NFL Week 13 Power Rankings: Sean Payton has Broncos looking like contenders; Cowboys climb up to No. 2

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Sean Payton is one of the game’s best coaches, and has been for a long time, so when he took over as the head coach of the Denver Broncos this season, expected improvement was natural after a terrible 2022 season for the Broncos.

If anybody could fix Russell Wilson, Payton could do it.

So far, so good.

Wilson is playing much better this season than a year ago, his first with Denver, but it was the awful defense that had this Denver team starting 1-5 and seemingly going nowhere. Included in that 1-5 start was giving up a 70-point game to the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 — as demoralizing a loss as there could be.

Fast forward to Sunday. The Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns, 29-12, to win their fifth straight game and firmly plant their flag in the playoff race with a 6-5 record. The five consecutive victories is the longest streak in the league. The defense that gave up 70 in a game has given up 80 the past five. They have 15 takeaways in the past four contests and average a league-best 2.0 takeaways per game. 

Payton has this team surging at the right time as they ready to face a Houston Texans team on the road this week, a Texans team that is also in the wild-card race.

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-week-13-power-rankings-sean-payton-has-broncos-looking-like-contenders-cowboys-climb-up-to-no-2/

Author : Pete Prisco

Publish date : 2023-11-28 13:14:29

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