INDIANAPOLIS — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton sounded content to let others debate Sunday’s leverage call against linebacker Dondrea Tillman.Payton wanted no part of it. And neither did the rest of the Broncos.Shortly after the Colts’ Spencer Shrader missed a 60-yard field-goal try that would have won the game — only to redeem himself with a second chance from 15 yards closer because of the penalty — Payton and his players blamed themselves, not the officials, for Denver’s 29-28 loss.“You go from feeling like you’ve just escaped after our errors,” said Bo Nix, who threw three touchdown passes in the first half. “I always hate putting the game in the officials’ hands. We gave them an opportunity, and they called it at the end. Sometimes, it just doesn’t go your way.”The leverage rule says a player can’t use a teammate or opponent to vault himself into the air to try and block a kick.Regardless of Tillman’s intent, that’s how the officiating crew saw it.“As a defender, you’re not allowed to place your hand on an opponent or a teammate and push off to propel yourself into the air to block a kick,” referee Craig Wrolstad told a pool reporter. “In this case, No. 92 (Tillman) came across the line to the right guard and he puts his hand on the right guard and pushed off him to elevate himself in order to block the kick. You’re not allowed to do that.”There’s bound to be plenty of chatter about whether the officials were right to penalize Tillman. But the Broncos certainly had plenty of chances to put away a …
