Broncos coach Sean Payton takes blame for blocked field goal: ‘This isn’t on the player’

“This isn’t on the player,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of the blocked field goal. “This is on all of us. This is on us as coaches.”

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos on Sunday by blocking a field goal attempt on the final play of the game.

Earlier in the game, the Chiefs had identified that Broncos lineman Alex Forsyth was “light on his toes” and susceptible to a bull rush. With the game on the line, Kansas City put extra players on Forsyth’s side and broke through to block the kick, securing a 16-14 win.

Forsyth was also knocked off his feet on eight of the team’s last ten kicks, as was astutely pointed out by Andrew Mason of DenverSports.com. That was a trend that Denver’s coaching staff should have noticed and corrected, and coach Sean Payton knows it.

“I read all the comments afterwards, and I think that it’s tough to lose a game that way,” Payton said during his conference call with reporters on Monday. “This isn’t on the player. This is on all of us. This is on us as coaches. We’ve got to continue to look at, ‘Hey, are we big enough stature-wise there for that?’ And understanding how the rush was coming. It’s disappointing, and yet it’s not something that’s new when a big play is made at the end of a game.”

Following Sunday’s loss, the Broncos are now 5-5 with seven games remaining.

“This team has been resilient,” Payton said. “The sky isn’t falling relative to our season and the schedule.”

Denver will aim to bounce back when the Atlanta Falcons (6-4) visit Empower Field at Mile High in Week 11.

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