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Sean Payton ruffled some feathers by running a couple of trick plays with a fairly commanding lead against the Panthers, but he denied he was trying to run up the score while seemingly firing a shot at Carolina in the process.
The Carolina Panthers opened up the scoring in their showdown with the Denver Broncos on Sunday with a touchdown in their opening drive, but it was largely downhill from there for a team that subsequently gave up 28 unanswered points and found itself in a 21-point hole midway through the third quarter.
The Broncos ultimately walked away with the 28-14 victory to improve to 5-3 on the season, and after the game, Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn went out of his way to track down Sean Payton to voice his displeasure with the “disrespectful” trickery the head coach deployed in the fourth quarter while accusing him of attempting to run up the score.
The first play in question transpired with around 10 minutes left in the game, as the Broncos lined up for a 60-yard field goal before running a fake that led to them turning the ball over on downs after a successful pass ended up short of the first-down line.
The second one was a bit more successful, as the Broncos ran a fake punt with around 4:30 on the clock that led to a 28-yard pass that extended a drive that ended when they fumbled near the goal line just before the two-minute warning.
On Monday, Payton got the chance to respond to Horn’s allegations and firmly denied he was trying to embarrass the Panthers while offering an explanation for the plays in question.
Here’s what he had to say via ESPN:
“We’re trying to finish the game the right way. 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, so we’re trying to finish. … Play better…
We’re trying to win a football game. We’re trying to extend a drive. I’m throwing the ball to my fullback, Burton, 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 looked at it as trying to win a football game and trying to learn to close out a game.”
“Play better” is obviously the juiciest aspect of that response, and the Panthers could certainly take that advice to heart after getting off to a 1-7 start.