Very few pundits, analysts or fans felt that the Denver Broncos would be able to take care of business on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. Count me in as one of them. I had predicted the Broncos would fall short in a hard-fought battle in the City of Brotherly Love. Though I couldn’t be happier to be proven wrong with Denver’s monumental victory yesterday afternoon.
Every game on a team’s schedule is important. Yet some games mean a little bit more than others in the National Football League.
Rivalry and divisional games usually top that list, but primetime games or going up against top-tier competitors aren’t too far behind them in importance. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best—and that’s precisely what the Broncos did on Sunday, toppling the defending champions who were undefeated heading into the matchup.
Earlier in the week, I talked about how the Broncos were still trying to forge and find their identity. With their statement win over the Eagles, I think it’s pretty safe they made a big step in defining who they are. And what would that be? A hard-nosed team that’s got the toughness, grit, and perseverance to be extremely competitive throughout the rest of the regular season.
“You don’t get a chance to play these games that have a ton of upside. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s downside, but there’s a ton of upside relative to defining what you become. And this is one of them. I think they were confident coming in. I asked them afterwards, ‘Who are you afraid of?’ And this is a league that’s, man, this is a fine line between a groove and a rut, and it was a good win,” stated Head Coach Sean Payton in his post-game presser.
By defeating the Eagles, the Broncos have earned their third win of the season. They are right in the thick of it in the AFC West and one of seven teams in the conference to have at least three wins. Being 3-2 is a lot better than being 2-3 at this juncture.
While the offense struggled in the first half—they put together impressive effort in the second half—particularly in the fourth quarter. Second-year signal caller Bo Nix didn’t look great through two quarters. However, he rose to the occasion and showed his mental toughness and clutch ability when it mattered most. In the final fifteen minutes of play, the second-year signal caller was 9-of-10 passing for 126 yards, 1 touchdown, and led the offense to three consecutive scoring drives.
“It’s a great win. It proves that we can go on the road and beat these tough teams and we can be a tough team to play. So that’s good for our confidence. It’s good for going on this trip. A lot of teams struggle before they go to London, but we focused on this trip, we focused on this game, and we went out and got it done. It was good for us,” stated Nix who notched his fourth comeback victory of his young career with his performance on Sunday versus the Eagles.
The Broncos have endured a lot of success in the month of October under Payton. In ten October games under his leadership, Denver is now 7-3. While history isn’t an indicator of future success, I have no doubt that this year’s team has the ability to go on a big run over the next several weeks. If the offense is able to be more consistent and build upon their late-game heroics against the Eagles, that should really help them navigate the next big slate of games on the horizon.
All things considered, the Broncos appear to be hitting their stride and finding their groove at the right time. Next up for them? Going head-to-head against the New York Jets in London in pursuit of their fourth win of the season. Notching a victory across the pond would be another huge step toward the team’s goals and aspirations for their ‘25 campaign.
