If there is any doubt that there was a personal element to Sunday’s Denver Broncos-New York Jets game, the Jets put that to rest with their postgame message on social media.
The Jets beat the Broncos 31-21 and wasted no time taking aim at Broncos coach Sean Payton after the game.
The Jets shared a post on X mocking Payton for his preseason comments about the organization. They used a photo of actor Kevin James, who played Payton in a Netflix movie about the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal called “Home Team.” James has also become the subject of a popular meme in recent months where he is shown shrugging. The Jets shared an edited picture of a shocked-looking James wearing Payton’s trademark visor, along with the caption “when you lose to the ‘offseason champs.'”
when you lose to the "offseason champs" pic.twitter.com/FzNIqGWZks
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 8, 2023
Payton, as you may remember, dismissed the Jets as a team focused on “trying to win the offseason” in comments he made before the year. In the same interview, Payton said his predecessor, current Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, was responsible for “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL,” though he later apologized for saying as much publicly.
The Jets made clear before the game that they remembered Payton’s comments very clearly. So did the team’s social media squad. That added up to what has to amount to one of the more humiliating days of Payton’s career.
