The Denver Broncos and head coach Sean Payton season ended with a whimper on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.

They fell to the Raiders by a final score of 27-14, extending the losing streak to their hated rivals to an unfathomable eight games.

The Broncos trailed by 10 at halftime, 17 in the fourth quarter and the outcome was never really in doubt. Denver finished with an 8-9 record, the franchise’s seventh straight losing season. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, the year they won Super Bowl 50.

After the game, Payton approached the podium and offered a lengthy opening statement. He had a message for his guys in the locker room, acknowledging it wasn’t the outcome anyone wanted, but telling them to keep their heads up.

“I think the mood would be disappointed, not discouraged, but nonetheless you’d certainly like to finish on a brighter note than that. I reminded them, just remember how this feels. It’s something that you spend so much time in working towards a common goal and then when you fall short of that it just doesn’t sit right. It can’t, with anyone” Payton said.

The Broncos had their chances this season. They lost at home to the Raiders, Commanders, Jets and Patriots. If they had just won two of those games, they would’ve been in the playoffs. Instead, it’s a record that will earn them the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

For Payton, that’s where Denver deserves to be.

“You are what your record is in our league. That’s just the truth,” Payton said. “Because you do have an expectation and then we go from there. We begin this offseason which is going to involve a lot of work.”

And the offseason is full of questions. The future of QB Russell Wilson is on the top of the list, although he’s almost certainly played his last game in a Broncos uniform.

Still, after a 1-5 start, Payton sees the team trending in the right direction. He had a reminder to Broncos Country this wasn’t going to turn around overnight.

“This isn’t the industry to get discouraged. It would’ve be real easy to get discouraged with the start of the season. No one said this was going to be easy,” Payton said.

For now, a long spring and summer is ahead. Payton will be back in 2024, but who joins him in the front office, on the coaching staff and on the field remains to be seen.