“I felt like we out-played them, but we didn’t finish. We had an opportunity there right at the end—we kind of controlled the ball and we’ve got to be able to finish. That one will take a while. It’ll sting.” In November, the Denver Broncos faced a gut punch as they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 16-14. Even though the final score was lopsided, coach Sean Payton believed the game was more competitive than it appeared. However, he admitted his team didn’t play well. But one thing that will always sting the Broncos Country was how refs allegedly helped the Chiefs win.

This season was no stranger in hearing the noises of Chiefs being favored by the NFL and the referees. Be it any game of the season or post-season, the Arrowhead team faced such controversies. One such event happened in the Broncos vs Chiefs game of Week 10, where Sean Payton’s team fell short of just 2 points.

However, the coach didn’t buy the idea of the Chiefs’ officiating narrative. During an appearance on the Up & Adams Show, HC Sean Payton was asked about his thoughts on the referees’s calls. The 61-year-old clearly stated to this, “I don’t think that’s the narrative we were frustrated with. The narrative our league is FRUSTRATED with is has the officiating kept up with the pace of play.”

Hence, according to Sean Payton, the real concern across the league is whether officiating has kept up with how fast and dynamic the game has become. So, does that mean this pace of games leads to the refs missing calls and being inconsistent? If this is true and it happens with every league game, then as a fan pointed out, “people hyperfocus on the missed calls that benefit the Chiefs only.”

This statement from Sean Payton came after he revealed his interest in dining out with the Chiefs on Tuesday. The HC admitted he felt a bit jealous of them. However, he still joined the group for a chat, shared some laughs, and later decided to pick up the tab by paying a $1,900 bill.

It’s simply because his intentions were clear – to “kill them with kindness.” Although Payton let go of that ref’s call from the November game, fans couldn’t move on as easily. After all, it was a turning point of the game that could have helped the Broncos to join the Bills in defeating the long-time undefeated Chiefs.

Sean Payton’s team crashed in front of that second quarter’s terrible call!

It will probably take more time for the Broncos nation to recover from November’s loss to the Chiefs. But maybe the fans won’t take time to forget that arguably horrendous call because it can’t fade away from their memories, easily. In the second quarter of that game, Sean Payton’s Broncos were up 14-3. It was third-and-9, and Patrick Mahomes had the football.

However, as soon as he was about to throw a pass to one of his receivers, Nik Bonitto sacked him for an 11-yard loss. It seemed like a huge play for Denver. But then, a flag was dropped, making a mess.

So, what was the penalty? Well, it was the illegal contact on safety Brandon Jones. His fault was he reportedly barely touched Travis Kelce, and it happened at the exact moment when Mahomes went down. As a result, no impact was given on the play. Yet somehow, the Chiefs got a fresh set of downs. That call changed everything.

Instead of punting, Kansas City kept the drive alive and scored a touchdown on fourth down. It’s true that without the flag, the Broncos would’ve had a chance to extend their lead before halftime. Consequently, social media took over.

Even, as shared by Dov Kleiman, a hot mic caught Mahomes asking a ref, “Can you let me know when a defender is close?” Well, at first glance, it looked like he wanted a heads-up before getting hit. But in reality, he was asking about his lineman’s positioning. Still, that moment only fueled more “NFL is rigged” talk.

For Sean Payton, it was eventually “One of the toughest losses” he faced in the league.