DENVER — The best thing that happened to the Broncos was DeMeco Ryans’ connection to Houston.

To this day, there are those who believe the Broncos would have hired Ryans if not for his love for the city where he starred as a player, to a place where his family wanted to be. There was significant interest from Denver in the the former defensive coordinator.

He chose the Texans.

Thank you, DeMeco.

Thank you for not forcing an offer from the Broncos you could not refuse. Thank you for choosing familiarity. Thank you for having eyes only for Houston, so Denver no longer has a problem.

Because Ryans is not here, Sean Payton is. And what started as a rebirth in 2023 has evolved into full-blown relevance. The Broncos are back.

After watching Ryans chide Houston reporters for being too negative in their coverage this week, can everyone admit that Payton was the right choice, the single most important decision the Walton-Penner ownership group has made in transforming this franchise from a clown car into a Mercedes?

This is not meant as criticism of Ryans, who is universally beloved around the league. It is a reminder that a good man can be a bad fit. And there is no way you can convince me the Broncos would better off without Payton.

First, a history lesson. Since 1995, the only coaches who have succeeded in Denver had previous experience in the job. Mike Shanahan with the Raiders. John Fox in Carolina. Gary Kubiak with the Texans. And Payton in New Orleans. This is not a coincidence.

Given the expectations, the media coverage, the pressure, this is no the place for training wheels, especially after the previous three first-time head coaches did wheelies into a ditch.

Secondly, and most saliently, Payton had the arrogance and confidence to cut Russell Wilson, select Bo Nix in the draft and create an offense that is finding its traction just in time to make a run at the franchise’s first division title since 2015.

Payton has adapted to the white-hot media glare, picking his spots for fights with the press, and found balance in working with general manager George Paton. There is a love-him or loathe-him quality to Payton. But the Broncos required a coach with a padded resume in the ‘Give No Fs’ portion of his career.

“It starts with his structure. I don’t want to bad mouth who was here before. But there was no structure, there was no culture, there was no will to want to win. Whoever was here wanted to be better. Sean wants to win,” nose tackle D.J. Jones said. “There is a difference between wanting to better and actually doing it.”

Accountable and volatile. Those two words define Payton.

It is why he is not for everyone, why even his fashion choice to not wear the old school Broncos gear last Sunday because the navy pants he had on clashed with the royal blue (bleeped) people off.

But, you know what made Broncos Country more irate? Losing for seven years. Missing the playoffs for eight.

“Winning is is the only way to measure success in this league. It’s not about competing. It’s a yes or no question after games and he has won a lot of them,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “It was the deciding factor for me to come here, to play for him.”

Don’t get this twisted. Ryans is a good coach. The Texans have reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Payton cannot say that. Jones loves Ryans after playing for him in San Francisco, believes he would have done great anywhere.

I don’t think it would have happened here. And it traces to the quarterback.

Would Ryans have had the guts to tell Wilson to get lost? Or would he have played coordinator musical chairs trying to wring out the last calories of the veteran’s career while getting spooked by the salary cap? No shame in that. But Wilson was done in Denver. There was no path back to stardom, at best incremental improvement that would have delayed the need to start over in the draft at the position.

My fear is that Ryans in Denver would have been Vic Fangio after successful charisma bypass surgery. The Broncos defense would have been great — his Houston group is gnarly — but the offense would remain vulnerable. The foundation shaky.

Hiring Payton came with a mandate: fix the lines on both sides of the ball. He signed Ben Powers, McGlinchey and Zach Allen within a few hours of his first free agency.

Now? The Broncos are the first team in NFL history with 35-plus sacks and 10 or fewer sacks allowed in their first eight games of a season, according to Pro Football & Sports Network.

Meanwhile, C.J. Stroud is struggling to replicate his rookie stardom and the offensive line remains a mess. He has been sacked 105 times in 39 games. Compare that to Nix (32 sacks in 25 career games).

Stroud is on his second offensive coordinator. Let’s just say that Payton is not going anywhere, “a consistency that will only help Bo every year they are together,” Peyton Manning explained in August.

Nix is on pace for 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, numbers not sniffed around since Manning in 2014. He has an intel processor for a brain, and pachyderm-thick skin. Both are necessary to play for Payton.

Ryans is terrific. But you cannot convince me that there would not have been growing pains.

Payton was meant for a blue blood organization like the Broncos, suited for the klieg lights. Even as he gets under your skin, he is comfortable in his. The way he coaches, the way he is in the building, you feel his presence.

“Heck, I felt it from the other sideline when I played against him,” Jones said.

Wander around the Broncos locker room, and the word confidence surfaces repeatedly in conversations. This comes from coaching. Payton set the tone before facing the Eagles, needling the players with the message that teams were terrible in road games before London. He framed expectations before the Cowboys game, telling players that teams were horrible after historical comeback wins.

They buy in. And Payton is the head of the sales department.

“It is hard for a coach to stand up there and not have a track record. To say this is how we are going to do things, then they don’t go as planned,” McGlinchey said. “His toughness, his leadership, but the culture change started because he believes whole-heartedly in what he’s doing, teaching. And we all follow it.”

DeMeco, congrats, sincerely, on your success in Houston. But Denver needed Sean Payton.

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