Sources: Broncos fire OC Joe Lombardi after AFC title game loss - ESPN

Just two days after Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said the team's offense «didn't do enough'' to earn a Super Bowl trip, he fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

With backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in the lineup for an injured Bo Nix, the Broncos gained just 32 yards in the second half of Sunday's 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, had only one first down after halftime and didn't have a possession in the third or fourth quarters longer than 17 yards.

After the loss Payton was asked what he would be most critical of in the aftermath of the loss, he said he would start with himself and added: „I think the big thing, that first half, momentum and field position didn't yield what it needed to yield, we needed more than that. It'll start there.''

Lombardi had spent 12 years, over two different stints, on Payton's staff with the New Orleans Saints and had been the Broncos' offensive coordinator since Payton was hired in 2023. Payton, however, is the team's playcaller on gameday. As the Broncos' offensive coordinator, Lombardi was in the coaches' booth on gameday and among those on the headset with Payton during games as Payton was the voice in Nix's helmet.

The Broncos sported one of the league's best defenses this season — No. 1 in sacks and in red zone in the regular season, second on third down, third in scoring defense and surrendered the fewest yards per play overall (4.46). Fueled by that defense, the Broncos also went 11-2 in one-score games in the regular season, most one-score wins in NFL history, before winning another one-score game, in overtime, over the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional round.

But Payton had expressed his