The Denver Broncos needed a complete team effort to outlast the Los Angeles Rams, 30-26, on Sunday night and improve their record to 2-1 on the season. But the effort they received from safety Talanoa Hufanga was what put them over the top.
Hufanga, signed as an unrestricted free agent last spring, was a huge get for the Broncos. He had the best game of his career against the Rams.
Trailing 16-0 at halftime and lacking any energy, the Broncos clawed their way back into the game and managed to tie it at 16 apiece. The Rams went ahead 19-16 before forcing a three-and-out on the Broncos' ensuing drive. With a chance to put the Broncos away, the Rams took the ball, looking to seal the win. That's when Hufanga came up with the biggest play of the game.
Facing a key 3rd-and-6 from the Denver 38-yard line, Matthew Stafford got pressure in his face from Que Robinson and tried to throw a quick out to running back Kyren Williams. Instead, Hufanga stepped in front, picked it off, and raced 66 yards the other way for the go-ahead score.
TALANOA HUFANGA LOCKS IN A 67-YARD PICK-SIX FOR THE BRONCOS!
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 28, 2026
📺 Sunday Night Football: Rams at Broncos on NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/NwLqobCOOJ
The Rams showed their toughness, however, and bounced right back with a 48-yard touchdown from Stafford to Konata Mumpfield to take a 26-23 lead with under four minutes to play. But the Broncos came back and put a big drive together, aided by a 39-yard pass to pay Bryant on 2nd-and-20 following a holding call. Denver capped the drive off with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown by Bo Nix.
Clinging to a 30-26 lead, the Broncos watched as Stafford set his team up for one chance on the game's final play. From the Broncos' 19-yard line, Stafford desperately flung a pass towards Davante Adams for a would-be game-winning touchdown, but Hufanga came up big again.
TALANOA HUFANGA CALLS GAME WITH AN END ZONE PICK. BRONCOS WIN!
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 28, 2026
📺 Sunday Night Football: Rams at Broncos on NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/JI7dlM7e63
What a win. In a game many felt could have been the Super Bowl matchup last year (and could again this year), the Broncos prevailed. Hufanga was the game's most valuable player and deserves a ton of credit.
“It’s the National Football League,” Hufanga said after the game. “It’s the highest level that you can play at. I kept talking to one of my teammates, Brandon Jones, and we’re on the sideline. I kept looking up at the lights, man, it was dark. It was dark outside, lights were on. I just kept telling him, ‘It feels like high school.’ It feels like this game that has just slowed down. Sometimes you make it too much. You put the pressure on yourself to play more than what you're capable of, but I really just came out there and felt like it was just a kids' game today in a high school game, and it felt like a super real feeling. Super thankful for those moments. Glad that I could be patient enough just to embrace it and be able to share those experiences. Definitely blessed to be out there.”
Sean Payton on Talanoa Hufanga: “I love him. I love coaching him.”
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) September 28, 2026
Most obvious game ball recipient of the night, though Payton quipped that Hufanga already had two after his pair of picks. pic.twitter.com/1N3aTprXxP
“[H]e obviously gets a game ball,” coach Sean Payton said after the comeback victory. “The interception for the touchdown was the play, just what that does for you and the play at the very end, he’s been such a consistent performer for us and leader. I love him, I love coaching him … I was happy.”
Not only was it a great night for Hufanga on the field, but it was also an historic night. Hufanga became the first player in franchise history to grab multiple interceptions, a pick-six and a sack in a single quarter since 1982, according to OptaSTATS.
Talanoa Hufanga of the @Broncos is the only NFL player to have:
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 28, 2026
multiple picks
a 50+ yard pick-6
a sack
...in any single quarter of any single game (since sacks were first officially tracked for defenders in 1982). pic.twitter.com/gPiD9qm4Fi
Hufanga's pick-six swung Denver's win probability from 16.3% to 71.7%, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Talanoa Hufanga's 66-yard pick six swung the @Broncos' win probability by 55.4 percentage points.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 28, 2026
🔸 Before INT: 16.3%
🔸 After INT: 71.7%
🔸 WP Swing: +55.4%#LARvsDEN | #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/mLmDq82zBe
Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto summed it up best after the game: “He did everything,” Bonitto said. “He got a sack, two picks, a touchdown; everything we could have asked for him to help our team win, he did it. So that's why he's one of the best safeties in the league.”
Hufanga was targeted four times in coverage and did not allow a single reception, ending the game with three pass breakups, two interceptions and one sack. His two takeaways added a +60.8% to Denver's net win probability, according to NFLNGS.
Talanoa Hufanga did not allow a reception on four targets in coverage against the Rams, recording three passes defensed including two interceptions.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 28, 2026
Hufanga’s interceptions added +60.8% in net win probability, including +55.4% on his pick six.#LARvsDEN | #BroncosCountry
“He’s the biggest steal in free agency in recent memory,” defensive end Zach Allen said of Hufanga after the win. “I think the fact that we got him; he’s incredible, heartbeat of the defense. What he did tonight was awesome, and so happy for him. He’s been doing it for so long, so we’re just really fortunate to have him.”
After making franchise history, Hufanga now turns his attention, along with his team, to facing his former team, the San Francisco 49ers, and going to the stadium he called home for four seasons, next Sunday.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Talanoa Hufanga won the game and made Broncos history on ‘SNF’
