HOUSTON — With a 92-percent success rate on field-goal attempts, Wil Lutz has the Broncos’ trust.
“Wil’s the man,” linebacker Alex Singleton said.
But Wil Lutz isn’t just the Broncos’ kicker. He’s one of the guys. So, too, are punter Riley Dixon and long snapper Mitchell Fraboni.
Together, they make up the Broncos’ placekicking triangle. Snap, hold, kick. Last month, they were perfect.
“I trust them with everything,” Singleton said.
And that’s more than just kicking. The Broncos’ troika of specialists have unique skill sets and responsibilities — but they fit in with the team.
“I think sometimes a lot of kickers and them, they can be a little quirky, not really full locker-room guys. But I would say our specialists are the best dudes,” Singleton said.
“I love all three of them. They’re good golf partners, too.”
Wil Lutz, Mitchell Fraboni and Riley Dixon work well together, although, as Lutz notes, chemistry isn’t static.
“I mean, it’s a continuous process. We’re always working on it,” Lutz said. “We’re working on something as a unit every day. So, to sit here and say there’s 100-percent cohesiveness, I don’t think that’s fair, right? We’re still working on things.
“The good news is, we’re working through things and the product’s on the field. So, really grateful for those guys, working hard to make my job easier.”
And the Broncos have needed that cohesion. Because rarely has a team with reasonable scoring production in a three-game span been more dependent on field goals.
That’s where this week’s pregame Three Numbers begins:
44.6
That is the percentage of Broncos points over the last three games to come via Lutz’s field goals, as he went a perfect 11-for-11 in wins over the Bills, Vikings and Browns.
Among teams scoring at least 24.0 points over a 3-game single-season span, that percentage is the second-highest since 2000. Only the 2017 Minnesota Vikings exceeded this in the last 23 years; during a 3-game stretch in October of that year, 48.8 percent of the Vikings’ points — 80, good for a 26.7-points-per-game average — came via Kai Forbath field goals.
24
Consecutive games won by Sean Payton-coached teams when they have a turnover margin of plus-2 or better, including the Broncos’ most recent four wins.
Overall, Payton-led teams are 57-6 with a turnover margin of plus-2 or better.
With any kind of positive turnover margin this season, the Broncos are 6-1. They were .500 in their previous 6 games with a positive turnover margin, a span that began in Week 16 of the 2021 season.
2-1
That is the record of Payton-led teams during their previous two three-game road swings.
In 2010, New Orleans won at Jacksonville and Carolina before falling at Tampa Bay to close out their road swing. Eight years later, the Saints lost at Dallas to open a three-game road trip, then won at Tampa Bay and Carolina.
