With Payton as coach and Brees as quarterback, the New Orleans Saints played in nine playoff games and won Super Bowl XLIV, after the franchise had won six playoff games and one postseason victory in its 39 seasons prior to his arrival in 2006.

While the Saints went to the NFC Championship Game in the first season of the Brees-Payton partnership, the quarterback said his ability to work completely in sync with the coach took some time and intense moments.

“Obviously Sean and I got to a point in our relationship where it was almost like we could finish each other’s sentences,” Brees said. “I knew exactly what he was thinking before he called the play. We had just rehearsed it so much. We had talked about it so much over the week that the moment we crossed the 50-yard line, I knew that was the play call coming out of his mouth. Once we’re in the red zone, this is the game we’re playing. Once they move to that defense, he wants this pressure or that pressure, he wants this. They are things we talked about and rehearsed together.

“The night before a game we do a call sheet. “Here’s my favorite piece, Sean.” He tells me his favorite pieces. We just rehearse it over and over again so we’re kind of a ghost out there. But look, of course there were moments where, “Man, I’m going to make a mistake.” And we got to the point where he knew that I knew that I had made a mistake so he wouldn’t yell at me and had to yell at him.

“For a young quarterback that he’s trying to teach and coach and kind of get him on the same page, there’s probably going to be a lot more of that and he’s going to be pretty assertive to one at times.” And I think what he like to see – and I think a lot of that came from (coach Bill) Parcells; Parcells had high standards for his assistant coaches and Parcells wanted those coaches to pass that same kind of intensity and confidence to him – so I think Sean loves coming back from a quarterback.”

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Payton is in his second season as the Broncos’ coach and Nix was taken with the 12th pick in the NFL Draft on April 25.

Denver hasn’t finished a season with a winning record since 2016, and the Broncos haven’t played in the postseason since a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016.

After opening the 2024 season with two losses, Denver beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-7 on Sunday, picking up its first win with Nix, a former Pinson Valley High School and Auburn star.

The Broncos face the Jets on Sunday at noon CDT at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.