Sean Payton gets in Russell Wilson’s face on sideline

Sean Payton chewed out Russell Wilson on the sideline during the fourth quarter of the Denver Broncos’ Week 15 game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. on Saturday.

The Broncos were down 28-7 and had a 4th-and-goal from the Lions 1-yard line. They were lined up to go for it and punched it in, but the touchdown was nullified by an offsides call.

The Broncos decided to kick the field goal instead after being pushed back 5 yards, making the score 28-10.

After the Broncos made the field goal, NFL Network, which broadcasted the game, showed a video clip of Payton yelling at Wilson.

Sean Payton giving the business to Russ #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/ec6CRZilMJ

— Chris Law (@ChrisLaw) December 17, 2023

Wilson is a highly-respected veteran quarterback, so it shows just how fearless and in-charge Payton is as the head coach when he gets in Wilson’s face like that.

It’s unclear exactly what Payton was saying to Wilson, but he may have been upset with his quarterback for lining up to run a play before checking with his head coach about whether or not the Broncos wanted to challenge a no-touchdown call. On both of the two previous plays, the Broncos were close to the goal line but ruled not to have scored. Perhaps Payton wanted to be given more time to decide about a challenge before Wilson ran the next play.