Broncos coach responds to Panthers player who yelled at him for running up score: ‘Play better’

The Denver Broncos fought their way to another dominant victory on Sunday, taking down the Carolina Panthers, 28-14, to move to 5-3 on the year. 

But after the game, Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn confronted Broncos head coach Sean Payton and accused him of attempting to run up the score against the woeful 1-7 Carolina squad. 

Video was seen after the game of Payton running onto the field to have a conversation with Horn, who was jawing at him as Denver kneeled out the rest of the time on the clock for the victory. It’s unknown what exactly was said, but a separate video by 9NEWS shows Horn was upset with Payton about the score.

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As the Broncos relished their victory and watched their tape on Monday, reporters asked Payton if he had any comment about Horn’s displeasure with him.

Payton’s answer had a subtle jab in it. 

"Listen, I said it [Sunday] night. We’re trying to finish the game the right way. We’re not trying to run up the score on anyone. It’s the National Football League. I’ve been in games with a 28-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost, so we’re trying to finish.

"Play better."

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Payton added that he was exchanging words with Horn because he had coached his father, New Orleans Saints Hall of Famer Joe Horn, during his first year with that franchise in 2006. 

But it wasn’t just Jaycee Horn who was ticked off by the Broncos: Safety Sam Franklin spoke his mind to reporters as well. 

"We’re all competitors at the end of the day," Franklin said, per CBS Sports. "We just felt like it was something that could’ve been avoided. You shouldn’t have to run the score up even though you’re already winning. It’s five minutes left, you guys are doing trick plays still trying to score, basically just trying to embarrass us."

The Broncos were able to get the score to 28-7 midway through the third quarter as Jaleel McLaughlin caught a nine-yard pass from Bo Nix for the touchdown. 

From there, the Broncos went three-and-out, turned the ball over on downs after going for it on fourth-and-3 in Carolina territory, and Courtland Sutton fumbled at the one-yard line, which Carolina recovered to avoid another touchdown by Denver with 2:13 left to play in the fourth quarter. 

The Panthers would put together a 98-yard touchdown drive to make it 28-14 with 18 seconds left to play, but it obviously wasn’t enough to truly get back into the game. 

As Payton mentioned, he’s seen some crazy losses happen late, though it never appeared the Panthers were going to mount a comeback when the fourth quarter rolled around. But, hey, you never truly know until the final whistle is blown.

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