Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton mistakenly accused a reporter of smoking during his post-game press conference following a Week 9 win over the Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton paused a post-game press conference after his team's Week 9 victory to question a reporter whom he thought he saw smoking a cigarette.

Payton entered his customary post-game press conference following the Broncos’ 26-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers, ready to discuss his team’s fifth-straight victory when something caught his eye.

“Could we not smoke in here?” Payton asked a reporter before staring them down for several seconds. “Please?”

The 62-year-old then immediately recanted his words when he realized nobody in the room was smoking, and he had in fact mistaken a reporter’s pencil for a cigarette.

“Oh, you’re not smoking, you got a pencil. I’m sorry. I thought you were smoking. I owe you,” Payton said with a laugh. “I had a flashback thinking, who's smoking a cigarette? Alright, I’m sorry.”

Payton then proceeded to field questions from reporters, none of whom were bold enough to use a tobacco product inside the media room at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

The Super Bowl-winning head coach went on to commend his team’s ability to win close games, a trend that dates back to last season when Denver became one of the NFL’s premier teams in such situations.

In fact, the Broncos’ five-point victory over Carolina in Week 9 marked their 16th-straight win in a game that was decided by eight points or fewer. Many NFL fans might consider that a lucky run, but Payton feels differently.

“When those things keep falling your way, that’s not by accident,” he said on Sunday.

Denver quarterback Bo Nix agreed with his head coach, stating, “I think we’re just comfortable in that moment, when things get close at the end of the game... I’m just glad we’re on this side of winning them and not in a streak of losing them.”

It hasn’t been a banner season for Nix, but the third-year quarterback continues to find ways to win games for his team.

In Week 9, he recorded his third straight game with at least 220 passing yards and two total touchdowns. Dating back to the start of the 2025 season, the Broncos own a 22-6 record in the regular season and playoffs, the best mark in the NFL during that span.

Despite Nix's strong outing, it was Payton who made arguably the most crucial decision of the day, leading to Denver's win.

With Carolina on the Broncos’ one-yard line trailing 19-14 late in the third quarter, Payton challenged an incomplete pass that he believed was intercepted by Denver’s Devon Key.

Upon review, the call was reversed, and Key’s interception stood, stripping the Panthers of a goal-line opportunity and giving the Broncos the ball back.

Given Denver ended up winning the game by five points, the reversal proved vital to Payton and company improving to 7-2 on the season and taking pole position in the AFC West.