Broncos head coach Sean Payton gets brutally honest just moments after crushing Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers
The Denver Broncos fell short in their Week 3 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Denver Broncos, once again, lost at the buzzer to a last-second field goal. In Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver had plenty of opportunities to put the game away. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert drove the Chargers down in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory.
Immediately after the contest, head coach Sean Payton pointed out the areas that the team must improve. When asked about penalties and what the team plans to do about them, Payton has his eyes set on the future. That’s where Payton was brutally honest about how the team can improve.
“The penalties are what we’re doing,” Payton said. “There are a handful of things, we’ll look at the film tomorrow. I’m referencing minus plays that we’ll be frustrated with. Tomorrow’s an important day, tomorrow’s more important than the game we just played because we’re in this accelerated, we gotta get better fast. And if we do, this will be alright.”
Penalties hurt the Broncos in their Week 3 loss to the Chargers
At one point in the early stages of the matchup, Denver had more penalty yards than total yards on offense. Denver finished the game with 10 penalties for 90 yards.
To add to the frustration, Denver had a handful of opportunities that Payton fully understands the team must cash in on. The offense looked anemic in the early stages of the matchup. The head coach offered a frustrated explanation for the woes the offense had during the contest.
“Listen, we had two or three opportunities right at midfield, it’s frustrating,” Payton said. “Two good teams, it was a tough loss.”
Disappointing doesn’t even begin to describe how Broncos Country is feeling after another week ending on a last-second field goal, especially with so many chances left on the table. While it was a hard-fought game, Payton expressed the self-inflicted wounds the team made during the loss.
“Obviously, a disappointing finish to a hard-fought game,” Payton said. “We felt like it was going to be a game that was close to the vest; we didn’t feel like the scoring would be high. There were a lot of things we did well, and then there were some things obviously we didn’t do as well. We had too many penalties. I think our average third down on offense was third and eleven plus, which makes it difficult. We had the swing [ . . . ] but a tough loss nonetheless.”
Back-to-back weeks with one-score losses for the Broncos
Another game, another one-score loss for the Broncos. Payton was asked postgame about the keys to finishing these close matchups. With a primetime matchup on “Monday Night Football” next, Payton doesn’t have a whole lot of time to right the ship.
“This year’s different, this year’s different,” Payton said. “That was a hard-fought, close game. We’ve got to get ready and play a national TV game Monday night against a good team; this team will. I thought we fought today, which was encouraging, and we knew it was going to be one of those games.”
Back-to-back heartbreakers have left Denver searching for answers. There’s little time for the team to regroup before facing its next test, the Broncos’ response on Monday could set the tone for the rest of the season.
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Unfortunate trend continues for the Broncos in last-second defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3 plus other takeaways
The Denver Broncos fell to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3 of the NFL season.
