Denver Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton was getting flashbacks to his time in the Canadian Football League during Saturday night’s 42-17 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The 59-year-old bench boss marvelled at his opponent’s early down efficiency and delivered a compliment of the highest order.
“First and second down, they are a good CFL team,” Payton said. “Most of your top offences are real good on those first two downs so it’s hard to get them to third down. They had quite a bit of chunk plays. Listen, it’s a good offence and we struggled with it.”
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The Lions had just 10 third-down attempts all game while securing a 25-point victory, going five-for-10. Quarterback Jared Goff completed 24-of-34 passes for 278 yards with five touchdowns, including three to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta, while running backs Jamyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 185 yards on the ground at an average of 6.6 yards per carry.
Not even the Broncos’ CFL-experienced defensive stalwart could stop the efficient early-down attack, as former Calgary Stampeders’ middle linebacker Alex Singleton was held to five defensive tackles and one quarterback hit.
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Payton knows the CFL game having briefly spent time as a backup quarterback with the Ottawa Rough Riders during the 1987 season. He has since gone on to bigger things, spending 16 years as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints and leading the team to a Super Bowl victory in 2009. He briefly retired following the 2021 season, before his rights were traded to Denver to become the Broncos’ head coach this offseason.
With the loss, the Broncos fell to 7-7 on the season and slipped in the hunt for an AFC Wild Card spot. Denver hosts the New England Patriots on Sunday, December 24 at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Lions moved to 10-4 and have a commanding lead atop the NFC North ahead of their matchup with the Minnesota Vikings at 1:00 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve.
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