The Denver Broncos stepped on Carolina Panthers Sunday, 28-14. The margin of victory for the home team could have been much larger had the Broncos not turned the ball over late in the game.

In the final half, Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn could be seen pulling Broncos head coach Sean Payton near midfield, where postgame handshakes take place. Horn’s complaint? That Payton was trying to “score.”

Payton could be seen pulling back at Horn on his way to shake the hand of Panthers head coach Dave Canales.

At the podium after the game, Payton addressed the heated conversation with Horn.

“I trained his father (ex New Orleans Saints receiver Joe Horn)” Payton said of Horn. “So I yelled back at him. I don’t know what the trade was, but his dad liked me coaching him. He was frustrated – I think he was yelling at one of our other players. I like him, he’s a player good.”

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Horn’s sensitivity was understandable, but for what it’s worth, Canales didn’t seem upset after Payton trotted out a few tricks to turn the screws and keep the offensive pedal to the metal. However, he held the Broncos to just seven second-half points. Some might attribute Payton’s aggressiveness to his longtime rivalry with the Panthers all those years in Carolina.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if it had more to do with Canales’ decision in the second quarter to go on 4th-&-2 after Payton declined an offensive holding penalty on third down. Carolina’s fourth down attempt would be blown up by Patrick Surtain II, and a turnover on downs ensued, but Payton declined the earlier penalty instead of putting Canales on 3-&-12.

It was a Josh McDaniels-esque move. The Broncos took control on downs and made Canales pay for sticking his nose at Payton, driving 48 yards and scoring a Bo Nix one-yard touchdown to end the first half.

Canales responded in kind, calling a trick play of his own on an errant throw by punter Johnny Hekker on fourth down. Returning is, after all, fair play.

Payton wasn’t kind in his rhetoric about the Panthers after the game either, saying“It’s not a good offense that we played. It’s just the truth.”

Payton would also go on to state the obvious, even if it wasn’t the greatest display of sportsmanship.

“We’re going to play in bigger games than this,” Payton said after the game, looking at next week’s tilt at Baltimore Ravenswhich will be followed by another road game at Kansas City Chiefsbefore returning home to host Atlanta Falcons. All three opponents are plus-.500.

At the end of the day, competition brings out the fire in men. And we saw it in the Horn-Payton midfield exchange after the game and the way both coaches handled themselves strategically during the action.

Load it to the game.

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