Broncos head coach Sean Payton and Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald seemingly aren’t fond of each other.
The bad blood stems from their season opener in the 2024 campaign, when the Broncos nearly went into Seattle and pulled off an upset. Denver was rallying late, but the Seahawks escaped with a 26-20 win in front of their home crowd.
Seattle’s defense completely stymied the Broncos’ offense. Bo Nix struggled mightily in his first career start, completing only 26 of 42 passes for a meager 138 yards and two interceptions. They also turned the ball over on a third-quarter fumble and finished the contest with 231 total yards of offense.
It seemed like their defense knew where the ball was going before it got there, and it turns out that actually was the case. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald sat down for an interview with reporter Graham Bensinger and provided insight into their scouting prowess.
“Fans will tape and post plays from training camp on Twitter, so it’s public knowledge, so we took like a 100 plays from their training camp,” Macdonald said. “We’re scouting them.”
When Broncos head coach Sean Payton got wind of their scouting habits, he was outraged. He thought their social media habits should’ve been considered cheating.
“He called [Seahawks GM] John [Schneider] and basically threatened to come out publicly and do a whole Patriot SpyGate thing,” Macdonald said. “He thought it was a [University of] Michigan thing, where we had a plant, so we had to like counter and say if you come out with this, we’re going to sue you, because it’s not true.”
Macdonald added, “The season ends, and he let it go. But it was almost like the Cold War. ‘I’m going to hit the button’. ‘Well, we’re going to hit the button.’ Nobody hit the button.”
It’s interesting that Payton almost escalated the situation with the league office knowing his storied history there. You’d have to think he’d be the last person that wants to speak to them on a cheating scandal.
Sean Payton’s Decision-Making Actually Came Under Scrutiny After The Game
Payton’s play-calling was actually called out after that contest. BroncosOnSI‘s Erick Trickel thought he got far too pass-happy far too quickly in Nix’s first start.
“Analyzing designed runs and taking away quarterback scrambles, the Broncos rushed 13 times in the first half and seven times in the second. Those 13 first-half carries went for 52 yards or 4.0 yards per attempt. That’s an acceptable number, except the Broncos ran 40 plays in the first half,” Trickel wrote.
He added, “There were 27 passing plays, with three quarterback scrambles and two sacks. The Broncos passed the ball twice as much as they ran it. Again, with a rookie quarterback on the road, you call 27 passing plays in the first 30 minutes of the game?”
Impossible to argue with that logic. Nix looked over his head, and that shouldn’t be surprising in his debut at Lumen Field of all places. That’s just about the toughest draw you could imagine for a QB to begin their career.
NFL Teams Are Always Looking For An Edge
Honestly, Macdonald’s scouting tactics here shouldn’t be chastised. They should be praised and replicated. That’s a coach doing anything within his power to gain an edge.
Many NFL teams (including the Broncos, potentially as a result of this situation) have also taken note of the influx of videos being posted to social media in recent years. They’ve put up signs advising fans not to post videos to social media. It’s become a thing, and with coaches like Macdonald on the other sideline, it’s not difficult to see why.
“This year in training camp, it seems to be that some teams seemed to be a little more anal than they’ve been in the past about people not filming practice plays,” Pro Football Talk‘s Mike Florio said. “Because once you have that, you can put it anywhere and your opponents can find it anywhere. And the best teams are looking under every rock and deploying every strategy that is legitimate and not cheating to get the information that they need to try and beat you.”
The Seahawks And Broncos Face Each Other In Week 6
The most interesting aspect of this situation is that the two teams play each other later this season. The Seahawks will travel to Mile High for a Thursday night game in Week 6.
It’s safe to assume Payton will be watching like a hawk for any teal-colored clothing at practice leading up to that contest. The Broncos social media team will probably take the week off, as well.
Their Week 6 clash will feature two highly talented teams with Super Bowl aspirations. It should be a great game. Suddenly, the postgame handshake will be just as interesting to watch.
Broncos’ Sean Payton Nearly Started A War With Seahawks Over Cheating Allegations