Yes, the Denver Broncos only won by seven points, but this game against the Las Vegas Raiders not never really close after the Mims punt return TD. The Broncos had the ball for over 39 minutes. This was the 23rd most ToP that Broncos have ever had in a game, but it is significantly higher if you remove the OT games. The Broncos are now 8-1 in one score games, which is amazing, although I struggle to count that last one since that was a blowout until garbage time (and a garbage call).
This was also
one of the shorter Bronco games ever clocking in at 2 hours and 50 minutes (tied for 17th shortest).
The shortest Bronco game ever was the 2021 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that only lasted 2 hours and 32 painful minutes.
The Bronco offense only had six drives in this game and scored on three of them (could have been five if we opted to try a 62 yard field goal early and a 45 yd FG with 1:04 left in the game. The bogus delay of game call on Brandon Jones with 4 seconds left in the game, stinks to high heaven. The Vegas line was Denver by 8. That meaningless FG at the end meant that the Faiders covered. Someone might wonder if Pete Carroll or the ref who called that (Boris Cheek or Dyrol Prioleau), had the points. Of course a Faider fan could also point out that Denver could have kicked a FG to make the margin 13 points and that would have meant that the FG as time expired did allow the Faiders to cover. So maybe the whole NFL is run by the gambling interests. The league really needs to do something to dispel this notion before it gets worse.
The offensive efficiency by the Broncos was amazing. Converting on 7 of 12 3rd downs was one the best games they have had all year. The team was 8/13 against Cincinnati and 5/8 vs Dallas. Remember this is the same offense that went 2/13 on 3rd down vs the Chargers earlier in the season.
The Broncos have now won 11 straight which ties the franchise best. This last happened in 2012, which was Peyton Manning’s first year with the Broncos. That team started 2-3 and was down 24-0 at the half against the Chargers. The Broncos would go on to score 35 unanswered in one of the biggest comebacks in Bronco history. That would be the first of 11 straight wins before the league decided that Ray Lewis needed another Lombardi trophy (so it gifted the Raisins a win the divisional round in Denver – can you tell I’m still bitter about the lack of DPI on the Raven defenders in OT).
The 2025 Broncos have a much tougher final four regular season games relative to the 2012 team which got to face three teams that had mailed it in by that point – the Faiders who finished 4-12, The Browns who finished 5-11, and the KC Thiefs who finished 2-14. The only playoff bound team the 2012 Broncos faced in the final four games was the Raisins. The 2025 team has to face three teams who will most likely make the playoffs, the 9-3-1 Packers, the 9-4 Jaguars, and the (as of typing this) 8-4 Chargers. That’s a tough road with the only loser on the schedule being the Thiefs on Christmas at Narrowhead Stadium. The Broncos are 3-22 in December on the road vs KC. The wins came in 1994, 2009 and 2013. So the Broncos are due for a win there since we haven’t had our won win there this decade, yet. The 6-7 Chiefs could be out of playoff contention at that point.
The Patriots final four regular season opponents are much easier. They get the Bills at home, on the road vs Baltimore and the hapless Jets, then they finish with the Dolphins in the cold in Poxboro, where the Dolphins are almost as bad as the Broncos have been in Narrowhead.
With four sacks against the now 2-11 Faiders (who now have the inside track for the #1 pick with wins by the Titans and Saints on Sunday) the Broncos are up to 55 with four games left. The 4.2 sacks per game means that they are on track to tie to the 84 Bears. This means that they are in 3rd all-time for a Bronco team, even if they fail to get a sack in any of the final four games. That won’t happen, because the Chargers and the Chiefs have injury riddled offensive lines. It would not surprise me if the Chiefs are out of it on Christmas at 7-8 (unless they somehow manage to lose on the road to the Titans, which would be one of the bigger upsets of the season), they could sit Mahomes to keep him healthy for 2026. I don’t know how motivated Kermit the QB will be to play if the his team is playing for nothing but pride at that point. Besides 7-10 gets you a much better draft pick than 9-8. Of course they have their final game against the Faiders in the giant Roomba that they call a stadium. Both teams could be trying to lose that game and fans might be treated to Kenny Pickens starting against Gardner Minshew – Yippee!
The Bronco run game was exceptional in the win gaining 152 yards on the ground. That was the 3rd best rushing total for the team on the season. In the other two games with more rushing yards, the Broncos blew out the Bengals and the Cowboys. The Faiders are currently ranked 5th in run defense, even after getting gashed for 152 by the Broncos. The Packers (8th), Jags (9th) and Chiefs (13th) are all good against the run. The only poor run D that the Broncos have yet to face is the Chargers who are currently 25th.
