Jan. 25, 2026, 5:23 p.m. CT
That’s a wrap for Sean Payton’s season — the Denver Broncos fell short to the New England Patriots in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, losing 10-7 in front of their home crowd. Payton’s hubris got the better of him by asking backup quarterback Jarret Stidham (starting in place of Bo Nix, injured one week ago) to throw 34 times in a snowstorm that quickly developed in the second half. Stidham was sacked three times and completed 17 of those passes, with only one gaining more than 12 yards (a 52-yard lob to Marvin Mims Jr. early on). The backup put too much air under his final pass of the afternoon, causing it to hang up too long and allowing Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez to pick it off for a win-sealing interception.
But relying too heavily on Stidham’s arm wasn’t the ex-New Orleans Saints head coach’s only mistake. Former Saints kicker Wil Lutz missed two field goals (one was tipped at the line of scrimmage) but an earlier coaching decision stands out as worse. Having driven down to the New England 14-yard line midway through the second quarter, Payton chose to pass on a 31-yard field goal try from Lutz to instead ask Stidham to throw for a first down on 4th-and-1. Stidham’s pass was incomplete, and the Broncos didn’t get many more chances in scoring position after that. Lutz had made all 13 of his field goals from inside 31 yards this year and is 92-of-94 at that distance in his career.
So Payton will have to wait another year to try and win that elusive second Super Bowl. For now, his only championship win happened when he was wearing black and gold.
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