Sean Payton's explanation for absurd 4th down call has Broncos fans fuming

There were only 17 points scored in the Denver Broncos AFC title game against the New England Patriots, and the Pats had 10 of them, unfortunately. After getting out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Patriots scored the final 10 points of the game and will advance to Super Bowl LX.

Truth be told, it was not a game that the Broncos were likely going to win, as going from Bo Nix to Jarrett Stidham in this situation is a near-impossible task. While Stidham is a capable backup and was truly hyped up for most of the season, he is a backup QB for a reason.

And in these situations, you would think that the head coach would opt to take the points in most scenarios, but that did not seem to be the case for Sean Payton in the second quarter, as this bone-headed decision on 4th down really made no sense.

Sean Payton's explanation for the Broncos 4th down decision in the second quarter doesn't make any sense

Instead of kicking the field goal and going up 10-0, the Broncos decided to go for it on 4th down. The Patriots stopped the play and would then go on to score the final 10 points on the afternoon, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl.

Sean Payton's explanation for the decision to go for it truly makes no sense:

So, if this was Payton's line of thinking, why not take the more likely three points and go up by two possessions? To me, this was a major mistake that could have impacted the outcome of the game. I understand that being aggressive is the thing now for head coaches to do, but in some instances, like this one, you want to take the points.

And had the Broncos kicked the field goal and gone up 10-0, this game could have legitimately ended in a Denver victory. All in all, though, the Broncos had a great season - this team won 14 games, earned the first seed in the AFC, and also won the AFC West, but the way the campaign ended was flat-out miserable, frustrating, and sad.