Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton (Post-Game Transcript)
Opening Statement:
“Obviously proud of the fight our guys showed. We knew it would be a tough game. We kind of were hoping it would be a game to unfold with a lower score. In the end, I think we got the better of them in the trenches and we finished. So, any questions?”
On going from 17-3 and what changed:
“Well, when you look at the first half, we lined up illegally. We had a false start. We had two or three MEs. And I said to them at halftime, I thought defensively we were playing well. I said, ‘Man, we talked about the game we had to play coming in here and we’re not doing it.’ So, I think we had some– look, we knew it wasn’t going to be six, seven yards a carry. It’s a good run defense, but we’ve got to keep hitting that bag and I thought we did. I thought we controlled most of the fourth quarter.”
On the decision to go for two and whether he was thinking of that as the drive was unfolding:
“Well, number one, we felt situationally with time left on the clock. We came here to win a game and I had two or three calls that I loved. So, sometimes you use those calls inside the five, but we got to a call that I had a lot of confidence in and the guys executed. It was perfect. But we felt– I think there were seven and a half minutes. Let’s do that. Let’s keep being aggressive and I regret one call at the very end, the last call on third down. We had another one that would’ve been perfect. We settled for the field goal and then played real good defense. So good win.”
On what it says about the players when you want this big game and they turn out:
“Yeah, I think you always get a chance to see where you’re at. And we talked a lot about it. One of the challenges is playing this game before you go to London. You guys have heard me say it, the away teams before London, it’s not real good. So, it wasn’t in itineraries. There was not one thing about the L word, nothing. I said something about bringing an extra bag Friday and that’s it, and then we’ll figure out. Because it’s very easy to get caught up in, if you’re not careful, the next week and the focus needed to be on today. And then you’re coming off of Monday night. There were a lot of reasons you could say you weren’t going to be successful, but our guys did a good job of preparing and I think the locker room prior to today felt like this was going to be the result. I mean I’ve done this long enough, I’ve got pretty good instincts and as a coach, you’re waiting to see. At halftime I felt really good, despite the unsuccessful drives offensively, I loved where we were at.”
On his overall impressions of how they handled Eagles QB Jalen Hurts:
“I thought overall we did a great job. We had a ticky tack interference call and then man, I don’t know what happened towards the end of that first half, but I thought look, he’s going to make some plays. He’s a tremendous player. They threw it quite a bit early. But the rushing numbers, when it was all said and done, I’m not sure what the totals were, but we felt if we could do that and the turnover thing had to be at least even. And so, you saw both teams protect the ball well. We kicked the cover at the end, analytically that’s what you’re supposed to do. But I challenged the coverage unit because the return prior came out to the 40 some yard line. Yeah, it was a good win.”
On what this fourth quarter says about Broncos QB Bo Nix being nine for ten:
“Yeah, I mean listen, he’s a competitor. There were a handful of plays in the first half that I know he’d want back. And look, the delay of game was my fault, spitting it out. But that all being said, man, you can feel his leadership when it matters and then you can feel the confidence with his teammates when it matters. So, he played exceptional in the second half.”
On passing Bill Parcells on the all-time wins list:
“He [former NFL HC Bill Parcells] and I spoke this past week and we don’t keep track of that kind of stuff. And then he was just getting back from being put in the Patriots Ring of Honor. He shared a lot of memories about coaching in this division. He coached in it forever. And that was [former NFL HC Joe] Gibbs in Washington. That was [former NFL HC Tom] Landry, that was [former NFL HC Dick] Vermeil. It was a salty division, still is. But obviously, he and I were talking about coming to Philly and listen, he agreed. He talked about going to Washington in that old stadium when you play a tough opponent like Philly on the road, I told our team, I said, ‘Look, you’re going to forget the money, the cars, all that stuff, but you’re not going to forget just these moments, this trip over to London. Ultimately, that’s what you do it for. You’re making memories.’”
On receiving the post-game game ball:
“[Broncos CEO] Mr. [Greg] Penner did and it meant a lot. I told the team what I just told you. I said I had just spoken to Bill [Parcells], but there were a number of people when we watched this tape who I’m sure will get game balls, but to get it here, I grew up here as a kid. My first NFL job was here 1997, ‘98. [I] grew up on the Flyers, the Eagles, Sixers. I can give you all the lineups. But, there’s a lot of respect we have for this team, this coaching staff and the team we just played. [Eagles LB] Zack Baun, I mean shoot, there are a number of these guys – this is a team that just won the Super Bowl. So it’s a good win.”
