NFL Fans Rip Broncos’ Sean Payton for Helping Patriots by Calling Timeouts in Final Minute
The Denver Broncos have faced their fair share of criticism this year, and rightfully so. In the spirit of the holidays, that trend didn’t stop after some head-scratching coaching mistakes on Sunday in the team’s latest loss.
The New England Patriots came away with a last-second win over Denver via a field goal that possibly could have been avoided had it not been for Broncos coach Sean Payton. New England had the ball in the final minute with the score tied 23–23, and all signs looked as if the Patriots were ready to pack it in for overtime. After all, the New England offense started its final drive at its own 19-yard line and began the drive with two rushing plays.
Instead, Payton elected to use two of his timeouts in order to preserve time for his own offense, seemingly sure the Broncos would get the ball back. But they didn’t.
The timeouts ended up helping the Patriots sustain their drive, and they were able to march down the field for the eventual winning 56-yard field goal from Chad Ryland. After the catastrophic loss, which severely hampers Denver’s playoff hopes, Payton explained his thought process, but that didn’t save him from widespread criticism.
“We felt like we’d get the stop,” Payton said after the 26–23 loss. “We weren’t able to, then and all of a sudden the script flipped, and that’s one of those seven or eight things that’s disgusting.”
Here are some of the best reactions from NFL fans to Payton’s blunder:
