Sean Payton's Poor Leadership Led to Dre Greenlaw's Suspension

Mondays, or "Dub Days" as the Broncos social media account calls them, are supposed to be for celebrating, not lamenting Dre Greenlaw's suspension.

But after the insane, four-straight-touchdown fourth quarter and 33-32 win over the Giants, the Broncos got news their starting linebacker will again be sidelined.

This time, instead of sitting out due to health issues, he was suspended for threatening head referee Brad Allen.

Update: Greenlaw’s suspension was upheld by the league. He is out this week against Dallas when the Broncos needed him badly.

Dre Greenlaw's Suspension Means He'll Be Out This Week

Sunday's Broncos win was incredibly emotional for fans, coaches, and players as we saw with the celebration by the Broncos and Greenlaw's outburst.

Well, that's an interesting way to celebrate a win.

Hey, tensions were high. And the officiating crew was, well, terrible at their jobs all afternoon long.

Especially during the Giants go-back-ahead scoring drive.

They said Jaxson Dart's pass to Wan'Dale Robinson on 4th and 19 was a first down, when it was short. Then called John Franklin-Myers for a personal foul, roughing the passer, which it shouldn't have been. Then, they combined the yardage to move the Giants to Denver's 40.

"Now fourth-and-[19], that's one of tomorrow's deals," Payton said of the play. "We have to learn from that because either way, two things happen: the first down is gained by the completion or, let's say it's incomplete, the first down is gained by the roughing."

A few plays later, Dart threw a ball up deep and Riley Moss was called for pass interference. That moved New York to the 2, and Sean Payton's dumb foul moved them to the 1. More on that in a minute.

Dart scored on the next play to give New York the 32-30 lead, but the Broncos somehow, someway bucked back and won.

Demaryius Thomas, the Denver Broncos, and the Legend of 33

The Denver Broncos scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to come back and beat the New York Giants 33-32.

Broncos BlitzRich Kurtzman

So, Greenlaw being upset with the officials makes sense. The calls were bad, especially at the end of the pressure-packed game.

But a professional athlete's got to be smarter than that. Especially a veteran like Greenlaw, who was playing in his first game with the Broncos.

The NFL said he violated Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1(b), which prohibits “the use of abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the League.”

It's good to keep in mind his yelling was just following in the footsteps of his head coach, though.

Sean Payton's Poor Leadership Led to Dre Greenlaw's Suspension

Two things can be true at once: Greenlaw should've been smarter, but he was also just following his coach's silly lead.

On that 38-yard pass interference that gave the Giants the ball at Denver's 2, Payton not only ran past his designated are on the sideline, he ran onto the field. And he yelled at the officials, arguing against the giant penalty.

Payton's been a coach in the NFL for 25 years, and a head coach for 18. He knows not to do that, and when he did he set the standard for his players.

“That was silly," Payton said of running onto the field after the penalty call. "I just felt like—I’m close with a number of people on that crew. It just so happens that the last three times, the numbers haven’t been good. I knew the [CB Pat] Surtain [II] penalty was wrong. So that’s hard because it made it first-and-5. It led to their first score. It’s happened one other time. I just wanted them to hear me (Laughs). You can’t do that.”

Because the Giants were at the 2 after the pass interference, his unsportsmanlike penalty moved New York to the 1. It didn't really hurt the outcome of the game, and may have actually helped Dart just barely get over with his first rush attempt. That saved Denver enough time to score and win.

But what Payton's arguing with the refs did cost was his starting linebacker for next week's game against a great Dallas Cowboys offense.

How can a coach hold his players to a standard if he's not willing to meet that standard himself?

Greenlaw Is Out This Week

Greenlaw appealed but the suspension was upheld by the league.

After being a star for the San Francisco 49ers, Greenlaw's last few years have been chock full of disappointment. He tore his Achilles tendon running onto the field in Super Bowl LVIII in Feb. 2024. Then he rehabbed and played only two games for the Niners last year before coming to the Mile High City.

He'd been held out of all games until Sunday with a quad injury, but finally recorded six tackles against the Giants.

While Denver's defense has been extraordinary this year, they've been lacking in covering tight ends and running backs. Greenlaw was supposed to be the solution to those issues.

He was expected to be the biggest free agent acquisition of the offseason, but instead has been the most disappointing one of the group. That includes Evan Engram, who hasn't done much at tight end.

The Broncos could‘ve used Greenlaw considering tight end Jake Ferguson is No. 5 in receiving yards (334) and No. 1 in touchdowns (6) among his position.

Since he can't play, suspension will hurt the Broncos defense against the league's No. 2 scoring offense (30.7 PPG).

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