Sean Payton sends brutal message to opponents: ‘Play better!’

The Denver Broncos were able to thoroughly dominate the Carolina Panthers on Sunday en route to a 28-14 victory that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. But after the game, Panthers players were quite upset with Broncos head coach Sean Payton for “running up the score”, which Payton seemingly could care less about.

With a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Broncos pulled out their entire bag of tricks to further put it on the Panthers, attempting a fake field goal and a trick wide receiver pass play from Courtland Sutton that worked to varying success.

Panthers players got into the face of Payton for this after the game. And as far as Payton sees it, he did nothing wrong, challenging the Panthers and any other players to “play better” if they don’t want to be put in the position for these trick plays.

“I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,” Payton said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “Listen, I said it [Sunday] night, 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.”

Payton further explained that his decision to call these plays was in hopes that he would build “a winning personality” in the Broncos’ locker room.

“I want them to take on a winning personality,” Payton added. “I want them to understand what wins games in our league. I say this all the time: ‘Confidence is born only from demonstrated ability.’ Now, do I feel like we’re a more confident team today in October than we were when we started the season? Absolutely.”

In Payton’s defense, a 21-point lead in the NFL is certainly no guaranteed win. So it seems completely reasonable to call any play in the playbook at that point, regardless of how Panthers players feel about it.

[ESPN]