Following the Denver Broncos’ 28-14 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 8, Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn confronted Broncos coach Sean Payton on the field in the post-game and accused him of trying to change the score to 1-7 Panthers to raise. Horn’s displeasure stemmed from Payton’s play calling in the fourth quarter, at which point Denver was already well in control of the game and well out of Carolina’s reach.
Despite leading 28–7 in the fourth quarter, the Broncos ran two trick plays, the first of which was a failed field goal fake where Denver passed to Lucas Krull but failed to reach the line to win. Then the Broncos ran a double pass on 4th and 2, with quarterback Bo Nix throwing a short pass to wide receiver Courtland Sutton before Sutton threw down the field to Michael Burton for a first down.
Horn, the Panthers’ star corner, was displeased and let Payton know as much, directly accusing him of “trying to run up the score” in a video captured by 9News.
Payton, the longtime coach of the New Orleans Saints before becoming coach of the Broncos, was a longtime villain for the Panthers as the two teams waged a fierce rivalry for NFC South supremacy in the 2010s. Interestingly, Horn is the son of former Pro Bowl wide receiver and Saints Hall of Famer Joe Horn, who coached Payton in his first season in New Orleans in 2006.
“I was coaching his dad, so I yelled back at him,” Payton told reporters. “I don’t know what the trade was, but I enjoyed coaching his dad. He was frustrated, I think he was yelling at one of our other players. I like him, I think he’s a good player. “
Horn was unavailable for comment to reporters after the game, but he wasn’t the only one who felt like Payton and Denver were trying to rub Carolina’s nose in it.
“At the end of the day, we’re all competitors. We just felt like this was something that could have been avoided,” said Sam Franklin. told reporters. “For example, you shouldn’t raise the score even if you’re already winning. It’s five minutes left, you guys are doing tricks and still trying to score, basically we’re just trying to embarrass ourselves.”
While the Broncos truly disrespected the woeful Panthers, their disdain was poorly concealed in both their play-calling and Payton’s post-game comments, in which he gave an honest assessment of Carolina’s performance while evaluating the way his defense had played on their way to improve to 5-3.
“I said this, it’s not a good offense we played. It’s just the truth,” Payton said. “So we expected that, and we’re going to see much better teams.”