Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton made a curious decision during a Thursday Night Football showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs last night.
Trailing the Chiefs by 10 points, the Broncos had the ball near midfield with 28 seconds remaining until halftime. After quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked on third down, Payton immediately called timeout, stopping the clock with 22 seconds remaining.
Denver then punted the ball to Kansas City, and the Chiefs drove down the field and kicked a field goal to take a 13-0 lead into the break.
So why did Payton call a timeout and save some time for KC? The coach explained after the game that it was a “boneheaded” mistake after he confused fourth down for third down.
Sean Payton on calling a timeout after Wilson was sacked late in the first half: “Boneheaded mistake by me” pic.twitter.com/a0OSwu2DZ0
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 13, 2023
“It’s a boneheaded mistake by me,” Payton said after an eventual 19-8 loss. “… I’m off a down, that was stupid.”
Payton noted that the Chiefs also had timeouts remaining, so they presumably would have used one of their own timeouts had Payton not beaten them to the punch.
It was a curious decision, one that can be attributed to being just a dumb mistake.
