Good teams in the National Football League find a way to win close and hard-fought battles. The Denver Broncos victory over the Houston Texans was the epitome of winning an ugly game. It’s also symbolic
of a trend that’s fared much for the Broncos in year three of the Sean Payton era compared to the first two seasons.
The Broncos have won five of the seven games this season that have been within one score. The losses? September matches to the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers on last second field goal attempts. Those didn’t go their way and sometimes that is just the way the cookie crumbles.
Even though Denver hasn’t played many “complete games” this season, they’ve gutted out a lot of wins. In fact, the Broncos have reeled off six straight victories since losing to the Chargers and sit atop of the AFC West with a 7-2 record—their best since 2015. They aren’t firing on all cylinders yet, but they have rose to the occasion and defied the odds with a series of comeback victories.
It’s a lot like how things were back in ‘15. You know, when the Broncos would eventually go on to win Super Bowl 50. This year’s team has a lot to prove. But we already know it has grit, guts, and a certain mental toughness about them. They don’t give up and are a tenacious bunch who come up clutch when the game is on the line. That resiliency and confidence is something Payton lauded after their 18-15 victory over the Texans on Sunday.
“Your team grows and evolves into something. I don’t think there was a person in that locker room that felt like we were losing this game. Now, we all felt like we needed to do certain things better. But I think there was a lot of confidence coming into the second half,” Payton said.
Through three quarters against the Texans, the Broncos’ offense was stagnant and inefficient. The Texans’ defense had their number and limited Bo Nix and Denver’s aerial attack tremendously. It was the polar opposite to what Broncos Country had enjoyed the past five quarters. To make matters worse, their special teams, outside of Jeremy Crawhaw’s booming punts, were a disaster.
Denver’s saving grace—like most of the season—was their defense that limited the Texans to just fifteen points and a 20-percent conversion rate on third down. Though once again in the fourth quarter, Nix and the offense were able to do enough and come up with a recipe to eventually get a few scores on the board to earn themselves their seventh win of the season. It wasn’t pretty, but Nix and his teammates will gladly celebrate the ugly win and take it as a learning experience moving forward.
“Obviously, we have to improve in many different areas, but the ugly wins are important. They’re important down the stretch and if you can find them and you can win these one-possession games, it helps you in the future. I feel like all playoff games and tough games in the post-season are one-score games. You’ve got to learn how to win those,” stated Nix who knows these tough wins will prepare them for the battles ahead in the second half of the season.
This week, the Broncos are looking to clean up their mistakes and get better. Unfortunately, they don’t have much time to prepare for their next opponent. The rival Las Vegas Raiders come to town for a primetime matchup Thursday Night Football. How Denver fares on a short week will certainly be something to watch. If we’ve learned anything about this Broncos’ team in ‘25—they perform well in high pressure moments.
And you know what? I’m confident they will continue their hot streak and get to 8-2 after defeating the Raiders on TNF.
