Sean Payton Understands What NFL's Broncos-Chargers Flex Means

The NFL flexed the Denver Broncos' late-season schedule and Sean Payton is here for it.

Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton talks to line judge Jeff Bergman (32) during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Earlier this week, the NFL declined to flex the Denver Broncos' Week 13 home game vs. the Cleveland Browns. It'll remain as a Monday Night Football broadcast.

The NFL wasn't done with the Broncos, though, flexing the team's Week 16 tilt at the Los Angeles Chargers from a Sunday game to Thursday Night Football. It creates a short-week challenge for the Broncos, but head coach Sean Payton sees the TNF flex as just that: a flex.

“I like the fact that we have another opportunity," Payton said on Friday. "I remember this a long time ago, ‘Boys, we’d rather be flexed in than flexed out.’ It’s a real good team playing real good, and it flexes Cincinnati out who we play the following week. So there was a little… But it is what it is, and they just tell us when we’re playing.”

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Sitting at 6-5 at the moment, there's no doubt that the Broncos have earned bigger opportunities in the eyes of the NFL schedule makers. This team is playoff-relevant — inexplicably, if you ask the oddsmakers and national prognosticators who pegged the Broncos as a 5.5-win team before the season started.

Payton's focus is on ensuring the Broncos bow up for the bigger stage in a game that will impact the AFC playoff seeding. The Kansas City Chiefs have the AFC West all but locked up by virtue of their 9-0 start, but the Chargers sit at 7-3 with seven games left to be played, one of which is that TNF tilt vs. the surging Broncos.

“Yes, that’s a big game, but we’ll play in bigger," Payton forecasted.

And just in case you're worried about the Broncos not having enough time to prepare for a short-Week 16 turnaround, let not your heart be troubled because Payton's isn't.

“Yes, it’s fine. It’s all good," Payton said, assuring fans that the Broncos have the time they need to be prepared for the Chargers.

Jim Harbaugh's Chargers walloped the Broncos in Week 6 in Denver. The 23-16 score made the game look closer than it was.

But a lot has changed in Denver since Week 6. And those moving pieces will continue to evolve.

By the time the Chargers draw the Broncos again in Week 16, this will be a very different team than they beat two-and-a-half months prior. We'll have to wait to find out how much that time also changed the Chargers, and whether for the better or worse.

Next up, the Broncos travel to take on the Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos have never won in Allegiant Stadium, though they defeated the Raiders handily in Week 5, snapping an eight-game losing streak to their hated AFC West rival.

There's a first time for everything, including hanging a win on the board at Allegiant Stadium.

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