Payton Claps Back at Critics of Broncos' End-of-Game Play-Calling in Vegas

"The last thing I was going to do was hand the ball off three times."

Nov 24, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton reacts in the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In Week 12, with 3:41 seconds left in the game, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew drove his team down to get three points off a Daniel Carlson field goal, narrowing the Denver Broncos' lead to seven points. Bo Nix would get the ball back with 3:38 seconds left to go, set up in position to run a four-minute offense, grind out the clock, and bury the Raiders.

However, instead of killing the clock, Broncos head coach Sean Payton called three consecutive passes, all three of which were incomplete, as the offense went three-and-out. The possession took a grand total of 15 seconds off the clock and gave the ball back to the Raiders with all three of their timeouts and the two-minute warning at their disposal.

It created a very perilous situation that, although the Broncos ultimately overcame, had many fans up in arms over the play-calling. On Monday, with the dust having settled on Denver's 29-19 win, Payton addressed the complaints, giving some insight into his mindset at the time and why it didn't work out.

"Now end of game, there was a lot of, ‘Why this?’ We’re trying to win the game at the end of the game there," Payton said via conference call. "The last thing I was going to do was hand the ball off three times."

Payton was reticent to hand the ball off three times, but why? Even calling a single run play would have either taken precious time off the clock or forced the Raiders to start using their timeouts. Instead, the Broncos preserved them from having to do so with three straight incompletions.

The Raiders were giving the Broncos "heavy looks" on defense, meaning that they were loading the box in anticipation of Payton calling the obligatory runs. Payton anticipated that the Broncos' ineffectual rushing offense would get stymied by Vegas' heavy front seven, and although it would have forced timeouts, it wouldn't have precluded Minshew from getting one last shot.

So, instead of zigging, Payton zagged. If it had worked, he'd be touted as a fearless genius. When it didn't, doubts about coaching hubris creep in.

"[They’d] use their time outs; they drive down the field and—we’re getting these heavy looks, and I didn’t feel like with where we were at in the game relative to our decisions to attack them defensively, we weren’t there yet," Payton said.

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Nov 24, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; A general overall view as Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) prepares to throw the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Had Courtland Sutton not dropped Nix's second-down throw, which popped up into the air precariously and was almost picked off, it's possible Payton wouldn't be receiving any criticism over his end-of-game play-calling. Ironically, up to that point, Nix was a perfect 8-for-8 targeting Sutton, totaling 97 yards and two touchdowns.

That scary second-down drop was followed by another incomplete target to Sutton, bringing up fourth down. Punt.

Fortunately, the Broncos were able to knock Gardner Minshew out of the game (he's done for the season) with a collarbone injury on the ensuing drive, ushering in Desmond Ridder, who promptly coughed up the ball on a Nik Bonitto strip-sack. That led to another Broncos field goal, extending the lead to 29-19 where it would stay.

Ridder would drive down and get close to scoring a touchdown, which would have narrowed the Broncos' lead to three points, but Vance Joseph's defense stiffened up in the red zone, and kept them out as time expired. All's well that ends well.

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I do admire Payton's ingenuity and aggressiveness, which speaks to his confidence in Nix and the offense to execute. I can recall similarly aggressive attitudes from Mike Shanahan, with John Elway in the '90s, and later, with Jake Plummer and Jay Cutler.

That aggressiveness and unpredictability can be an asset, but also a curse in the wrong hands. Most of the time, Payton's gut intuition on these clutch situations is the right one, but every once in a while, it won't work.

When it doesn't, all we can hope is that Payton will extract a lesson. Let's hope Payton, Nix, and Sutton learned something from that head-scratching 15-second drive that will serve the Broncos well down the stretch.

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