Good morning, Broncos Country!
It’s been more than 24 hours since the Broncos’ five-play goal-line stand against the Chiefs and I still can’t get enough of it. As I said on the post-game pod, this Bo Nix era is bringing back John Elway vibes — when you knew you always had a chance to win no matter the odds.
With less than two minutes remaining and followed by a 44-yard kickoff return from Emmett Johnson, Patrick Mahomes marched the Chiefs to the Broncos’ 4 in just four plays.
But Denver’s defense refused to give up the end zone.
For 5 plays. FIVE!
Kenneth Walker III picked up three yards on first-and-goal before the Broncos slammed the door.
Under pressure from Que Robinson, Mahomes threw incomplete on second-and-1, and JL Skinner stuffed Walker for no gain on third-and-1.
Then the magic happened. Mahomes threw a touchdown on fourth-and-1, but a Kansas City false start negated the win and instead pushed the Chiefs back to the 6-yard line, setting up one final chance with four seconds remaining.
This time Malcolm Roach delivered the knockout blow, sacking Mahomes for a 6-yard loss to cement what I would consider an historic goal-line stand in Denver.
And it all started with the Mile High crowd.
Even Sean Payton knows that.
“They won us the game tonight,” he said.
The third quarter was ugly – three possessions, three punts, zero first downs and the Chiefs holding the ball for 9:26 of the 15 minutes — and the Mile High crowd let the team know it.
“I just know there are other cities where that adversity would be greater and longer,” Payton said of the boos. “This is anything but that. You feel their disappointment with that reaction as much as anything else. It’s pro sports, but man, it’s a special place. It’s something else.”
And maybe it made a difference because the fourth quarter belonged to Denver.
Bo Nix led an 80-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to Nate Adkins on fourth down and a two-point conversion to Jaylen Waddle.
Alex Singleton sacked Mahomes on third down forcing Chiefs to settle for a field goal attempt, and Harrison Butker crumbled under the pressure.
Then rookie Jonah Coleman broke the game wide open with a break-away 51-yard catch-and-run before punching in a 5-yard touchdown.
That’s 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and a 28-24 lead with 1:56 on the clock.
Then it was nothing but defensive grit and Mile High Magic.
“Obviously our fans are incredible,” said Singleton, who finished with 14 tackles and a huge third-down sack to force Butker’s missed field goal.
Singleton said that confidence has been building with the defense — especially inside the red zone.
“I think from last week, Houston last year, now this week, and then just short-yardage in general, we’ve played really good football,” he said. “There’s a lot of confidence in our defense in those situations. I think we’re almost more comfortable there than we are in the open field sometimes.”
A week earlier in Arizona, the Broncos allowed the Cardinals just one score on five trips inside the 20.
Nix, whose fourth-quarter heroics put the Broncos in a position to win, had to wait and watch from the sidelines to see if the defense could hold onto it.
“The fourth down was another crazy play by our defense,” Nix said, admitting he was exhausted after that game. “It was just an incredible stand by them. They just battled and battled on that drive and came out on top.”
Mike McGlinchey was saying his prayers from the sideline.
“I was saying a few Hail Mary’s on the sidelines, I was praying to some guardian angels, and they came through and our defense did, too,” he said.
Wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. admitted his nerves were shot.
“My heart was racing,” he said. “Out of all the games we’ve had, that’s probably the toughest one to actually like to sit there and watch because my heart was just pumping the whole time.”
But the defenders on the field knew they had to stay level.
Cornerback Riley Moss said the message was to not be too hot or too cold.
“So finding that go-zone,” he said. “We were all in that zone, even if they’re driving down, even if they’re in the one yard line—finish, finish, finish.”
For edge rusher Nik Bonitto, it came down to preparation and grit.
“It’s just the grit of the team, man. We wanted to win this game bad and, you know how much it meant for us,” Bonitto said. “VJ’ talked about toughness and mentality all week, and that showed itself right there.”
Que Robinson noted that it really just came down to “ball out or go home.”
“And I don’t want to go home without the dub.”
Neither did that Mile High crowd.
