as a rookie is because of the investment Payton and the Broncos made in their offensive line. ESPN's Jeff Legwold noted four of Denver's five starting offensive linemen are among the highest-paid players at their position.

That unit ranked first in ESPN's pass-block and run-block win rate metrics last season. The Baltimore Ravens were the only other team that ranked in the top five in both categories.

A large part of the Broncos' success last season stemmed from their defense that allowed the third-fewest points in the NFL and had 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II leading the secondary.

Now that Payton and Nix have had time to build off their success together in 2024, the pieces are in place for the Broncos to be a serious contender to the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC West crown this season.

Payton will put his first 15 plays to use on Sunday when the Broncos kickoff their 2025 season against the Tennessee Titans at Empower Field.