Sean Payton needles Falcons fans again during Broncos’ preseason blowout in Atlanta
Denver led Atlanta 24-0 at halftime of Friday night’s preseason opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Falcons crowd had just booed its own team off the field, and a 9NEWS reporter pulled Sean Payton aside for the customary two-question halftime hit. Cynthia Frelund noted that Payton tends to win in Atlanta and asked about the trend continuing.
To everybody’s surprise, Payton answered a different question entirely. “A lot of people dressed up as empty seats today,” he said, glancing around the bowl.
The line worked because the camera could confirm it. Large stretches of the lower level sat unoccupied through the first half, and while the official game book listed attendance at 68,183 in a stadium that seats roughly 71,000, that figure reflects tickets distributed rather than bodies in seats, according to NBC. Anyone watching the broadcast could do the arithmetic without help.
In a real sense, none of this is unique to Atlanta. Preseason football is the hardest ticket in American sports to give away; the starters play a series or two, and the price of a seat does not adjust downward to reflect any of that. The Falcons are not being singled out by the market.
“A lot of people dressed up as empty seats today.” – Sean Payton at halftime of the Broncos’ preseason game against the Falcons in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/i3k1RNKKHZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 15, 2026
Why Payton keeps coming back to this particular fan base
They are being singled out by Payton, and that part has 20 years of history behind it. He spent 15 seasons coaching the New Orleans Saints and finished 22-9 against Atlanta, including 11-4 in games played in Atlanta.
Drew Brees and Matt Ryan spent the better part of a decade splitting the NFC South between them, and Payton got the better of it often enough that the rivalry became part of his public personality rather than just his record.
Now in his fourth season in Denver, with no divisional stake in the outcome and nothing on the line beyond a preseason scoreline, he still took the shot. The shot lands as petty in Atlanta and as vintage Payton everywhere else, and he has never shown much interest in which of those two versions sticks. Yesterday was not the first time he has poked at the Falcons since leaving the division, and of course there is no obvious reason to expect it to be the last.
The football underneath it did not help Atlanta’s case. Jahdae Barron returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, Denver led 24-7 entering the fourth and won 27-7, and Tua Tagovailoa’s first competitive work as a Falcon drew unflattering reviews.
Michael Penix Jr. is still rehabilitating a torn ACL. Oddsmakers have Atlanta’s season win total set at 7.5 with the under favored, which is the market’s own version of Payton’s joke, delivered without the smirk.
Friday was Atlanta’s last home date for a while. The Falcons play their remaining two preseason games and their regular-season opener on the road.
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