Sean Payton "Nearly Broke Himself" in Lead Up to AFC Championship Game

Sean Payton "nearly broke himself" in the week lead up to the AFC Championship Game.

That interesting take on Payton's work ethic—and many more amazing pieces of information—came from Seth Wickersham's amazing work as an embedded journalist working on the Denver Broncos.

Wickersham explained it that way on Rich Eisen's podcast recently.

"But to witness it, and to watch Payton and the Broncos spend an hour sometimes on a single play, sometimes multiple hours over the course of days," Wickersham said on Eisen's show. "And you know, he nearly broke himself that week. I was privy to his sleep scores in the week leading up to the Patriots and I mean as the week went on they were horrible."

Sean Payton Burned the Candle at Both Ends Before AFC Championship

It's no secret that NFL coaches work themselves themselves hard. Crazy-hard. They nearly work themselves to death.

All for the love of the game.

But consider that Sean Payton is 63 years old and what Wickersham shared about that week lead up to the AFC Championship Game is wild.

Even knowing he didn't have Bo Nix at his disposal—or maybe because of it—Payton pushed himself and his assistants late into the night, past midnight repeatedly.

This part of Wickersham's piece is incredible:

Payton sets the room temperature to 68 degrees, which he read somewhere is the ideal temperature to keep people alert. Coordinators, position coaches, and general manager George Paton sit alongside him at the table. Scouts, trainers, and operations staffers grab folding chairs around the perimeter. Seats aren't assigned, but everyone sits in the same ones each day. It snowed a few inches overnight; the room has a foxhole feel.

"Zero snaps," Payton says. "F---ing criminal. This kid sits on the sideline."

Seconds pass.

"Did we stop the run? We didn't do that. We got our a-- kicked in the first half."

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph interjects, offering explanations. Payton cuts him off.

...

During the meeting, he rails about communication issues. "Day One s---," he says. "It's a cluster on the headphones." At one point, the Broncos had to burn a timeout because the defense had too many men. "Twelve on the field," he says. "Why is that a problem?"

"Should not," Joseph says.

"It's been all year!"

"It won't be."

And on Eisen's podcast, the ESPN reporter continued with his behind the scenes reporting of the Broncos during the AFC Championship Game week.

"And it got tense at times with the assistant coaches because, you know, it's 1:30 [a.m.] again and they're still going. Sean's a night owl. He gained steam as the night goes on. Those guys [assistant coaches] are exhausted. And just what it takes to win when the odds aren't really in your favor, you're starting a backup quarterback was really startling to see."

Sean Payton Thought He Could Out-Coach Mike Vrabel and Will Broncos to Super Bowl LX

The further you read into Wickersham's piece on ESPN—the incredibly detailed, amazing recount of the Broncos playoff run in 2025-26—the more you realize Payton thought he could carry the Broncos to the victory.

Not only that, but it shows just how locked in, dedicated, focused, and down-right obsessed he is with football. With winning a game. Even 21 years into his NFL career.

Payton studied every touchdown of the previous week noting it as "play" or "player." If it was "player" he let it go. If it was "play" he'd find a way to replicate or imitate it. Similarly, he watched every single touchdown scored on the Patriots all season long and found all the "plays" he could for more inspiration.

"He said at the end of the night before he went home, 'This is therapeutic for me.'" Wickersham shared.

Forgive the cliches; Sean Payton lives and breathes football, damnit.

Ultimately, he thought he could out-coach Vrabel and the Patriots and carry the Broncos to victory.

Vrabel did win Coach of the Year, but Payton is a better head coach with a longer and more impressive resume.

Payton nearly did will them to victory too, but his biggest gaffe was the 4th-and-1 decision to go for it instead of kick the field goal.

Denver should've taken the points—a mere 31-yard field goal for Wil Lutz—and go up 10-0 in the 2nd quarter. Impending blizzard or no. You take the points in the playoffs. At home. Especially with a backup quarterback starting.

Instead, Payton gambled and cost the Broncos the AFC Championship.

Rewind to the beginning of this article and Wickersham said Payton and the Broncos coaching staff spent hours over multiple days dissecting one play.

It was the defense New England ran to stop Stiddy and the Broncos offense on that 4th-and-1.

"And of course, one of the pivotal plays in the Patriots game was that 4th and 1 that he called and the Patriots surprised him by running that exact defense that he was preparing for that night. And of course the Broncos didn't get it. And those are the types of decisions you live with as a coach. And I think they get heavier and heavier and heavier as you get old and you kind of accumulate scars."

All that coaching and planning and studying ended with a huge coaching error.

Speaking of the Bills Divisional Round win, and how Payton called a fake punt on 4th-and-11 in overtime but the players vetoed it at the line, Wickersham sums up Payton's cockiness well:

"...my mind drifts off, stunned and amazed and impressed and mildly terrified at his gall, at his ego, even recklessness."

Payton Cost the Broncos a Super Bowl Appearance, but They Wouldn't Have Been There Without Him

From the outside looking in, it's easy for anyone in Broncos Country to be upset with the 4th-and-1 call by Payton.

With the added information that the snow came in stronger than any of us could remember, and the fact that New England ultimately won the game, it's easy to say he should've kicked the field goal.

Even if we saw it at that moment.

Wickersham's behind-the-scenes piece shows us what we already knew, too. That Sean Payton is cocky AF. He's shown that in press conferences, in one-on-one interviews, and shown it in his playcalling over the years.

That cockiness cost the Broncos an appearance in Super Bowl LX. It could've even cost them a Super Bowl victory, but even the biggest Denver die-hards agree Seattle would've won relatively easily against the Broncos with Stiddy under center.

But what else can be learned from the long, in-depth piece is that Payton is a legend.

I'd be really surprised if anyone prepares the way he does. To that extent.

All that preparation, planning, studying, creating, game planning etc. was the reason why he could take a rookie quarterback to the playoffs. And why Denver came out of nowhere to win 14 games when they were expected to win 9.

Sure, the players win games. But without Payton the Broncos offense would've been much worse and they would've wasted that otherworldly defense.

Trading for Sean Payton in 2023 was a huge gamble. George Paton sent a first-round pick and a second for him.

But that big spend has been worth it.

With Payton, the Broncos are legitimate contenders. With him as head coach, they have a realistic chance of winning the Super Bowl every year.

That's more than two-thirds of the NFL can say.

Enjoy the Sean Payton Era, Broncos fans. There's no guarantee it'll continue for much longer.

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.