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The Denver Broncos took out Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on their march to the AFC championship game during last year’s playoffs. If you recall, that was an instant classic with the two teams trading late-game scoring drives, eventually clinched by Will Lutz’s short field goal in overtime.
Denver’s victory-clinching drive came after Jalen McMillan intercepted Josh Allen after Payton trusted his defense to stop the explosive Buffalo offense. It turns out that putting the ball back in Allen’s hands after the Bronco’s first overtime possession quickly petered out was not Sean Payton’s original plan.
In a lengthy piece on ESPN.com, Payton reveals that he actually called for a fake punt called Rutgers Special with his team facing 4th-and-11 from their own 38-yard line. Players on the field then vetoed the call based on the look they saw from the Bills’ punt defense. Payton still believes that the Broncos had “the right look.”
It’s a great nugget and it makes Payton look impossibly fearless. Something tells me it didn’t take a ton of prodding to get that out of him.
Payton, of course, is not afraid of making bold choices in the biggest moments. His decision to start the second half with a successful onside kick helped his Saints win a Super Bowl. One could argue that’s small potatoes compared to trusting a trick play that would have left the Bills mere yards from game-winning field goal range had it failed.
The praise would have been endless had it worked and the blame neverending if it hadn’t. And we’ll never know which way the gamble would have played out.
Continue reading...
Denver’s victory-clinching drive came after Jalen McMillan intercepted Josh Allen after Payton trusted his defense to stop the explosive Buffalo offense. It turns out that putting the ball back in Allen’s hands after the Bronco’s first overtime possession quickly petered out was not Sean Payton’s original plan.
In a lengthy piece on ESPN.com, Payton reveals that he actually called for a fake punt called Rutgers Special with his team facing 4th-and-11 from their own 38-yard line. Players on the field then vetoed the call based on the look they saw from the Bills’ punt defense. Payton still believes that the Broncos had “the right look.”
It’s a great nugget and it makes Payton look impossibly fearless. Something tells me it didn’t take a ton of prodding to get that out of him.
Payton, of course, is not afraid of making bold choices in the biggest moments. His decision to start the second half with a successful onside kick helped his Saints win a Super Bowl. One could argue that’s small potatoes compared to trusting a trick play that would have left the Bills mere yards from game-winning field goal range had it failed.
The praise would have been endless had it worked and the blame neverending if it hadn’t. And we’ll never know which way the gamble would have played out.
Continue reading...
