Sean Payton takes the blame for Broncos laying an egg in Buffalo
Jan 12, 2025, 2:43 PM
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton is taking the blame for his team’s disappointing 31-7 playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The Broncos scored a touchdown on the first drive of the game, a beautiful 43-yard pass from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin, and then put up zero points the rest of the way.
In his postgame press conference, Payton took accountability not once, but twice.
“It starts with me. It’s always a tough pill to swallow, especially when it’s a postseason game. I’m proud of the fight, and there’s a lot of disappointed guys in that locker room,” Payton said.
Payton mentioned the time of possession not being in Denver’s favor, and oh boy, it was ugly. The Bills possessed the ball for 41 minutes and 43 seconds while the Broncos had the rock for just 18 minutes and 17 seconds.
“A disappointing finish to the season. Tip our hats to Buffalo. The things we felt we needed to do well enough on the road to win, we didn’t do nearly well enough,” Payton said.
Payton wasn’t pointing the finger at just the offense, but the entire team. Buffalo scored 31 straight points to finish the contest, and kicker Wil Lutz missed a crucial field goal before halftime that could’ve tied the contest, 10-10.
“We weren’t good enough in all three phases. We didn’t coach well enough. And I say that, we felt pretty confident coming into this game relative to what we thought we could do. And yet, we weren’t able to do it,” Payton said.
Again, that’s Payton putting the blame on himself and the coaches. Still, he thinks the Broncos can use this defeat moving forward with a mostly young team returning next season.
“It’s got to fuel you and light a fire in the direction we need to go. And one of the things we learned early on is we’ve got to find a way to play these games at home. That’s another things that’s important,” Payton said.
That last comment is interesting. Sean Payton wants to play playoffs games at Empower Field at Mile High. Of course, the only way to do that is to take the AFC West back from the Kansas City Chiefs.
That will be a conversation all spring and summer, but for now, the Broncos season is officially over.
