The Denver Broncos, the comeback kings of the National Football League, pulled off another nailbiter on Sunday. Another impressive fourth quarter comeback was the big factor in their 26-21 win against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The Broncos have set a new NFL record with sixteen-straight wins in one-score games. On top of that, they have moved to 7-2 on the season and still hold the top spot in the AFC West.
Another game, another mark in the win column. This year’s Broncos haven’t been at their
best. Nevertheless, they’ve reeled off five victories in a row and enter the bye week with a lot of momentum in their favor. Now, Denver gets to enjoy their bye week and will have some much-needed time off to recuperate and recalibrate before their Week 11 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
After yesterday’s victory, Head Coach Sean Payton reflected on the team’s odds-defying streak of wins. The probability of the Broncos winning sixteen of those close affairs in a row? Presumably 150 million to one. While the wins are great, Payton isn’t content and knows the team still has a lot of work to do to get better in the second half of the season.
“Well, part of it pisses me off because there’s been a few of them that you would say shouldn’t have been one-score games and then obviously there’s some that are. Look, they’ve been great. We knew coming in Thursday, we just knew the type of team we were playing,” stated Paton.
“They’ve been doing some really explosive things on offense. They were banged up certainly on defense as we were. We’ll take this break, but we still have to be—and it’s not that you’re never satisfied—but we still have some work to do.”
The Broncos struggled to find an answer to the Panthers’ offensive prowess late in the first half and at the beginning of the second half. Fourth-year quarterback Bryce Young was able to carve up Denver’s depleted secondary and march down the field numerous times to keep them in the game.
At times, the Broncos were their own worst enemies. The penalties and miscues that happened late could have very well cost them the game. But when the stakes were at their highest, the defense was able to force several turnovers and the offense ignited in the fourth quarter to lead the team to their seventh win of the season.
One issue that has plagued Denver all season long was third down conversions. Entering the game, they were one of the league’s worst converting less than 30-percent of those opportunities. Against the Panthers, the team was 6-of-10 and had a hot streak late in the game that was a huge difference maker.
Quite impressive, considering they were down one of their top receiving targets for the entire second half. Quarterback Bo Nix took time after the game to highlight the other wide receivers who stepped up and were clutch when it mattered most.
“We got plays for Jaylen that somebody else has to step in and take. That’s what, in my opinion, was the fun part of today. That was really cool to see Troy, Pat, and Marvin step up and make plays when their numbers were called,” stated Nix.
“Even though they didn’t have reps at it all week, they studied and knew what they were supposed to do. To me, that’s fun football, when you’re in there and your back’s against the wall and you just have to figure out a way to go get a first down,” added Nix.
Over the first nine weeks of the season, the Broncos have shown a lot of grit and guts. Their resilience is certainly one of their best qualities. No matter how tough things get, they don’t seem to flinch in the face of adversity. In fact, it almost seems like they relish it.
Denver’s second half slate of opponents is much easier than the gauntlet they have faced to start the season. That may give them an inside track to have a shot at the AFC’s top playoff seed for a second consecutive season. However, they will need to play much better overall in order to make that happen.
One question that looms large is whether or not the Broncos’ brass feels confident that the current group of players are good enough to accomplish that. Coach Payton noted he likes this year’s squad, but will certainly be leaving no stone unturned when it comes to potentially making additions before tomorrow’s trade deadline.
“That’s impossible to predict. We’ll discuss what’s out there, and I think we’ll see what happens. But I like this team. There’s room for us to get better, but I like this team a lot. We just got to take advantage of the position we’re sitting in right now.”
At 7-2 and atop the AFC West, Denver is in a great spot. Will they make a big move that can help solidify their status as a true Super Bowl contender? We will know that answer to that in the next thirty hours.
