After losing the week 16 game against the Chargers by 27-34, the Broncos have slipped to a 9-6 win-loss record. With the loss, they slipped to 3rd place in the AFC West division and 7th place in the AFC conference. The HC Sean Payton was angry over the decisions in the game that cost them the win.

The head coach was also not happy with the referees. During the post-game conference, he said that the decision to give the Chargers a field goal at the end of the 1st half was disappointing and said, “The penalty put them in field goal position. So it’s disappointing.” It was the penalties that made the difference. Seven penalties went against the Broncos, while the Chargers only received two. It made an impact at key moments.

At the 00:00 mark in the 2nd quarter, the Chargers were able to close the gap as kicker Cameron Dicker scored a 57-yard ‘free kick’ field goal to make the score 21-13. At the end of the 3rd quarter, the Chargers were able to gain, by closing the difference at 24-19. In the 4th quarter, they went all-in. Sean Payton knew something was off.

While talking about the penalties, he added, “It keeps continuing, so we got to do a better job coaching. It’s not like it’s new. It’ll cost you.” Justin Herbert made 2 passes, first a 19-yard pass to the WR Derius Davis, and the second, a 34-yard pass to the RB Hassan Haskins, which made the scores 34-24. They later won the game.

However, the Broncos defense was at fault. They could not stop the Chargers’ O-line in their tracks. And the head coach was not happy.

Sean Payton called out his defense after week 16 loss

After the game, he also called out his defense for their mistakes. It looked like they almost gave up in the 4th quarter. While mentioning his players, the HC said, “Five different guys. We had free runners. You can’t have one of their top guys (open).” The Chargers RB Gus Edwards had 14 rushes in 68 rushing yards with 2 touchdowns.

Even their receiving game was on-point as their WR Ladd McConkey with 6 receptions for 87 yards. It was a difference of two halves. In the first half, the Broncos were spirited and played like a unit. But their defense could not stop them in the 2nd half who had a 100% efficiency in 2 of 2 attempts in the fourth-down conversions.

Everything comes down to the next 2 games. They still have a good chance of qualifying for the postseason if they win those. The fans believe that they will go to the end. Can they? We’ll find out soon.