DENVER — The Denver Broncos’ special teams are like “Pulp Fiction.” The longer you watch, the more questions you have.

Denver ranked top five in special teams last year under Ben Kotwica. This season, it is considered a win if the Broncos commit fewer than five blunders a week under Darren Rizzi.

The Broncos are bad. They have a new coordinator. Are the two related? It sure seems like it.

However, the man whose only opinion matters, coach Sean Payton, does not think so.

First, evidence on the initial point. Give me a second, it took a while to download this file.

Rizzi’s special-teamers allowed a 71-yard kickoff return in the season opener, committed a ridiculous leverage penalty on a field goal attempt against the Colts, and screwed up a substitution that led to Marvin Mims Jr. remaining on a kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys, resulting in a concussion. Then the tour de farce came last week at Houston: a blocked field goal, muffed punt, 45-yard punt return and late hit by longsnapper Mitchell Fraboni.

The mistakes cost the Broncos nine points in an 18-15 victory. They did not win because of special teams. They won despite them.

There is no hiding from this. The Broncos have a real, festering issue that threatens to jeopardize a special season.

Is Rizzi to blame? He pointed the finger at the man in the mirror on Tuesday when I asked him about the mess, a positive step forward. It is impossible to identify a solution without acknowledging the problem.

“It starts with me,” Rizzi said. “We have to help the cause more. We cannot be the reason that we’re losing field position and things like that. It always starts with me as a coordinator, and it trickles down to the players. I certainly take full responsibility on getting it cleaned up. I’ll tell you right now that through my experience, I’m certainly confident in myself and my ability, and we’ll get it cleaned up.”

When the 2024 season ended, despite snapping a seven-year playoff drought, Payton could not wait to fire Kotwica. With special teams guru and assistant head coach Mike Westhoff resigning last November because of vision issues, Kotwica was no longer insulated.

He did not have a history with Payton. It meant he had no protection, and Payton refused to forgive him for a blocked field at Kansas City that cost the Broncos a victory when Alex Forsyth was pancaked.

Payton has more than earned the right to employ whomever he wants. He is equal parts great one and grate one, but his methods work. The Broncos sit atop the AFC West entering Thursday’s game against the Raiders.

Remember, Payton did not leave New Orleans. He brought New Orleans with him. So when Rizzi became available after failing to land the Saints head coaching job, Payton scooped him up, even letting special teams assistant Chris Banjo leave for the Jets in the process.

If last season represented a head coach-to-coordinator disconnect, then what is this season?

The Broncos have gone from reliable to volatile. Yet Payton continues to provide cover for Rizzi. He clarified on Monday that his displeasure with the special teams against the Texans centered on the players.

“The coaching is outstanding,” Payton said.

That is debatable. But Rizzi’s resume shows he deserves patience.

He has performed this job for 33 years, counting the NFL and college. In his last stop in New Orleans, Rizzi’s units finished in the top 10 of Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings four times (2019, 2020, 2021, 2023). Those numbers are based on net punting, opponent net punting, field goal percentage, kickoff return and coverage. They finished first in 2023. Kotwica’s group placed fourth in 2024.

This season, Rizzi’s unit sits in the bottom third, dragged down by opponent net punting (32), poor kick coverage (31st) and kick returns (23rd).

Payton addressed the issue this week.

“We spent some time on it. We had a video of — again, the guys running on late — we showed that video in front of the team, and I said, ‘This can’t happen.’ It can’t happen in nickel. It can’t happen in base. We really have to be on point,'” Payton said. “When there is an injury or two and a core (special) teamer is playing more on one side of the ball or other, are we getting the same focus still in the kicking game? We met with a few guys. Those guys are working, and we will get that ironed out.”

Rizzi is a Payton guy, one of many with New Orleans ties on this staff. Loyalty is admirable. But it cannot be blind. The fact that Payton is facing it head-on is a good sign. That was part of the rub with Rizzi.

He wasn’t exactly inspiring confidence in the way he was addressing issues during scrums with reporters. His reasons for failures sounded more like excuses. And when he refused to address the Mims substitution mix-up — one brought up unsolicited by Payton days earlier — it felt like he was avoiding accountability.

Was it the player’s fault for telling the wrong guy to come out? Yeah. But you know how to avoid that? Walk over to Mims on the sideline, tap him on the shoulder, and tell him his day is done.

Easy. Straightforward. No ambiguity.

When Michael Bandy misjudged and muffed a punt against the Texans, it only amplified how awful and avoidable the mistake with Mims was.

This week offered a path forward for Rizzi. He took it, refusing to skirt responsibility. It was and is necessary.

If we are being honest, the way the Broncos are winning is not sustainable. They have a minus-1 point differential through the first three quarters and plus-60 in the fourth, the latter representing the best in the NFL through nine games since 2016.

The margins are thin. Miracle comebacks come with expiration dates. The schedule becomes much tougher after Thursday. The defense cannot continue to prop up an offense that sleepwalks through the first half or a special teams group that sabotages with fundamental gaffes.

The errors have been egregious, leading to news conferences like Tuesday with Rizzi. He is not getting fired. Nor should he be.

He faced the music. Now, it is time for the special teamers to stop the noise, limit the mistakes and peek at the scoreboard without wondering if they diminished a win or caused a loss.

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