While leading the Carolina Panthers 28-7 in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game at Empower Field at Mile High, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton called a fake field goal.
Later in the game, Payton called a trick play that featured a wide receiver pass. After an eventual 28-14 Broncos win, some Panthers players took exception to Payton’s perceived attempt at running up the score.
Payton was asked about that notion during his Monday conference call with reporters.
“I said it last night: We’re trying to finish the game the right way,” Payton said. “We’re not trying to run up the score on anyone. It’s the National Football League. I’ve been in games with a 28-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost. We’re trying to finish. The [Michael] Burton throw from [Courtland] Sutton is trying to continue a drive… Play better.”
Payton later noted that the team wasn’t trying to make a statement. Payton wasn’t trying to rub salt in the wound; he was just trying to close out the game.
“There’s no story there,” Payton said. “We’re trying to win a football game. We’re trying to extend the drive. I’m throwing the ball to my fullback, Burton. So [I’m] not necessarily expecting a touchdown. We’re trying to close a game out.
“It wasn’t 50, 60 or 70 [points]. I didn’t look at that at all. I just looked at that as us trying to win a football game and learn to close out a game.”
For what it’s worth, Panthers coach Dave Canales took no offense to Payton’s fourth-quarter playcalling.
“They’re just competing,” Canales said after the game. “He’s competing to try to make sure they can stay on the field, run the clock out and end the game in that situation.”
Some Carolina players were upset, but they shouldn’t be. This is the NFL, and Sunday’s game ended up being a two-score game. Nobody came to the defense of the Broncos when they lost by 50 points last season, and nobody cried for the Panthers on Sunday. Don’t like it? Play better.
