Sean Payton is taking back the Broncos' play sheet, the Denver head coach announced, ending a two-game arrangement that had offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi calling plays to open the 2025 season.
The move follows a 13-point output in Denver's Week 2 loss, a game in which the offense failed to reach the end zone until the fourth quarter. Payton, who called plays for most of his 15 seasons as New Orleans' head coach, said the decision came after direct conversations with his staff.
"I'm going to say this first and I said this to Davis the other day talking to him, I've done this long enough to know a" Payton told reporters, indicating he had already informed team ownership of the change before making it public.
Payton handed playcalling to Lombardi during the offseason, a deliberate delegation aimed at freeing the head coach to manage game situations, clock management and the full roster on Sundays. The experiment lasted two games. Denver has scored 33 points total across its first two contests, ranking near the bottom of the league in scoring offense.
Payton's playcalling history is the strongest argument for the switch. During his tenure in New Orleans from 2006 to 2021, the Saints finished in the top five in total offense nine times, and quarterback Drew Brees threw for more than 5,000 yards in five separate seasons under Payton's direction. He won a Super Bowl with the Saints in 2009 and was named AP Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2018.
The Broncos hired Payton in 2023 to fix an offense that had cycled through three head coaches in four years. Denver finished 8-9 in his first season and 10-7 in his second, reaching the playoffs in 2024 before losing in the wild-card round.
Playcalling duties in the NFL are typically held by the head coach or the offensive coordinator, and midseason switches are common when production lags. Kansas City's Andy Reid and San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan are among the head coaches who keep the responsibility themselves.
Denver returns to action in Week 3, when Payton will call plays from the sideline for the first time since arriving in Denver.
