Sean Payton wasn't particularly impressed with the Denver Broncos' 28-14 shellacking of the Carolina Panthers.
The Broncos allowed the Panthers to score on their opening drive and closing possession while putting up 28 consecutive points between. After the contest, Payton was asked about his team's defensive performance against Bryce Young and the Panthers.
"I wish we would've finished better," the coach said, via the team's official transcript. "I said this, it's not a good offense we played. It's just the truth. So we expected that, and we're going to see a lot better teams."
No stranger to blunt statements, Payton spent 15 seasons battling the Panthers while in New Orleans, where he went 18-13 against the division rival.
The Broncos took care of business, holding the Panthers to 284 yards and 16 first downs on Sunday. But Payton wanted to see better execution down the stretch ahead of Week 9's matchup against Baltimore.
"I'll sleep fine. We have a big game this week against a much better team," he said when asked if they'll use some of Sunday's frustrations in preparation.
Against a struggling Carolina defense, rookie Bo Nix went for 28-of-37 passing for 284 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions and added a rushing score. He earned career highs in completions, percentage (75.7), passing yards, pass yards per attempt (7.7), passing TDs and passer rating (124.2).
Up big in the fourth quarter, Payton tried to keep the momentum on offense going. The coach called a fake field goal that failed and a WR pass from Courtland Sutton that went for a big gain on fourth-and-2 late. Sutton would eventually fumble inside the 10-yard-line up three scores.
Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn appeared to confront Payton on the field after the game, reportedly accusing the coach of "trying to run the score up."
Despite dismissing Sunday's opponent, Payton noted that there are still things to learn from the tape.
"We're on the schedule," he said. "Tomorrow, we're watching this tape. We're all in there. It's important. This can happen sometimes… In losses you can miss some things that are really good, and then in wins, if you're not careful, you can miss some things that have to be cleaned up. So we'll try to do that tomorrow and then flip the page for Baltimore and get ready for a real good team."
Winners of five of their past six, the 5-3 Broncos sit fifth in the AFC, but the gauntlet awaits. Denver faces Baltimore (5-3), Kansas City (7-0) and Atlanta (5-3) in the next three weeks.
