Broncos nearly cost themselves a playoff spot by not benching struggling corner

The Denver Broncos have had one of the best defenses in the NFL all year. They get after the quarterback, they're forcing more turnovers, and they are creating opportunities for the young offense. But one horrific game from veteran cornerback Levi Wallace -- and the Broncos' unwillingness to put him on the sideline -- nearly cost this team a playoff spot.

Of course, we wouldn't know that officially until the end of the season, but a loss against the Cleveland Browns would have made life incredibly difficult for the Broncos in the month of December, and would have given them absolutely zero margin for error after the Week 14 bye.

Jameis Winston and Jerry Jeudy had the night of their NFL lives on Monday in the Mile High City. Winston threw for nearly 500 yards and Jeudy set an NFL record with 235 yards on nine catches, the most yards any receiver has ever had playing against their former team.

The biggest reason for that was cornerback Levi Wallace, a veteran who was filling in in place of the injured Riley Moss, who has been sensational this season for the Broncos.

Broncos failure to bench Levi Wallace nearly cost them dearly vs. Browns

And as bad as you maybe thought it was watching the game on Monday night, I promise you it was worse.

The Broncos are in the midst of a playoff race right now. Not only do they have competition behind them for the #7 seed in the AFC right now, but they are also in contention to potentially move up the playoff standings in the coming weeks.

In fact, in just over two weeks, it's possible that the Broncos could be all the way up at the 5th seed in the AFC. The stakes are incredibly high, which is why it makes absolutely no sense that head coach Sean Payton and/or defensive coordinator Vance Joseph didn't pull the plug on Wallace sooner than they did.

In fact, it's actually weirder that they decided to throw rookie Kris Abrams-Draine out there when the Browns were going for a game-winning drive down by just two points as opposed to throwing him out there when they were up by 11 points on multiple different occasions. Wallace was getting so badly cooked all game and it wasn't by just Jerry Jeudy. He was victimized by Elijah Moore and Michael Woods, of all people.

The Browns were dead last in the NFL coming into this game against Denver converting third downs, and the Broncos' defense allowed them to convert 9-of-19 attempts. Many of those were into the coverage of Levi Wallace.

With so much at stake, it's inexcusable that Wallace was not pulled from the game sooner. And it's even more ridiculous that nobody in the media asked Sean Payton about it after the game. Here's what Payton had to say, however, about Jerry Jeudy having a big game on Monday night:

“We were going to match [CB] Pat [Surtain II] and then the simple slot moving him to the other side. We have to be able to handle that. It is too easy offensively for us to do that. I’m sure we will look at the tape. We always ask it of the players. When we come back, the same as the coaches, how would we play that game if we played it again? I think that is coaching. It is us always making sure we put our guys in the best position. Again, we made enough plays.”

- Broncos HC Sean Payton (via team PR)

Look, I love Sean Payton. But saying, "We made enough plays," is not acceptable in this instance. It's a fact that the Broncos' defense made enough plays to win the game, but it was no thanks to Levi Wallace.

Hopefully, Payton has a better explanation the next time he meets with the media, because this kind of personnel issue can't happen going forward with the playoffs on the line.