Sean Payton made sure the Atlanta crowd felt every bit of a rough Friday night.
With the Denver Broncos up 24-0 on the Falcons at halftime of the preseason opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Payton used his halftime interview to land a sharp shot at Atlanta and the fans watching a lopsided first half unfold.
“There’s a lot of people dressed up as empty seats today,” Payton said during his halftime interview, according to multiple reports.
By then, the boos were already rolling down from the stands. Atlanta’s home crowd let the Falcons hear it as the team headed to the locker room after a first half that belonged almost entirely to Denver. The Broncos put up 17 points in the second quarter alone and carried that 24-point cushion into halftime.
The line hit harder because of who said it. Payton spent 15 seasons as head coach of the New Orleans Saints before taking over in Denver, and that run included one of the NFL’s fiercest rivalries with Atlanta. He went 21-9 against the Falcons while in New Orleans, so the jab came from familiar territory for Atlanta fans.
The Falcons didn’t give those fans much to cheer about early. Tua Tagovailoa, making his Atlanta debut after signing with the franchise during the offseason, started the game while Michael Penix Jr. continues recovering from a torn ACL. Tagovailoa was in the mix for the starting job in Kevin Stefanski’s new-look offense.
Once Tagovailoa left, things only got worse. Cooper Rush struggled, and Denver defensive back Jahdae Barron delivered the biggest moment of the half when he picked off a pass and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown.
What was supposed to be an early look at a fresh start instead turned into a halftime scene Atlanta fans won’t forget anytime soon.
The boos were loud, the scoreboard was ugly, and Payton didn’t need to say much more.
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The Falcons preseason opener had already turned into a rough night by the time halftime arrived, with Denver piling up a 24-0 lead and Atlanta struggling to get anything clean going on either side of the ball. The offense never found much rhythm, the defense was giving up completions too easily, and the whole outing had the feel of a team still searching for its footing before the games start to count.
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