Broncos' Payton: Calling timeout late in 2nd quarter 'boneheaded mistake'
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton isn't happy with his decision to call a timeout after Russell Wilson was sacked on third down in the final seconds of the first half in Thursday's 19-8 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
"That's a boneheaded mistake by me," Payton said postgame, according to Andrew Mason of Denver Sports. "They were calling one as well, and I'm off a down. But that was stupid."
The Chiefs sacked Wilson on a third down with 28 seconds left at Denver's 40-yard line. Instead of letting the clock run out to force Kansas City into using one of its three timeouts before the punt, Payton stopped the clock, leaving Patrick Mahomes and Co. in a great position for their final drive before halftime. Things got worse for Denver during the punt after a penalty gave K.C. an extra 5 yards.
Starting from Kansas City's 39-yard line, the Mahomes-led offense only needed two plays to put the ball in Denver territory and set up a successful Harrison Butker field goal from 60 yards. Butker converted all four of his attempts, including a clutch 52-yarder at the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter.
In the end, those three points made a difference for the Broncos, who lost by 11 and had a possession late in the fourth.
"I told our players I was disappointed, but honestly ... I'm not discouraged. I thought they played hard, defensively, particularly, we did a great job," Payton added, according to 9News. Payton joined the Denver this past offseason to replace Nathaniel Hackett.
The Broncos limited Mahomes to only one touchdown pass and the Chiefs to 3.6 yards per rushing attempt. Kansas City scored only one TD in five red-zone trips.
However, Denver's offense struggled and turned the ball over three times. Wilson was intercepted twice and finished the night with 95 passing yards, the third-worst mark of his career.
Denver has now lost 16 straight games to Kansas City, including 12 with Mahomes under center.
The 1-5 Broncos will host the Green Bay Packers in Week 7 before facing the Chiefs again.
Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.