Before the Denver Broncos faced the Arizona Cardinals in their preseason opener last Friday, coach Sean Payton had said earlier in the week that the team’s starters would likely play between 15-18 snaps in Week 1 of preseason.
On game day, after the team’s starting offense failed to score on their first three drives (in part due to a pair of missed field goals), Payton sent them back out on the field for a fourth drive in the second quarter.
That was farther into the game than Denver’s starters were expected to play, and they ended up with 20 snaps, above Payton’s pre-game projection. So, why did the coach send them back out for a fourth drive?
“We looked at the numbers and we went one more with the offense,” Payton said after the game. “I think defense totals, it was a little easier [to sit them], and then I wanted to, shoot, I wanted to score and leave with a good taste in our mouths.”
Payton’s decision paid off as Wilson led a six-play, 57-yard drive that ended with a touchdown to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Wilson threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy on 4th-and-4 to take the lead.
“I thought that we really wanted to get some drives in there,” Wilson said after the game. “I thought that we knew we were going to get probably 15 to 18 plus plays, somewhere in there. I thought it was really good how we responded. After the first drive the ball really started moving, the third drive and fourth drive obviously we finished it off.
“It was a really great route by Jerry. Good job by him just getting open there in a split second. They brought on full pressure and he did a great job winning and getting the touchdown for us and that was big.”
Denver ultimately lost Friday’s game 18-17, but the starters ended their day with a scoring drive, and Wilson finished the game 7-of-13 passing for 93 yards and one touchdown with no turnovers. The first-team offense ended on a positive note, and that’s what Payton wanted.
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