In a game that looked like the Philadelphia Eagles would dominate throughout the first three quarters, the Denver Broncos came alive in the fourth. They would tear things up on offense and defense, out-gaining the Eagles 156-15 in yardage putting up 18 points in the quarter. The Eagles would get the ball back with a minute left to add to that 15 yards.
A signature win is never easy for a team on the rise and it would come down to the final play. Jalen Hurts tossed it up in a Hail Mary with nearly
the entire Broncos defense around AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith to secure the comeback win and a huge turnaround for their season.
Broncos vs. Eagles final score
First Quarter
Both teams started the game with a three-and-out, but then both teams put a scoring drive together. The Broncos was less impressive, however, with a 12-play, 32 yard drive that needed a 55-yard booming kick from Wil Lutz to get on the board. Meanwhile, the Eagles methodically dove the length of the field on their second possession.
The Eagles had scored a touchdown on every single red zone possession to start the season, but the Broncos handed them their first red zone stop to force a field goal instead.
Broncos 3, Eagles 3. Full first quarter recap.
Second Quarter
Momentum swung bigly towards the Eagles after they launched a 57-yard bomb to DeVonta Smith who beat Riley Moss on the play. They would add the game’s first touchdown a few plays later after drawing a defensive pass interference call on Pat Surtain II near the goal line.
The Broncos woes would continue with multiple opportunities shattered by poor play calls and decision-making. One was a 13-yard sack on Bo Nix that took Denver out of field goal range, another was a go ball deep on a third and five at midfield, and the last was a deep shot that drew a flag for pass interference. However, the officials picked up the flag despite it looking a lot more egregious than what they had called on Surtain earlier in the quarter.
Down by a touchdown, the Broncos defense would face the Eagles offense to start the second half with all momentum on the other side.
Eagles 10, Broncos 3. Full second quarter recap.
Third Quarter
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles came out in the second half and immediately put the Broncos on the ropes with this wheel route to Saquon Barkley who smoked Alex Singleton in coverage for a 47-yard touchdown pass.
However, the Broncos defense clamped down after that to force multiple punts. Unfortunately, the Broncos offense did next to nothing with their possessions either until late in the third quarter. Nix and Sutton made a couple of key connections as they finished the quarter flirting with field goal range.
Eagles 17, Broncos 3. Full third quarter recap.
Fourth Quarter
Field goal range was secured on the first play in the fourth quarter with a JK Dobbins run up the middle for 13 yards for Denver’s first trip into the red zone all day. Nix would hit Troy Franklin on a quick out for 10 yards on the next play to setup a first and goal from the 10.
Dobbins would take it down the four on first down, then after a defensive holding call he would run it in from two yards out for the Broncos first touchdown of the game capping a 10-play, 64 yard drive.
Eagles 17, Broncos 10.
Needing a quick three and out was vital for Denver and it started off well with a holding call pushing the Eagles into a 1st and 20. Jalen Hurts would complete a quick seven yard pass, but then missed deep on second down. On third and 13, he would be chased down by Ja’Quan McMillian for the sack and three-and-out.
Starting from their own 28-yard line, the Broncos offense needed to back up their last drive with another scoring drive to keep their hopes of a comeback alive and well in the fourth quarter. Nix went over the top to Evan Engram on first down for an 18-yard gain, then found Courtland Sutton on a back shoulder for 14-yards to get right to the Eagles 40 yard line.
An outside toss to RJ Harvey gained another five yards on first down, then Dobbins found zero room to run inside for no gain. On third and five, Pat Bryant and a defender collide in incidental contact, but an offensive pass interference call is named on him. On third and 15 — and out of field goal range — Nix found Courtland Sutton open at the sticks and he broke a tackle to gain 34 yards to set Denver up in the red zone.
On the very next play, Nix hit Evan Engram open inside who turned it up field for what could have been a game-tying touchdown.
Sean Payton decided to go for the lead and Nix would find Troy Franklin open for the two-point conversion.
Broncos 18, Eagles 17.
With a renewed sense of urgency, the Eagles went into hurry up mode after a good kickoff return. In two plays they were already nearing field goal range, but an illegal man downfield negated that second play. That penalty moved them back into their side of the field.
On second and six, D.J. Jones blew up the middle of the line and tackled Saquon Barkley for no gain. Then on third down, Jalen Hurts found DeVonta Smith for a short gain and they would go for it on fourth and four. Hurts found Smith again deep beating Riley Moss. A massive illegal shift penalty negated the big play and they punted it away.
A woeful 24-yard punt gave the Broncos the ball in good field position. Nix’s first pass went to Adam Trautman for 11 yards and a first down. Dobbins squeezed through a hole for six yards on the next play Nix nearly took a disastrous sack but barely got the ball off. The fans were mad, so of course the officials threw a late flag for intentional grounding.
Replay assist overruled the call and on third and six, Nix threw it up to Sutton who brought it down for a 16-yard gain and yet another first down. The clock began to become a factor at that point with just over two and a half minutes to go with the Broncos on the cusp of field goal range. After a delay of game penalty and a short run by Dobbins, Nix found Sutton again over the middle for a 12 yard gain to bring up the biggest third down of the game up until that point.
On that third and two, RJ Harvey got stuffed on the throw outside, but a late hit on that tackle gave them an automatic first down. The Eagles used their last timeout and Denver faced a third and 8 at the two minute warning. Bo Nix would play it safe and scramble around for no gain to bring out Wil Lutz and the field goal unit for a 36-yard attempt.
Broncos 21, Eagles 17.
The Broncos defense showed up on the first play with a Nik Bonitto sack on Jalen Hurts. A short pass to Barkley ate up more clock. Then on third and seven the pass was broken up by the rookie Jahdae Barron to bring up fourth down. Unfortunately, JL Skinner made a dumb defensive pass interference penalty to give the Eagles some chances.
With 15 second left, Hurts went deep over the middle to the 30 yard line for a chance to score with nine seconds left. Hurts went deep and almost had it intercepted with three seconds left. The Hail Mary attempt was knocked away for the Broncos win.
A signature win. 3-2.
