INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Broncos coach Sean Payton has played around and discovered he’s not the smartest person in the ballpark.

What Payton did was stupid.

And if his brain fart causes Denver to miss the NFL playoffs, the stench of that 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers will linger all winter long.

Trying to be too cutesy, Payton instead found a way to blow an 11-point lead with zero seconds remaining in the second quarter with a bit of clock mismanagement that would put Nathaniel Hackett to shame.

“We have to be smarter,” Payton said Thursday. “And we have to be smarter as coaches too.”

Now, if Denver misses its chance to end an eight-year playoff drought because of the decisions Payton made before halftime with 41 ticks on the clock, that’s inexcusable.

Taking a 21-10 lead with a first down at their own 18-yard line, knowing full well that the second half would begin with a Denver kickoff, the wisest thing to do would have been to run the football out of it to take and get started Grab some orange slices in the locker room.

At that exact moment, according to ESPN analysis, the Broncos had a 77.9 percent chance of leaving SoFi Stadium with a win and toasting a hard-fought playoff spot on the flight back to Colorado.

Instead, Payton overdid it.

Hey everyone, check out Sean’s big heads!

“Look, at the end of the half you know you’re going to start with the ball (after halftime),” Payton said. “However, with 41 seconds, we’re going to throw a screen to see if we can get a little momentum…”

Yes Yes Yes.

Is this coach so arrogant that Payton can’t just admit he messed up?

Run. Out of. The clock. Knucklehead.

But instead, on first down, Payton asked quarterback Bo Nix to throw a short pass to Javonte Williams.

When Williams was sent off for a three-yard loss, the Chargers didn’t call a timeout, apparently content to stand back and let Payton do the right thing.

But no. That would have been far too easy for a mastermind like Payton.

As the clock ticked down to 17 seconds in the second period and the Broncos were at least 40 yards out of field goal range, Payton put Nix in shotgun and watched him throw an incomplete pass.

On third down, Nix finally turned around and handed off to Williams. But his one-yard run allowed LA to stop the clock with a timeout at eight seconds and force a Denver punt.

Then the football gods made Payton pay for his hubris.

A Denver punt ended in an awkward collision between LA returner Derius Davis and Broncos cornerback Tremon Smith, resulting in a penalty for interfering with a fair catch.

On the Chargers sideline, coach Jim Harbaugh surveyed the situation and took advantage of a rare opportunity to add momentum.

“This is our chance,” Harbaugh recalled thinking at that crucial moment. “This is our moment.”

Taking advantage of the rarely used rule of taking a no-rush free kick after a fair catch, Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker fired a 57-yard field goal with zero seconds left to give the Broncos the win.

That cut Denver’s lead from a two-point lead to 21-13, which amounted to a three-point gift.

“It was great,” Dicker said. “It was funny to be in that scenario and just be like, ‘Huh, there’s no lineup. This looks a bit strange.’ But it was really cool.

My reaction?

Harrumph. (I believe in the music industry this is called a radio edit.)

Would this be a bad time to remind you that Broncos co-owner and CEO Greg Penner has repeatedly tried to lure Harbaugh away from the University of Michigan?

In the second half, a Denver team with no margin for error was marred by costly penalties that benefited Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and the surprising decision to suspend a running play that had yielded 89 yards before halftime. dissolved.

Over the final two periods, the Broncos were dominated by the Chargers, outscoring them 21-6.

“We have to find a way to get that 10th win,” Payton said.

It won’t be easy. This was more than a missed opportunity for the Broncos to clinch their first playoff berth since the confetti fell on Super Bowl 50.

Payton’s inept time management in the final 41 seconds of the first half could give a legion of nervous die-hards in Broncos Country a chronic case of acid reflux for the next 18 days, possibly until the last tick of the scoreboard clock at Empower Field Mile High on Jan. 5.

With a record of 9-6, Nix now has to show that he can go on the road and beat an elite quarterback in Joe Burrow. Failing that, Denver better hope Kansas City secures the AFC’s No. 1 seed and Patrick Mahomes misses the final weekend of the regular season.

What did Payton say to his players after the loss? Did he apologize? Or an inspiring message of hope?

“I’ll give you a message,” Payton scolded, “when we have a message.”

It could have, could have, could have been a merry and bright Christmas, with a playoff invite for the Broncos under the tree.

Now?

We’re on to Cincinnati.