Sean Payton‘s predecessor, Nathaniel Hackett was the joke of the internet for a full year after mismanaging the clock so badly that it cost his team a chance to win at primetime game at Seattle. While the Broncos weren’t exactly driving to win the game, they had a chance to try and get the ball back to tie the game vs. Pittsburgh and he chose to just not do that.
The situation was the Broncos just kicked a field goal to cut the lead to seven. It was 13-6 with 1:54 left. The Broncos had one timeout remaining. Instead of attempting an onside kick, something Payton famously did in a Super Bowl when he was sharp, and at the top of his game, Payton elected to kick it deep.
Down 7 with 1:54 left and 1 timeout, Sean Payton elects it kick it deep for a touchback.
— Steven Cheah (@StevenCheah) September 15, 2024
The Broncos had one timeout and called it after a 1st down run stop. Pittsburgh ran it two more times and Denver held. While that seemed to have been what Payton wanted, the Broncos got the ball back with eight seconds left with 81 yards to go to tie the game and no timeouts. An impossible situation. They had lost before they even snapped the ball because of the neglectful and almost senile nature of their current head coach, Sean Payton.
