Even when out of the NFC South, Sean Payton has something to say about the Falcons Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Broncos, Former Saints Head Coach Trolls Falcons

Originally posted on Atlanta Falcons on SI
By Harrison Smajovits | Last updated Dec 28, 2025 4:08 PM ET

Sometimes, you can take the coach out of the NFC South, but you can't take the NFC South out of the coach. On Sunday, Broncos head coach and former Saints head coach Sean Payton seized the moment to take job at his former rival.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's D. Orlando Ledbetter posted a story about the Atlanta Falcons aiming to follow the Los Angeles Rams model for success. In the replies, Payton posted a simple upsidedown smiling face emoji.

— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) December 28, 2025

Some Broncos and Saints fans came together to give him a pat on the back for his post. The quotes saw At the time of this article's publishing, no Falcons have appeared to have spoken up.

Just because he's in Denver doesn't mean it's suddenly bygones be bygones. After all, he was their rival head coach from 2006 to 2011 and then again from 2013 to 2021. If you're curious about why he had the year off, it's because he was the offensive coordinator at Liberty Christian High School in Texas. Kevin James made a whole movie that was inspired by it.

Why was he there? Well, it wasn't out of the goodness of his heart.

Payton went out there looking to improve upon his 21-9 overall record against the Falcons. Whether or not he got it will depend on who you ask. Saints Twitter is handing him a W.

Next time the Falcons kick off against them, we can get a pretty good feeling already that they'll come with the same fire under their bellies, looking to get back in the win column, and he'll likely be the same way.

After a season away, Payton was hired by the Broncos to be their next head coach in 2023. He took over for Nathaniel Hackett, who lasted 15 games before getting the ax during his first season.