Late in the Monday Night Football game between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns, ESPN’s Joe Buck made his case that Sean Payton should be the NFL Coach of the Year before things got awkward.
Buck’s argument: Payton has the Broncos in the middle of the playoff race with a rookie quarterback. Six quarterbacks were drafted in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, four of whom are currently starting, and two have their teams firmly in the playoffs mix: Bo Nix [Broncos] and Jayden Daniels [Washington Commanders].
Did Buck forget that Washington coach Dan Quinn has the Commanders sitting at 8-5, with a rookie quarterback and a completely overhauled roster thanks to years of Ron Rivera’s lousy drafting?
So, was Buck’s exuberance a mere slip? It didn’t take long for him to react, mentioning Quinn’s candidacy for NFL Coach of the Year, but only in passing.
“I’m not slighting Dan Quinn, by the way, who has done a great job in Washington, and he is doing it with Jayden Daniels,” But, you hear it about [Mike] Tomlin and Dan Campbell, who has been amazing, [Kevin] O’Connell in Minnesota, and Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers. But the one guy doing it with a rookie quarterback is Sean Payton.”
Wait, what?
Joe Buck on Sean Payton and rookie quarterbacks. pic.twitter.com/tzPFayHzo4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 3, 2024
Instead, he had a chance to backtrack but reiterated his inaccurate point about Payton.
X — formerly Twitter — noticed Buck’s foolish take.
Joe Buck “I’m not slighting Dan Quinn”..proceeds to name all coaches with good teams right now..then says “but the one guy doing it with a rookie QB is Sean Payton” pic.twitter.com/WAsRpTJWVx
— Dre (@DCSportsDre) December 3, 2024
Joe buck just said Peyton is the only one doing it with a rookie QB…… pic.twitter.com/3CpfQv2mnC
— HTTR (@DMVnativeChris) December 3, 2024
Joe Buck had a journey with that coach of the year/rookie QB thought.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) December 3, 2024
Weirdly Joe Buck & Troy Aikman repeated the UTTER Falsehood that Sean Payton is the only coach in the NFL this season having success with a rookie QB.
The producers LITERALLY told them Dan Quinn in their ears, and @Buck said Jayden Daniels, yet Joe still repeated the FALSE line pic.twitter.com/19H4mZUxlf
— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (BlueSky too now) (@sluggahjells) December 3, 2024
Does Joe buck not realize Jayden Daniels is a rookie QB 😭😭😭😭
— Nick Dawson (@dawsonnick90) December 3, 2024
Hey Joe Buck, it’s not just one guy doing it with a rookie qb. Quinn is doing it also… pic.twitter.com/IURIgrVcZC
— WKC (@WashingtonFanKC) December 3, 2024
“The one guy doing it with a rookie QB…”
Does Joe Buck forget Dan Quinn’s QB is a rookie too?#CoachOfTheYearTalk
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) December 3, 2024
“Sean Payton the only head coach having success with a rookie qb” Joe buck https://t.co/mwK74kWOkw pic.twitter.com/KDVHQ4lt2D
— MR. 405 (@Copo_72) December 3, 2024
Joe Buck: “Payton is the only coach in the running for Coach of the Year who is doing it with a rookie quarterback.”
Then remembers Dan Quinn who is also doing it with a rookie quarterback. Then proceeds to say…the same thing???
— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) December 3, 2024
Dan Quinn hearing Joe Buck say Sean Payton is the only coach of the year candidate doing it with a rookie QB pic.twitter.com/ckW8dT3DUq
— Bill (@BuyHimOutBoys) December 3, 2024
Interestingly, Buck said the Broncos were only projected to win four or five games. Almost no one had the Commanders predicted to be better than the Broncos, yet Quinn and Daniels have already doubled Washington’s 2023 win total — with four games remaining.
