The Denver Broncos are the comeback kings of the National Football League. Yesterday, they once again embarked on fourth quarter heroics to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 28-2. At 6-2, the Broncos are now in first place of the AFC West.
It was another gutsy and gritty performance by Denver. Emblematic of the type of team they’ve forged into since Head Coach Sean Payton took over in 2023. It’s the fifteenth game in a row the Broncos have won in one-score affairs. It was the 200th victory of Payton’s
remarkable career.
Encapsulating how the team keeps finding a way to grind out big wins in key moments isn’t easy. However, Payton did his best to answer when he felt the Broncos had found their groove as a legitimate contender and went back to last October which was the beginning of a long winning streak for the franchise.
“I think honestly, to answer that, I think it has to come from, well, we did it before. I would go back to Philly [2025] at Philly after playing Cincinnati on a Monday. I think that’s the first—that would be where my brain would go where we grew a little bit,” stated Payton.
“Then there’s a belief that can get stronger and then there’s experience. Then you’re seasoned a little, but we still have a lot of things to fix. I honestly think that’s where I believe it comes from.”
The Broncos didn’t play their best game against the Chiefs in Week 8. Nevertheless, they came out as the victors. Tough teams find a way to win when the stakes are high. Reeling off fifteen fourth quarter points, Bo Nix and Denver’s offense found good footing in critical moments and came away with two big scoring drives.
A big part of their success was featuring rookie running back Jonah Coleman. He was missing in action for most of the first half, but Payton dedicated virtually all of the team’s backfield snaps to Coleman in the final two quarters of play. The fourth-round pick wound up with 104 all-purpose yards and 1 touchdown and flashed as a runner and receiver out of the backfield.
After the game, Coleman reflected on his performance humbly. He emphasized the importance of teamwork and also praised Broncos Country for showing up. Coleman, like many other players and coaches, all pointed to the noise from fans as being instrumental on the victory—especially at the end with the defense’s impeccable goal line stand.
“Like I said, glory be to God, he allowed me to do what I love. 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 entire 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,’ like coach said—just to remind them it’s not over. So, when the fourth quarter hit, that’s when the spark just lit up in the whole team.”
The Broncos have now won four games in a row. They are heating up as each week passes. 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 that would be quite remarkable.
The big question between now and then is whether or not yesterday’s huge win will cause Denver’s front office to be major buyers before the November 10th trade deadline. Had they lost and went to 5-3, I’m not certain that would have been the case.
But now? They have a really good shot at winning the division if they perform well down the stretch. Moreover, a chance at earning the number one seed again in a tough AFC playoff race. Have they seen enough from the players they have in the fold to make a Super Bowl push? Or do they believe there is a piece or two missing that need to be added to achieve this year’s gridiron goal?
The clock is ticking and I can’t wait to see what happens in that regard.
