Jaguars Take Shots at Sean Payton After Upset Victory Over Broncos

Message received. The Jacksonville Jaguars did not take Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s comments leading into their Week 16 matchup lightly, and they made that loud and clear in the aftermath of their convincing road win.

The Broncos had their win streak snapped at 11 games, and the sky remains far from falling on a strong campaign.

They were served a humbling dose of reality, though, Payton included.

Liam Coen Sends Message After Jaguars Beat Broncos

GettyJacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen looks on before a game against the Miami Dolphins.

The Broncos entered this contest as 5.5-point favorites, per Vegas Insider on December 17. That makes their 34-20 loss all the more stunning. Jaguars head coach Liam Coen was certainly not among the surprised, though, despite their underdog status.

“A small market team like us can come into Mile High and get it done,” Coen told reporters after the win on December 21.

That is a direct reference to part of Payton’s previous comments.

That was not all, either, with the Jaguars’ social media team posting, “Small market, big Ws [fire emoji] on X along with a clip of tight end Brenton Strange saying, “just a small market team, man. Duval!”

After the game, Payton spoke candidly.

“Part of this process is not fooling ourselves,” Payton said postgame of his message to the team. “They beat us tonight. They beat us good in all three areas, and it starts with me. And so, even though that hurts going down, you can’t spit it out. You have to swallow it. That’s the truth. They beat us in all three areas. We got to coach better, we got to look at what we’re doing, we got to make sure we’re not doing too much, and we’ve got to do that all in a quick turnaround. So, that’s kind of how I saw that game.”

Payton’s previous comments clearly made their way to the Jaguars, and they drew attention in the wake of his making them.

However, Payton was complimenting the Jaguars when he framed them as “small market.”

Broncos HC Sean Payton Has Comments Taken Out of Context

GettyDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton talks to his team during a game against the Houston Texans.

Payton met with the media for his final availability of the week, and he was giving a detailed list of reasons the Jaguars have been successful this season, when he made the “small market” comments. He was also touting Coen’s background.

“They’re doing a lot of things really well. They’re scoring. Mondays, I look at the touchdown reel, and there’s a ton of good schemes. He came up under Sean McVay. And so, there’s certain beliefs relative to what you’re going to get in the run and the pass game. I think the one thing that stands out, they’re plus-10 in the turnover ratio. They’re second in the league in interceptions,” Payton told reporters on December 17.

“They play man-to-man–but there are a lot of snaps, like last week, where seven [pairs of] eyes are on the quarterback in their zone coverage. And so, we’ve got to be on point. They mix it up defensively. They’ve got … a very talented punt returner. And so, as you look at them and you watch the tape, it’s a smaller market, but you see a real good team.”

BetMGM ranked the Jaguars as the fourth-smallest-market NFL team in August 2024.

They are ahead of the New Orleans Saints, which is Payton’s former team, the Buffalo Bills, and the Green Bay Packers.

Broncos Must Regroup

GettyDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton looks on against the Washington Commanders.

At any rate, the Jaguars did not appreciate what Payton said, and they carried those emotions with them into game day and all the way to a victory over the Broncos. The two teams could see each other again in the postseason in what would be a highly anticipated matchup.

Up next, Payton and the Broncos face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17.

The Chiefs lost Patrick Mahomes to a torn ACL and MCL in Week 15, and then saw replacement Gardner Minshew suffer what KC fears is a similar injury in Week 16.

Jaguars Take Shots at Sean Payton After Upset Victory Over Broncos

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