When Sean Payton downed one too many lattes and went scorched earth on a scorching day back in July, he said a bunch of stuff he caught heat for.
He also threw down the gauntlet.
“I’m going to be (ticked) off if this is not a playoff team,” Payton told USA TODAY then.
He could not have known at that moment just how right he’d be.
Not because the Broncos are overly talented. And not because they stormed out of the gates like his first New Orleans team did in 2006.
Just the opposite, in fact.