Ryan Clark Believes Sean Payton Cost the Broncos a Trip to the Super Bowl

Sean Payton came within a hair’s breadth of his first Super Bowl appearance since 2009 this weekend. He did end the Denver Broncos’ 10-year playoff win drought in the process, but that is little consolation after losing the AFC Championship 10-7 on home turf.

With the Broncos trotting out a backup QB and an absolute blizzard hitting Denver during the second half, points were always going to be at a premium that day. Which is why Sean Payton’s call to go for it on 4th and 1 from the New England Patriots‘ 14-yard line early in the second quarter, with Denver already up 7-0, became such a crucial moment.

Instead of taking the three points—which incidentally would have been enough to force overtime—Payton tried to push for a 14-0 lead. With a defense like Denver’s and the inclement weather, Payton was certainly correct in thinking that 14 points would be enough to get the win. Still, some questioned the decision. Meanwhile, ESPN pundit Ryan Clark says he applauded Payton’s aggressiveness in that spot.

“I love the aggression by Sean Payton, I think it’s the right call,” Clark argued during a segment on First Take. “If you go up on the New England Patriots by 14 points. They ain’t scoring 14. If you think about not getting it, do you believe they can drive 85 yards and score a touchdown? Do you believe they’ll even get 50 and kick a field goal? You don’t, and they didn’t.”

As we now know, Jarrett Stidham threw an interception on that 4th down play. While the failure could hardly be blamed on him, both the play call and execution were questionable. Stidham was immediately chased out of the rollout he was clearly meant to run. Clark believes the decision to go for it was right, but that the play call itself was cowardly.

“I just feel like he made a grown man decision with a little boy mindset,” Clark said. “That’s not the play. The play to get 4th and 1 should be a play of physicality, should be a play where you give yourself some sort of creativity. This was one of the more easily dissected plays in Sean Payton’s playbook. And his playbook is extremely deep.”

"I like Sean Payton's aggression. I just feel like he made a grown man decision with a little boy mindset."@Realrclark25 on if it was the right call for the Broncos to go for it on fourth down against the Patriots 🏈 pic.twitter.com/L5Dv81zc0T

— First Take (@FirstTake) January 26, 2026

 

Watching the said play closely, it never stood a chance because of the protection snafu. But if they had blocked it properly, it was just the kind of rollout play that earned them a TD earlier in the game. Lil’ Jordan Humphrey was wide open across the first-down marker on a hitch. Stidham just didn’t get the time to find him.

Clark also mentioned that Payton admitted he had changed the play from a run to a pass after calling a timeout to think things over. Once he started second-guessing himself on the call, as Clark argues, that’s when Payton should have simply decided to take the points and move on.

But Payton didn’t, and it cost the Broncos crucial points that would have either won them the game or at least sent it to OT.