Broncos head coach Sean Payton had no issue with the officiating call that helped send his team to a loss on Sunday, but he does have thoughts on the play call that the Broncos made on that play.
Linebacker Dondrea Tillman was flagged for leverage on a 60-yard, game-winning field goal attempt that Colts kicker Spencer Shrader missed and the 15-yard penalty moved him close enough to make the second try. Payton said on Monday that the team ran the field goal block they have installed for end of game situations and wishes he had called it off given the length of the kick.
“We had a certain field goal block in the event of a game-ending field goal . . .But that’s on me in that situation,” Payton said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “It’s not on [special teams coach Darren Rizzi], it’s not on Tillman. A 60-yard field goal attempt is different . . . The alignment got wrong and the [officials’] call was correct.”
Payton’s alignment reference was to Tillman and defensive tackle Eyioma Uwazurike swapping spots on the line, but added that the team’s failure to call a “normal interior rush” was the biggest reason for what went wrong at the end of the 29-28 loss.
