The Denver Broncos may have gotten away with one on Sunday Night Football in their win over the Los Angeles Rams, but don't expect head coach Sean Payton to feel too bad about it.
In the late stages of the Broncos' come-from-behind win on Sunday night, Bo Nix threw a pass toward the sideline on a third-down play that appeared to be a ball he was trying to throw away. Somehow, Rams defensive back Josh Wallace intercepted it and came down with both feet inbounds. What looked like an incredible takeaway was soon erased due to a pass interference penalty called against Wallace.
But was it pass interference? You be the judge.
Josh Wallace Was Called For Defensive Pass Interference On This Play. He Ended Up Picking This Ball Off, So It Turned Into A
HUGE Play. I Don’t Know, Man… This One Is CLOSE. 👀 pic.twitter.com/DRYEAm8cYN
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) September 28, 2026
Broncos' pass interference penalty brings back memories
As soon as this play happened, those of you who have been following the NFL for many years may have had your minds take a trip back to the 2018 NFC Championship game between the Rams and New Orleans Saints. There, these same two coaches, Payton and Sean McVay, were on the sidelines with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
With the Saints driving late, this happened:
The universe balances itself https://t.co/hIxrQJNk8R pic.twitter.com/IIGOEFreHO
— RG 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) September 28, 2026
No penalty was called on the play and the Rams went to the Super Bowl. Ironically, just this week, we covered this, as this Broncos-Rams game featured the same referee, Bill Vinovich, from that fateful day.
Following the penalty, cameras cut to McVay during the telecast, who could clearly be seen yelling, "You can't call that" toward the officials. Oh Sean, how the tables have turned.
Well Coach Payton finally got his PI call! ⚜️
— Andrew Whitworth (@AndrewWhitworth) September 28, 2026
I say we call it even! 🤷🏻♂️
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Following the game, Payton commented on the idea of getting revenge for that call that cost his Saints team.
"Well, this is years later, so a completely different game, different players," Payton said on Monday's conference call with reporters. "I think there were two calls really that I guess that a lot of people were looking at, one over on Pat Bryant’s side and then the one that was a little bit later.
"Each week when these things come up… The longer you get in this thing, the less you discuss penalties. You just got to go out and play. I’ve yet to see one get changed either way. You hope that when the game’s over with, the season’s over with, you’re on the positive side of the ledger. I focus a little bit more on the penalties that we can control relative to pre-snap, post-snap, those types of things, but that’s really where I sit with it.”
That's what Payton said to the media. Perhaps his words were much different away from the cameras.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X!
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Sean Payton comments on DPI revenge for 2018 NFC title game: ‘Completely different game’
