Good morning, Broncos Nation!
Another week, another stressful game for the Denver Broncos.
It didn’t look good, especially in the second half for Bo Nix and the Denver offense. But the team pulled off another win.
All that matters is that the Broncos defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 17-14 in overtime.
Denver is now 4-2 after a brutal six game stretch to start the season. Today the Broncos get a mini-bye before heading to the desert to face the Arizona Cardinals.
Wil Lutz with a clutch kick
You always hold your breath when a Denver kicker attempts a field goal. And all of Broncos Country did just that at the end of the game.
Fortunately, it was an outpouring of celebration after Lutz nailed the game-winning 53-yard field goal.
On this day, he is big peanut Lutz, and absolutely tightly held Lutz. Helluva kick.
Give Denver’s defense its flowers
Down to the best cornerback in the NFL in Patrick Surtain II, the team’s best safety in Talanoa Hufanga, and the Broncos holding Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the Seattle offense to 14 points? Damn impressive showing by Denver’s defense.
Furthermore, the Broncos forced three turnovers, had five sacks, five tackles for loss, and nine passes defensed. Perhaps the stat of the night, Denver got 17 quarterback hits on Sam Darnold.
In a defensive battle, the Broncos outlasted one of the best defenses in the league.
The Broncos secondary is very good
Without the two best players on the unit, and Riley Moss limited most of the night, Denver’s secondary played an unreal game.
Yes, JSN got his yards, but when the Broncos needed a play, the guys stepped up. Two of the biggest plays coming from Kris Abrams-Draine and Ja’Quan McMillian who forced huge turnovers, the latter of which caught the game-winning interception. McMillian does it for Denver in tight moments. He also took a sack.
McMillian finished with five tackles (five sol0), one sack, one tackle for loss, two passes defensed, and one quarterback hit.
Abrams-Draine had six tackles (four solo) and three passes defensed.
All without PS and Hufanga.
What we saw from the Broncos quarterback in the second half wasn’t going to cut it. He should play better. What’s confusing is how good the offense looked on back-to-back touchdown drives in the first half.
Why does it have to be one or the other?
Obviously, some of the credit goes to Seattle’s defense. The Seahawks rank at or near the top for every statistical category. But Nix needs to start playing with more consistency because what he’s putting on the field isn’t enough.
It no doubt helps to sit at 4-2, facing five of the best teams in the NFL, but know this.
Denver’s running game is terrible
The Broncos finished with 74 yards rushing on Thursday night. How did they get that much?
I don’t know if it was JK Dobbins or the offensive line suddenly being terrible at run blocking, but it was bad. Maybe rookie Jonah Coleman is the savior, and he’ll be back in Week 7 against the Cardinals.
But like Nix, the game’s operational issues need to be fixed. It was brutal to watch Denver attempt to run the football today.
Domination at home continues
The Mile High Magic is back. The Broncos improved to 3-0 at home this season after going 9-2 if you include the postseason.
Denver has always had one of the best, if not the best, home-field advantages in the NFL. To see homecoming success like this is great to see.
Throwback jerseys shine again
There is no better throwback jersey in the NFL than the Broncos. And Seattle rocking their throwbacks gave us veteran fans flashbacks to the old days of the AFC West.
Just like at home, the Broncos remain undefeated when they throw the snot rocket.
Sitting at 4-2 is quite an achievement
As mentioned at the top, Denver just faced a brutal six game stretch to start the season, and they sit at 4-2.
When the schedule is released, every single person in Broncos Country will be gunning for that record.
What should give fans hope is that the Broncos haven’t played their best yet. Just like last season, we didn’t see the team start putting everything together until the calendar turned to November.
But despite the ugly games and performances, Nix and the offense were a disaster, they beat four of the best teams in football.
That’s reason enough to feel good about this team.