Sean Payton wants Broncos fans to dominate Chargers fans on primetime

The Los Angeles Chargers could use the support of fans on a short turnaround during the Week 16, Thursday Night Football encounter with the Denver Broncos.

But the Broncos and head coach Sean Payton have other plans.

Speaking with reporters before the game this week, Payton reminisced about how the Broncos used to dominate Chargers fans in Los Angeles—something he saw two years ago while he was a broadcaster.

“The first time I was exposed to it [was] when I wasn’t coaching,” Payton said on Nov. 22. “I was working with Fox. I was invited to a night game and it was the Chargers vs. the Broncos in a real close game. It might’ve been an overtime game in fact, 2022. I was with somebody in a suite, and that’s the first time it hit me where I looked around and I felt like it was 70-30 [percent] Broncos.”

Chargers fans have been more prominent in their own building for a few years now and especially so as the Jim Harbaugh era gets underway.

What’s tricky now, though, is that fans weren’t exactly thrilled about the first-ever flex of a Thursday night game. And now, the Chargers enter this short week on the heels of a 40-17 blowout loss, also at home.

Whether the fans can outnumber Broncos faithful, though, could have a pretty notable impact on the outcome.

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