The Atlanta Falcons put on their new red uniforms but failed to deliver a quality product on the field in Friday's 27-7 preseason loss to the Denver Broncos at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Broncos head coach and former Falcons nemesis Sean Payton couldn't help but take another shot at his favorite NFL punching bag. In what was a highly on-brand comment by Payton, he pointed out the amount of empty seats in Atlanta's home stadium during an interview following Friday's blowout. "A lot of people dressed up as empty seats today," Payton said, referring to the notoriously empty Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd - one that booed the Falcons loudly throughout the night.
“A lot of people dressed up as empty seats today.” Sean Payton (still) has no love for the #Falcons. pic.twitter.com/KipI1wNJyG — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 15, 2026 Broncos fans are likely just happy that Payton is no longer taking aim at his own staff or star quarterback this time around. Unfortunately for Falcons fans, Payton was far from the only one with something negative to say after the game. Here's how those around the NFL reacted to Atlanta's 27-7 loss to Denver in Friday's preseason opener.
it took 1 possession for this meme to takeover lmao 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/ZgAfCj5JvQ — Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 15, 2026
Sean Payton loves to troll the ATL. He is a rather loathsome fella says many around the league but the problem is Falcons have done little to shut him up over the years. https://t.co/WGS8m820qq — steakshapiro (@steakshapiro) August 15, 2026
pic.twitter.com/NjtFPfSalv — Kev ☔️ (@HollywoodxKev) August 15, 2026
Matt Ryan & Ian Cunningham have a lot of work to do. Not much quality depth. @680TheFan — buck belue (@buckbelue8) August 15, 2026
That's it for Tua and I think it's easy to see why the door is being left open for Penix — Tre’Shon (@tre3shon) August 14, 2026
Pretty cool moment on the #Falcons broadcast where Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. both made sure Jack Strand got his TD ball. pic.twitter.com/ux8o0GgUVH — Miles Garrett (@MilesGarrettTV) August 15, 2026
Apparently, we live bounty…I mean, rent…free in his head still. I have no respect for this dude. #RiseUphttps://t.co/Ev2ZtuiCva — Jordan McLeod (@McWeather1989) August 15, 2026
this is a generational gif https://t.co/SfapuYmW5y — Chanluh 🪐 (@chxnluh) August 15, 2026
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Sean Payton trolls Falcons after Broncos' 27-7 preseason victory