Sean Payton has had some extra time to watch football since stepping away from the New Orleans Saints, and shared some harsh words about what he saw from the Buffalo Bills.
Payton, who announced his retirement from the Saints, opened up to NBC Sports’ Peter King in a wide-ranging interview that covered the heartbreaking end to Buffalo’s season in the divisional round of the playoffs. Payton pointed to what he called a “flawed” defensive strategy that allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to race down the field for a game-tying field goal before ultimately winning in overtime.
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Payton Blasts Bills
The Bills had a frantic end to their season, taking the lead twice in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter against the Chiefs only to see Kansas City respond both times. Buffalo’s final touchdown came with just 13 seconds left in the fourth, but the Chiefs made two quick passes to get into field goal range and tie the game before winning in overtime.
After the collapse, many criticized the Bills for kicking off deep following the touchdown, giving the Chiefs a touchback rather than forcing them to return a short kick and take time off the clock. Payton said he actually agreed with this strategy, saying he didn’t like the high risks of a squib kick or a high, pop-fly just short of the goal line that the kicker likely hasn’t practiced much.
Bengals-Titans: game-winning FG 49ers-Packers: game-winning FG Rams-Bucs: game-winning FG Bills-Chiefs: game-winning TD in OT
But Payton sharply disagreed with the defensive strategy that the Bills employed on the following plays, when they used a defensive formation that would have been more fitting against a team with no timeouts and needed to get out of bounds. The Chiefs had two timeouts, using them after long plays down the middle of the field.
“We are playing football still—you can’t be defending the sidelines at all costs, like Buffalo was,” Payton said. “You see when Travis Kelce catches that long pass to put them in field-goal range, a cornerback is defending an area of the field near the sidelines he doesn’t need to defend. Kansas City’s got two timeouts left—they don’t need to get out of bounds. Everything about what Buffalo did defensively is flawed. We would play outside man technique with a three-man rush, funneling balls to the middle of the field and contesting outside technique.”
Payton Supports Rule Change
While he placed the blame on Buffalo’s coaching staff for the strategy in the final seconds against the Chiefs, Payton did seem to have sympathy for how the game played out after that. The Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and drove for a game-winning touchdown, never allowing the Bills and Josh Allen a chance to respond.
Many criticized the league’s overtime format, which has heavily favored the team winning the coin toss, and Payton joined them.
“We’ve hit the threshold. There has to be some change,” he said. “At least for the postseason, each team should get a possession, and if it’s tied after those two possessions, the game continues, and it’s sudden death starting with the third possession.”
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Sean Payton Blasts Bills for Strategy in Late-Game Collapse to Chiefs