Rookie QBs denied major moments by curious calls

DENVER — Count coach Sean Payton among those second-guessing his decision to go for the tie and not the win at the end of regulation in Cincinnati last weekend.

“Oh, certainly. You go through it all the time relative to what the call would have been,” Payton said Monday. “Based on the outcome, you always second-guess. You always do that as a head coach. I know I kind of felt I trusted my gut at the moment, but yes, I think it’s normal to do that.”

That was an entirely different tone than Payton had in the emotional aftermath of Denver’s 30-24 overtime loss to the Bengals on Saturday when he insisted, “The decision we made was the right one.”

Giving the ball back to Joe Burrow, the NFL’s hottest quarterback, wasn’t the best of moves for the Broncos, who didn’t force a single punt in regulation, something Payton acknowledged he didn’t realize until it was mentioned in his postgame news conference.

After throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims Jr. on fourth down with 8 seconds remaining in regulation, Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix held up two fingers and pleaded with his coach to go for the win. Payton scanned his play sheet.

“Yes, I definitely want the ball and a chance to win the game,” said Nix, who nonetheless deferred to Payton, saying those calls are the coach’s.

After Mims’ highlight-reel catch between Geno Stone and Mike Hilton was confirmed after a lengthy review, Payton instead sent out kicker Wil Lutz for the extra point to send the game into overtime.

Cincinnati’s clock mismanagement had given the Broncos time to score at the end of regulation. Instead of having Burrow take a knee and forcing Denver to burn its final timeout, Bengals coach Zac Taylor called for a handoff to Chase Brown, who hurt his right ankle on an awkward slide near the end zone. Payton called his final timeout, but the injury timeout was charged to the Bengals instead.

Playing for overtime backfired on the Broncos when the Bengals outgained them 119 yards to 6 yards in overtime and Burrow threw his third touchdown pass to Tee Higgins to keep Cincy’s slim playoff hopes alive and deny Denver a playoff-clinching win for the second straight weekend.

It also injected some intrigue into the final weekend of games before the playoffs begin. The Broncos (9-7), Bengals (8-8) and Dolphins (8-8) all are alive for the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC race with a trip to second-seeded Buffalo on tap for the team that clinches.

The Broncos host the Kansas City Chiefs (15-1), who have clinched the AFC’s top seed and are expected to rest most of their starters Sunday in Denver, where a loss would eliminate the Bengals, winners of four straight, and keep the Chiefs from having to face Burrow, who is in the midst of the best season of his career.

Payton wasn’t the only head coach who denied his rookie QB a confidence-inspiring, all-or-nothing moment only to lose 30-24 in overtime in Week 18.

It was the same fate for the Atlanta Falcons after coach Raheem Morris’ questionable clock management ahead of a 56-yard field goal try by Riley Patterson that came up short at the end of regulation and sent their game against the Washington Commanders into overtime Sunday.

Washington won the coin toss and Jayden Daniels drove the Commanders on a 12-play, 70-yard march that ended with his 2-yard TD toss to tight end Zach Ertz to clinch a playoff spot. That sent the Falcons (8-8) careening into Week 18 needing both a win over the Panthers and a Saints upset of the Buccaneers (9-7) to make the playoffs.

Morris acknowledged after the loss he “probably could have” called a timeout after Michael Penix Jr. connected with Darnell Mooney on a 25-yard completion with 40 seconds left. Instead, the clock wound down to 17 seconds because he was “trying to save that timeout.”

“In hindsight, it could have been a better decision to take that timeout, but I wanted to have the opportunity to move up there, so you can always second-guess those things,” Morris said. “Can always second-guess those motives. Can always go back and look at it to see if you could have snapped it a little quicker. But I really believe we can get our operation time a little faster and to save that timeout.”

Morris saved five of his six timeouts Sunday.

Like Nix, Penix, the rookie quarterback making his second NFL start, deferred to his head coach on when to use timeouts.

“That’s on Coach Raheem,” Penix said. “He calls the timeouts whenever he feels fit. He trusted in us to get the plays off and make the next play. We all trust Coach’s judgment on that, so that’s what we are going to lean on.”