13 October 2023 , 12:13
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Amazon Prime’s coverage of the NFL’s "Thursday Night Football" has opened the door to the Denver Broncos gameplan after coach Sean Payton's appeared to leave his playbook uncovered.
The Kansas City Chiefs claimed a 19-8 win over the Broncos in Week 6 of the 2023 NFL regular season, the reigning Super Bowl champions moving to 5-1 for the season, and a fifth consecutive victory after the Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions.
For the Broncos, Payton’s team now stand at 1-5 after Week 6 and are already in danger of being ruled out of play-off contention before the halfway stage of the season. It is Payton’s first season in charge of the Broncos, after taking on the head coach role in Mile High City in February 2023.
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During Amazon’s coverage, though it seems that Denver’s tactics may have been revealed live on air. At the end of the third quarter, the cameras showed a close-up of Payton that opened the window to more than the team may have hope for.
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However, Payton used his play call sheet to cover his mouth while giving the instructions. In doing so, the full Broncos playbook could be seen on camera, with labels showing the play call sheet that would have been designed specifically for the game against the Chiefs.
At the time the playbook was shown on camera the Broncos were trailing 16-0 with just 0:03 remaining in the third quarter. Denver would go on to score a touchdown with Courtland Sutton receiving an 11-yard pass from Russell Wilson which was then followed by a successful two-point conversion.
Denver Broncos playbook shown live on air on Amazon Prime (@NFL_DovKleiman / Twitter / Amazon Prime)Payton admitted after the game that he did make an error with one particular call against the Chiefs. In the second quarter, with just 0:22 remaining before half-time, Payton called for a time out with the Broncos on fourth down.
The Broncos head coach admitted that he mistakenly believed it was third down and wanted to have more time to plan a play on offense. Payton admitted that it was an error on his part, with Denver trailing 13-0 going in at half-time.
“That’s a boneheaded mistake by me,” Payton told reporters after the game on Thursday, via . “They were calling one as well and I’m off by a down, but that was stupid.
Next up for Denver is the Week 7 game at home to the Green Bay Packers on October 22. That is before Denver go up against the Chiefs yet again in Week 8, this time in Mile High City, on October 29 before a bye week in Week 9.