On how important it was to control the line of scrimmage:
“It’s pretty good. Yeah, it’s a good team. The thing we did was when you play someone like that, you’re going to get punched and it’s not going to be easy. But we kept fighting and that’s what I was most encouraged about, just the fight, the grit. And then you felt that this is a funny thing that momentum shifted and when that happened, it’s pretty powerful.”
On how the running game helped QB Bo Nix:
“Well it helps any quarterback. If you’re a QB and you’re playing good defense, your job is a little better and you’re running the ball it’s a little better. But if you’re giving up points you’re asking him to be on the high dive the whole game. So I think when you’re able to run it, it’s going to help your play action. Sure enough, we hit the tight end on a spear route off of play action. It all kind of fits together and you’re on schedule. So at the top of my call sheet was– I knew that we weren’t going to have the same run outcomes, but it’s kind of like punching that body punch that you don’t get an immediate response, but you know that ultimately it’s effective.”
On the importance of winning a game in a hostile environment:
“Well, it’s a great question. We talked about it. I said look, you don’t get a chance to play these games that have a ton of upside. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s downside, but there’s a ton of upside relative to defining what you become. And this is one of them. I think they were confident coming in. I asked them afterwards, ‘Who are you afraid of?’ And this is a league that’s, man, this is a fine line between a groove and a rut and it was a good win.”
On the upcoming practice schedule for the week while in London:
“It’s going to be exactly like a practice week. Exactly. You want the schedule? No sightseeing. We’re staying in the middle of nowhere, no sightseeing. Honestly, fair question. So, we get in Monday. Tomorrow morning we will run, lift out, watch the tape. They’re off Tuesday. We’ve got this schedule down pat. Wednesday will be day one, Thursday third down. So that’s the reason for going over. There’s two other times we’ve gone on this trip. Once, [Former Saints TE Jeremy] Shockey tried to get all the passports and take the team to Amsterdam. So we put the kibosh on that. We played the Chargers I think one year, ‘07, ‘08. And then we played the Dolphins in ‘17 or ‘18. The guys will have some dinner I’m sure. It’s a normal work week, but we’re a ways out.”
On Broncos TE Evan Engram’s second-half rebound:
“I got pissed at him and he [Broncos TE Evan Engram] was pissed at me. I just got after him a little just because I knew that he hadn’t gotten the touches. And then it was like, all right, let’s find these throws real quick. He responded and it was kind of a good thing. He’s a great weapon. He made some big plays – obviously the touchdown. He’s not the primary guy to be in the quarterback’s face. He made some big plays for us.”
On Broncos OLB Nick Bonitto’s development:
“He’s a super pass rusher. You guys have seen the confidence just grow and grow with him. It’s a good offensive line. It’s a quarterback that’s hard to sack. So I’m glad he is on our team.”
On Broncos QB Bo Nix and WR Troy Franklin’s connection:
“Respectfully, I think when you come from college, and I know that they were teammates, but there’s a difference. We knew we were going to get the matchup opposite of [Broncos WR] Courtland [Sutton]. We knew [Eagles CB] 27 [Quinyon Mitchell] was traveling with Courtland there and Troy’s got a really, really good first step. So when you watch the route, it’s one jab and it’s the quickest and he was fantastic on it. It was a good throw, it’s a throw you got to make on the run. So we felt good about that one. Sometimes you play a game and you’ve got four other calls that you would love to have gotten to and we won’t play these guys or that defense for another and they just kind of float away. There were two others but that was one of them.”
On if the Broncos RB JK Dobbins touchdown run was one of those situations:
“No. Listen, it’s just frustrating when you don’t get to use them.”
On the team’s win today after previous losses:
“We’re getting better. Yeah, getting better. Those are tough losses and when you lose on the last play like that, it is what it is. We just knew we had to get better at closing games out. I thought we played really well in the fourth quarter today and finished the game.”
On Broncos WR Courtland Sutton’s third down ability:
“He’s got strong hands in traffic. The play he made to get us into field goal range, that was a huge third down catch and throw. I love his confidence, and [Broncos QB] Bo [Nix] and he now have been together for a good year and a half, two years. You can feel it. I knew he was throwing that ball to Sutton on that third down and it was a good throw and a good catch by Courtland. So he’s a terrific player.”
On any concerns with the end of the game:
“No, we handled that game correctly at the end. I thought we did a great job.”