Sean Payton considers himself a funny guy, but this ain’t no joke.

Are the Broncos truly serious about winning the Super Bowl? Of course.

Will Payton let nothing stand in the way of bringing a championship to Denver? Let’s hope so.

If a championship ring is the thing, Payton needs to put aside his ego and surrender his play sheet.

The first order of business for the Broncos should be for Payton to promote assistant coach Davis Webb to offensive coordinator. And the harder part: Payton should relinquish his play-calling responsibility to Webb, in order to get Bo Nix and Denver teammates in the end zone more often.

The hated Rai-duhs are up to their old tricks this week, reaching out to a brilliant young Broncos assistant, by inviting Webb to interview for the head coaching vacancy of the lamest NFL franchise this side of Cleveland.

With the sudden death of a remarkable football season still raw, Payton was asked Tuesday about the possibility of losing Webb to a division rival in Las Vegas.

“Well,” the forever clever and always smug Payton replied, “it would be a pain in the a– for him.”

And a damn shame for the Broncos.

Webb is simply too valuable for Denver to let him walk, whether it be for the Raiders’ head coaching gig or the chance to call plays as the offensive coordinator for another NFL team.

Although only 31 years old, Webb is the brightest young offensive mind to work for the Broncos since a brash young receivers coach was elevated to be the team’s offensive coordinator at the tender age of 32, way back in 1985.

Perhaps you remember his name. Anybody around here ever heard of MIke Shanahan? 

In much the same manner Shanahan had the ear of John Elway a generation ago, Webb serves as quarterback whisperer to Nix.

“He understands how to take what could be a difficult offense, narrowing it down, and making sure these are the most important things. … All you’ve got to do on this play is find this guy,” Nix said back in training camp, citing how Webb’s insights allows him to make plays with an uncluttered mind.

Back in the final month of the 1999 NFL season, New York Giants coach Jim Fassel handed over the team’s play-calling duties to a cocksure, 35-year-old assistant with a beautiful offensive mind.

And ever since Fassel gave Payton his big break, he has stood on sidelines throughout the league and called plays.

Offensive genius is his identity.

So does Payton possess the self-awareness and humility to relinquish so much responsibility to Webb?

Maybe not.

Payton can be stubborn to a fault, but he’s far from stupid.

Prior to Denver’s playoff victory against the Buffalo Bills, Payton admitted to fighting the urge to be risk-adverse at age 62.

“It’s said as you get older, maybe you don’t drive in the rain at night,” Payton mused. “I can’t let that happen as a play-caller.”

Maybe those words explain why Payton refused to kick a field goal and take three easy points while leading New England 7-0 during the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game.

With ego his occupational hazard, an old pirate who once won a Super Bowl for the New Orleans Saints with a surprise onsides kick wanted to show the swashbuckler in him was still alive.

The problem?

Even if you believe going for it on fourth-and-1 was the right move, for Payton to put the football in the hands of Jarrett Stidham, a quarterback who hadn’t played for two years, in such a critical situation was completely asinine.   

“What irks me more is the call,” Payton said. “More than the decision (to go for it).”

Despite the painful sight of Nix arriving at the stadium pushing a medical scooter to support his broken right ankle, bad injury luck was no excuse for seven lousy points in the AFC Championship Game. Snow-way, snow-how should a highly paid offensive line be unable to produce more than an inept 2.9 yards on a combined 19 carries by running backs RJ Harvey, Jaleel McLaughlin, Tyler Badie and Adam Prentice.

This Denver offense needs a fresh approach.

With a whole Brinks Truck of dead money from the Russell Wilson mistake finally erased from their salary cap and Nix still working on a relatively cheap rookie contract, the window for the Broncos to win a championship is now.

A generation into his coaching career, Payton remains a vital and vibrant leader. He deserves full credit for reshaping the franchise’s mindset and instilling a winning culture that had disappeared from the team’s Dove Valley headquarters.

But Webb has got next. The Broncos should give him a chance to shine. Firing offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, a move reported Tuesday by NFL Network and confirmed by The Denver Gazette, is a good first step.

“You evaluate a quarterback by how much he wins,” said Broncos general manager George Paton, who sees something special in Nix.

“He has that ‘it’ factor. I don’t think you can teach that. You either have it or you don’t, and (Nix) has it.”

Payton is the right head coach to show Denver the way back to the Super Bowl.

But it’s time to let Webb call the plays that can get Nix and the Broncos there.