NFL Fans Enjoyed the Karma of the Dolphins Putting Up 70 on Sean Payton

Also in Traina Thoughts: Patrick Mahomes hooked up Travis Kelce; best NFL play of the day; great MLB mic’d-up moment and more.
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1. There was a heavy case of karma on display in South Florida on Sunday.

The Dolphins’ juggernaut offense put on a historic performance and embarrassed the Broncos in a 70–20 win.

This was a juicy turn of events for NFL fans thanks to new Denver coach Sean Payton, who is now 0–3 after doing a lot of talking.

I was already rooting against Payton because I get annoyed with NFL coaches who act like they’re running an army and do things like make a big stink out of banning hats and sunglasses as if hats have anything to do with winning or losing.

But there are much bigger issues at hand with Payton.

For starters, when he was at Fox last year, he said that he believed Tua Tagovailoa would eventually get benched for Teddy Bridgewater.

I would be willing to bet money Tua and the Dolphins knew about that quote before going into Sunday’s game in which Tua was 23 of 26 for 309 yards and four touchdowns.

Then there was Payton’s comments about the Jets over the summer, when he criticized New York for “trying to win the offseason.” The Jets lost their starting quarterback and still have more wins than Denver.

And, then, of course, there was Payton’s scathing comment about former Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett with Payton calling Hackett’s one season in Denver “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”

How much did NFL fans relish this piece of karma for Payton on Sunday? So much so that "Kevin James" was trending on Twitter because James played Payton in that movie everyone said was awful about Payton coaching kids during his suspension from the NFL after Bountygate.

While some fans may enjoy seeing karma come back to bite Payton, the Broncos being a disaster of a football team is not good for the league from a television perspective.

This week, Denver plays the Bears in Chicago in a total pig of a game. The week after that, the. Broncos host the Jets in the 4:25 p.m. national window in another pig of a game. And then the week after that, the Broncos will get a full national audience on Thursday Night Football when they visit the Chiefs.

Ouch.

2. Patrick Mahomes embraced and had fun with Taylor Swift’s appearance at Arrowhead Stadium to watch Travis Kelce on Sunday.

3. This was the single-best play from Sunday’s NFL action, courtesy of Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet.

4. And this was the best moment of Sunday’s MLB action, courtesy of Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas.

5. I can’t think of a better video to sum up everything about the New York Jets.

6. This latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features a conversation with Kevin Clark, who now hosts This Is Football for ESPN and Omaha Productions.

Clark talks about why he recently made the move from The Ringer to ESPN, whether he will continue to write and how sports media has changed since COVID-19.

Other topics covered with Clark include the possible Travis Kelce–Taylor Swift romance, changes he’d like to see networks make for NFL coverage, Bill Belichick’s personality, what we know about the NFL season and much more.

Following Clark, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss Week 2 of NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube, ESPN’s curious assignments for Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, Sean McVay’s decision to kick a meaningless field goal and upset a lot of bettors and HBO’s canceling Winning Time. Plus, I make an announcement regarding Apple reviews.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Loved this from the great Kelly Clarkson over the weekend.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.


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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.