Trailing the Los Angeles Chargers by a field goal during Thursday night’s AFC West showdown at SoFi Stadium, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton put the game in the hands of his defense instead of trusting his offense.
With 4:35 remaining in the game and all three timeouts in his pocket, Payton faced 4th-and-6 at his own 49-yard line. Instead of going for it just short of midfield, Payton opted to punt. The Chargers went on to score a touchdown, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Payton was asked about his decision to not go for it after an eventual 34-27 loss.
“Yeah but the timeouts, all the percentages, field position,” Payton pushed back. “We just couldn’t get them to stop.”
DEN decided to punt to LAC from the DEN 49 on 4th & 6 with 4:35 remaining in the 4th while losing 24 to 27.
With a Surrender Index of 25.73, this punt ranks at the 99.7th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2024 season, and the 97th percentile of all punts since 1999.
— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) December 20, 2024
Payton’s offense lost the punch it had in the first half of Thursday’s game, in part because they stopped running the ball, at least effectively.
Excuse me Broncos??? https://t.co/13Mu9rKg3j pic.twitter.com/AmbgCFF0B8
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) December 20, 2024
With 41 seconds until halftime while up by 11 points, Payton called two passing plays and the Broncos were forced to punt. After a silly penalty on the punt, the Chargers were gifted a fair catch free kick to cut the deficit to eight points.
After the game, quarterback Bo Nix defended Payton’s decision.
“Well, we had about 45 seconds and two timeouts and I think every offense in the league is trying to go score,” the rookie said.
Payton and the Broncos can’t change the past. What’s done is done. Now they’ll turn their attention to a Saturday afternoon game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17.
