Sean Payton's legacy faces another January reality check

Sean Payton's Denver Broncos fell just short of an appearance in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif. The AFC's No. 1 seed lost 10-7 at home to the New England Patriots on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game. 

Yes, Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix was unavailable, but the game was well within reach despite terrible weather conditions and the absence of the franchise signal-caller — making it difficult to excuse Payton for yet another January blunder.

Controversial decision helped doom Sean Payton's Denver Broncos in AFC Championship Game

Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham made his first start in Sunday's game since Jan. 7, 2024. The 29-year-old showed flashes that he could potentially live up to the moment, especially with a 52-yard strike to Marvin Mims which eventually led to a touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton in the first quarter.

After that drive, the Broncos offense struggled to generate much of anything for the remainder of the game until reaching the New England 14-yard line in a 4th-and-1 situation. Instead of opting for a field goal, Payton decided to go for it — a decision that ultimately failed. Denver could've been ahead 10-0 and seized momentum, particularly with worsening weather conditions looming.

It shouldn't be that surprising since this is the man who went for an onside kick to open the third quarter in the Super Bowl 16 years ago — and it paid off. However, Payton doesn't have a prime Drew Brees leading the way or even a Nix who can be somewhat trusted to open up the offense more in a game of this magnitude. In that situation, Payton should've elected to take the points, and it cost Denver in the end.

Stidham turned the ball over two more times throughout the game, and solid kicker Wil Lutz missed a 54-yard field goal mainly due to the impending snowfall and wind gusts.

It's another playoff disappointment for Sean Payton

Payton produced yet another playoff blunder in an otherwise winnable game against a quarterback in Drake Maye who tossed for just 86 yards. In fact, since having led the Saints to a world championship in 2009, Payton hasn't won more than one playoff game in any postseason across his tenures with the New Orleans Saints and Broncos. Payton is now 10-10 in postseason play after Sunday's affair. 

Payton's teams have underperformed numerous times, such as the embarrassing 2010 wild-card loss against the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks, the flat performance in the 2019 wild-card loss to the Minnesota Vikings at home, the 2020 divisional-round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 2024 wild-card blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills, just to name a few.

The Broncos head coach is unquestionably a Hall-of-Fame playcaller, but his production in the postseason ever since Tracy Porter's pick-six on Peyton Manning to seal a world title has to be questioned.