Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos were 2-0. The Colts came up short on a 60-yard field goal that would’ve gave them the victory on Sunday and the Broncos were going to be heading back to Denver with the best record in the AFC West.
Then, everyone’s eyes turned to the yellow penalty marker on the ground. A 15-yard leverage penalty on Dondrea Tillman moved the ball up and gave the Colts a second stab at stealing victory from the Broncos, and Spencer Shrader didn’t let his second chance go to waste.
There was plenty of talk around the NFL surrounding the call. Many Broncos fans were furious that the penalty was called and pulled up the film of many other kick attempts around to try and show that the penalty happens all the time. At the end of the day, the call was made and the Broncos lost, and their record now sits at 1-1. No amount of social media discourse will be able to change that.
‘THE CALL WAS CORRECT’
So, was it the right call? Broncos head coach Sean Payton thinks so, and emphasized how he agreed with the penalty in a conference call on Monday morning.
“That’s on me in that situation. And look, it’s not on Darren [Rizzi], it’s not on Tillman, but the 60 yard field goal attempt, it’s different. The alignment got wrong and the call was correct. You can, as a defensive line, you can push down on the back of the center, and offensive lineman, you could push down on the back. Specifically, if you’re going to go internally on the guards, you can push down… The alignment got the alignment got mixed up between Tillman and one of the other tackles. The call was correct. That was leveraging. You can’t you can’t put your hands and elevate yourself off one of your own guys or off one of the opponent players.”
Payton taking the blame for the incident was also important. There have been quite a few end-of-game mishaps with Denver’s special teams unit in the last few seasons, but the head coach has always stepped up to take responsibility for what has transpired.
It hurts more for Broncos Country knowing that Tillman’s efforts on the play had no impact on the kick. Him doing that on such a long attempt raises another question: why was he doing that on a kick with a low make percentage in the first place?
“My big regret flying home was, that’s more for a closer field goal, that’s more for a gimme than a 60 yard attempt, and that’s on me,” Payton said.
AN ALIGNMENT CHANGE FOR THE 60-YARD ATTEMPT
Payton also referenced that a play call similar to what he sent out yesterday was what the Broncos used to beat the Saints in 2016 when Justin Simmons leaped over the line of scrimmage and blocked an extra point to give Denver a 25-23 victory. However, that specific play on Sunday called for Tillman to line up in a spot that he wasn’t usually in, which could have caused some confusion.
The plan was for the Broncos to attack the left guard on the Colts’ field goal unit, hence why Tillman switched his positioning on the play. Payton said he felt that Tillman had jumped well, but as everyone saw, nothing went according to plan, and the result was a penalty that cost Denver the game.
“We ended up on the wrong side and we didn’t execute it… We should be working a normal rush, a normal interior rush with a 60 yard attempt,” Payton said.
Mishaps like this can’t happen for teams that have the small margins that the Broncos have. When playing in a division as tough as the AFC West, every game is just as important as the next, and to let a game that could’ve been won many different times slip away in this fashion is something that will likely hurt Denver down the road more than your average 24-17 defeat.
Nonetheless, a loss is a loss, and Payton said that the call was right. Nothing can change the past. Now, he and the Broncos have to look towards a very important contest against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3 to try and avoid dipping below .500 with other tough opponents lurking on the scheduled.
