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Down 17-16 after a QB Bo Nix touchdown pass, HC Sean Payton decided to go for two, with Nix connecting with WR Troy Franklin in the end zone to make it 18-17. The Broncos later kicked a field goal, defeating the defending Super Bowl champs 21-17.
“Well, No. 1, 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,” Payton said, via BroncosWire.com. “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.”
“I wasn’t surprised,” Nix said of the decision after the game. “Next thing I knew, he was just giving the hash, gave me the call, and we had one play to go get the job done. Troy ran a great route, we’ve been practicing that for a couple of weeks, and he got in the end zone. I mean just trust in his players and we got the job done.”
The story of the Chargers’ 27-10 loss to the Commanders in Week 5 was penalties. Los Angeles was flagged 10 times on Sunday, a week after 14 penalties in a Week 4 loss. It was the first time the Chargers had committed double-digit penalties in back-to-back weeks since HC Jim Harbaugh took over, and many were backbreakers. A roughing the punter penalty took a return touchdown off the board, and there were multiple big plays on offense wiped out by penalties.
“We need to get the bleeding stopped on the penalties, the self-inflicted wounds, and I know we’re capable of doing that,” Harbaugh said via the Athletic’s Daniel Popper. “I know we’re a good football team in those areas, and we’re not good at it right now.”
Raiders HC Pete Carroll admitted his frustrations after starting 1-4 in his start with the team following a 30-6 loss to the Colts. He thinks there isn’t a drastic change needed to fix things, just more time and reps together in the system.
“I’m processing it poorly to tell you the truth because I did expect to win right out of the chutes,” Carroll said, via ESPN’s Ryan McFadden. “We need the reps. … We need to run the system. We need to see the guys get their opportunities to improve. It’s not like a big change.”
