The Denver Broncos are the comeback kings of the National Football League. Yesterday, they started the fourth quarter heroics again to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-2. At 6-2, the Broncos are now in first place in the AFC West.
It was another gritty and gritty performance by Denver. Emblematic of the type of team they have forged since Head Coach Sean Payton took over in 2023. This is the fifteenth straight game the Broncos have won in one-score affairs. It was the 200th victory of Payton’s impressive career.
Encapsulating how the team consistently finds a way to pull out big wins in key moments isn’t easy. Still, Payton did his best to respond as he felt the Broncos had found their groove as a legitimate contender and returned last October which was the start of a long winning streak for the franchise.
“I think honestly, to answer that, I think it has to come from, well, we’ve done it before. I would go back to Philly [2025] in Philly after playing Cincinnati on Monday. I think that’s the first—that’s where my brain goes where we’ve grown a little bit,” Payton said.
“Then there’s the belief that you can get stronger and then there’s experience. Then you’re a bit beaten up, but we still have a lot to fix. Honestly, I think that’s what I believe in.”
The Broncos didn’t play their best game against the Chiefs in Week 8. However, they came out victorious. Poor teams find a way to win when the stakes are high. Trailing by fifteen fourth quarter points, Bo Nix and Denver’s offense found good footing at critical moments and came away with two big scoring drives.
A big part of their success was the performance of rookie running back Jonah Coleman. He was missing in action for much of the first half, but Payton devoted most of the team’s backfield snaps to Coleman in the final two quarters of the game. The fourth-round pick finished with 104 all-purpose yards and 1 touchdown and flashed as a runner and receiver out of the backfield.
After the game, Coleman humbly reflected on his performance. He emphasized the importance of teamwork and also praised Broncos Country for showing it. Coleman, like many other players and coaches, pointed to the noise from the fans as instrumental to success—especially at the end with the defense’s impeccable goal line stand.
“Like I said, glory to God, he allowed me to do what I wanted. I just got to give a shoutout to my offensive line and my teammates for keeping the confidence up the whole game. The game didn’t go our way the whole game until the fourth quarter,” stated Coleman.
“I went up to all the offensive lineman, the receivers, and the defense and said, ‘It’s going to be a four-quarter game,’ as the coach said—just to remind them that it’s not over yet. So, when the fourth quarter hit, that’s when the spark lit up the whole team.”
The Broncos have now won four straight games. They warm up as each week goes by. This coming Sunday, they travel to the east coast to take on the Carolina Panthers. If Denver can continue to improve and take care of business on the road, they will enter their bye week at 7-2. All things considered it will be remarkable.
The big question between now and then is whether yesterday’s big win will cause Denver’s front office to become a major buyer before the November 10th trade deadline. If they had lost and gone 5-3, I’m not sure that would have happened.
But now? They have a good shot at winning the division if they perform well down the stretch. Plus, a chance to regain the number one seed in a tough AFC playoff race. Did they see enough from the players they had in the fold to make a Super Bowl push? Or do they believe there is a missing piece or two that needs to be added to achieve this year’s gridiron goal?
The clock is ticking and I can’t wait to see what happens with that.