The Denver Broncos had little to no room for error on Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. Entering the night as 10.5-point underdogs, the Broncos had to nail all the marginal things just so they could have a shot at winning against the reigning Super Bowl champion. Even then, the Broncos were unable to do just that, with one play in particular to end the first half being a sore spot for Broncos head coach Sean Payton.

Instead of running the clock down and forcing the Chiefs to call timeout after a third-down sack of Russell Wilson, the Broncos head coach inexplicably called a timeout himself. This gave the Chiefs more time on the clock in the aftermath of the 29-yard punt, and making matters worse, they incurred a five-yard penalty. Two plays later, and Patrick Mahomes was able to steer the Chiefs to field-goal position, adding three more points on the board as they entered halftime with a 13-0 lead.

At least Sean Payton owned up to his mistake, although that would ring hollow for Broncos fans who have already grown tired of the team's terrible results and substandard play-calling under his watch.

“That's a boneheaded mistake by me. They were calling one as well, and I was off by a down. That's stupid,” Payton told reporters following their 19-8 loss to the Chiefs, per Andrew Mason of Denver Sports.

Broncos fans may be in for some ironic cheers seeing as to how candidly self-aware Sean Payton is being in this situation. There's simply no room for an NFL head coach to lose track of how many downs his team has, especially when coming up against the cream of the crop in the league. That may even be an offense worthy of being sacked.

Still, even if the Broncos polished their execution, it was always going to be an uphill battle to enter Arrowhead Stadium and come away with a win. But it's infuriating nonetheless to see the head of the team's brain trust on the field lose focus of the important matters that could prove to be the difference between winning and losing.