Sean Payton expressed his frustration about the Denver Broncos going through multiple one-score games following their 26-21 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
Payton has been coaching the Broncos since 2023, going through his fourth season with the franchise. Following a playoff run to the AFC Championship Game, he looks to build on last season's success by getting them to the Super Bowl.
Following Denver's win over Carolina, the team has been through six games this season that had them win by seven or less points. Payton took note of this after the game, explaining why it bothers him despite still getting the wins this season.
“When those things keep falling your way. That's not by accident,” Payton said, via reporter Zac Stevens. “I wouldn't say it's luck.”
“Part of it pisses me off because there's been a few of them that you would say shouldn't have been one-score games, and then obviously there's some that are, but it's the ones that like look they they've been great. We knew coming in Thursday, like we just knew the type of team we were playing, they've been doing some really explosive things on offense. They were banged up, certainly on defense as we were. But we'll take this break…it's not that we're never satisfied, but we still have some work to do.”
The Broncos 16-game one-score win streak pisses Sean Payton off a but pic.twitter.com/qEN6AmzixL
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevens) November 8, 2026
How Sean Payton, Broncos performed against Panthers
Sean Payton and the Broncos dug deep to pull away with the 26-21 win over the Panthers. They improved to 7-2 this season, one of the best records in the league.
Denver had the upper hand throughout the first half, taking a 13-7 lead at halftime. Despite Carolina's efforts to fight back, the Broncos did enough down the stretch to secure the victory.
Bo Nix had a solid performance leading the offense, completing 25 out of 37 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Jonah Coleman led the run game with 17 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown, while Pat Bryant and Courtland Sutton caught touchdown passes.
The Broncos will look forward to their next matchup, being at home. They are on bye next week before resuming action by hosting the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11 on Nov. 22 at 4:25 p.m. ET.