Broncos HC Sean Payton Slams Officials For Botched Call vs. Niners

Sean Payton was none too pleased with the officials on Saturday night.

Sean Payton really wasn't happy with how certain aspects of the Denver Broncos vs. San Francisco 49ers preseason game were officiated on Saturday night. After falling to the Niners 21-20, at the podium post-game, Payton laid into the refs for missing a call at the end of the first half that cost the Broncos points. 

"I was a little disappointed at the end of the half because I felt like we had time left," Payton said. "Obviously they felt that we didn't. It's pretty easy to get right, and I think they missed it, but it is what it is.” 

But wait, there's more. Payton was asked to share what, in his view, should have happened in that end-of-half sequence. 

“Are you talking about the end of the half? Yeah, well it went upstairs," Payton said. "It happened super-fast for them. So, I don't know what time flights are leaving tonight.” 

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Zing! Bang! Clonk! Kapow!

The play Payton speaks of came on the heels of a Jarrett Stidham 50-yard completion to Jalen Virgil that was whistled down inside the Niners' 1-yard line. Then, lacking a timeout, Stidham tried to rally the offense downfield to kill the clock.

It appeared that Stidham was able to clock the ball before time expired, but the refs quickly waived off the issue and declared an end of half. Not only was that not reviewed, but there was a question in the moment as to whether Virgil may have broken the plane of the end zone on his big 50-yard play. 

The officials seemed in a hurry to get to the half, instead of adjudicating the situation as it warranted for an NFL game, albeit an exhibition contest. Hence Payton's quip about what time "flights are leaving tonight." It was as if the officials had somewhere else to be. 

If the officials get that call right, the Broncos kick a field goal going into half, extending their lead 9-3, which would have forced Trey Lance and the Niners to push for a touchdown at the end of the game instead of the walk-off field goal that won it. The butterfly effect of football. 

“I don't enjoy when we can't get a simple end-of-half situation correctly officiating," Payton said. "I like being friendly with those guys, but man, then we get a substitution. If you sub on offense, the defense has a chance to make a substitution. There's a sub that takes place, and on the touchdown pass at the end of the game, and they're right at the line of scrimmage, it's preseason for the officials as well as it is for us. I’m focused on us, really. There's a number of things mechanically I didn't like that we'll clean up.” 

It'll be interesting to see if the NFL front office has anything to say about Payton's declaration that the officials "missed it." But at least his players in Denver know that he'll stand up and say what he must if the officials get something wrong. 

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