ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’s not that Sean Payton thinks of Buffalo as Maui of the northeast. Although Buffalo does have better wings.
It’s just the trip to Buffalo happens to challenge the overall science of how to get peak performance out of his team.
Payton, head coach of the Denver Broncos, will spend parts of four days and three nights in Buffalo this weekend, all for a Monday night game against the Bills. Departure is Saturday evening – two days before the game, which has been Payton’s custom for games played two time zones away – with the return not until Tuesday afternoon.
That’s two extra nights more than any other Broncos coach would have stayed in the past.
This is all about players getting proper sleep.
"When we looked at this itinerary at the start of the season, we felt get out there, get rest, (Sunday) morning meetings, just like we would here on a Saturday,'' Payton said at his post-practice press conference Saturday. "We'll get a half hour walkthrough. The focus the following week, our decision to stay, return in the morning, that kind of thing, that's changed over the years."
The first challenge for staying in Buffalo, as it pertains to rest, is it's two time zones away from Denver. The game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. Buffalo time, 6:15 p.m. Denver time. The second challenge is the game won’t finish until close to midnight eastern time, which means departing by charter flight by 2 a.m. if all goes smoothly. Even with gaining two hours on the flight back, the team wouldn’t land back at DIA until 3 a.m. The bus back to the facility and drive home means the players wouldn’t get to bed until about 5 a.m.
And so Payton is having his team spend Monday night at their Buffalo team hotel and allowing them to sleep in until late Tuesday morning.
This is an old-school coach with a new-school approach.
Like so many ideas, this one came by mistake. It was the 2013 season and his New Orleans Saints, who finished 11-5 that year, played a Monday night game at Seattle against Russell Wilson and, as Broncos fans remember all too well, the eventual Super Bowl champions.
The Saints got clobbered, 34-7 on Monday night. Wilson threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns, plus ran for 47 yards on 8 carries. Payton was not in a good mood. And then the Saints couldn’t take their early-morning flight back to New Orleans because the airplane’s windshield had some sort of malfunction. The Saints had to find a hotel room in Seattle. They slept in, took a Tuesday flight home and Payton gave them Wednesday off. Back to practice Thursday.
Lo and behold, the Saints played great in their following Sunday Night Football home game against their NFC South rivals Carolina. It was a matchup of two 9-3 teams going in, winner would have control of the division. The Saints won easily, 31-13.
Payton was convinced staying overnight following a road night game is the way to go. He can recite studies showing that if the team gets in later than 2:30 a.m., stay put and get a good night’s rest. The NBA had figured out this schedule strategy a while ago.
Think about it. Getting back home at 4:30 in the morning can leave the body exhausted for a good two or three days. And then play at peak performance? Difficult to do, no matter how good the game plan.
So Buffalo, here the Broncos come. And here they will stay.
(First practice for the next Sunday Night Football home game against the Vikings will be Thursday.)
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