They are now nothing but mementos, memories from Sean Payton’s Saturday meetings in a special season that came up three excruciating points short Sunday, buried somewhere under a whirlwind of snowflakes.
Five times this season, these Denver Broncos finished their Saturday walkthrough, strolled into a team meeting and were each handed wooden bats by equipment managers. Before the New York Giants, in Week 7. Before Green Bay, in Week 14. Before the Los Angeles Chargers, in Week 18. Before Buffalo last weekend, and now before New England on Saturday. Each bat was inscribed with the names of each team and the same message: “Knock Wood.”
The matchups, as inside linebacker Levelle Bailey said, were “bat games.” Every single member of Denver’s 53-man roster and 17-man practice squad knew what a bat game meant. Especially its defense. And Sunday’s AFC Championship, in a frigid 17-degree windchill against a Patriots juggernaut, was another bat game.
“It’s gonna be a gritty, long, hard-fought game,” cornerback Riley Moss said of Payton’s messaging. “Which, we’re built for.”
They have been, for six months and 22 football games. They have been, for 12 wins in one-score games and four fourth-quarter comebacks. They’ve been built by injured quarterback Bo Nix’s late-game heroics — but always by Vance Joseph’s defense, a unit that offensive players know has bailed them out time and time again.
Long after the snow fell Sunday night, though, Moss’s normally bulging pupils were dull.
“It sucks,” he muttered postgame, “losing it.”
Safety Talanoa Hufanga made clear, earlier this season, that this defense’s standard was to hold opposing offenses to zeroes. By that admission, sure, Vance Joseph’s unit did not do enough in a season-ending 10-7 loss to the Patriots Sunday. Moss said his unit knew coming in that it might have to beat New England on defense alone. But the competitor in Moss said they could’ve done more, as the Broncos didn’t generate a single takeaway against Drake Maye and the Patriots.
But did they live up, in effort and mentality, to a bat game?
“For sure,” defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike said . “Feel like everybody gave what they had. I can only speak for myself — but I feel like I gave everything I had.”
Uwazurike rolled his bottom lip between his teeth, a 320-pound man who could barely raise his voice above a whisper.
Eventually, the standard this Broncos defense had set for itself became impossible. They allowed a top-ranked Patriots offense to score a single field goal Sunday, after a 16-play drive that lasted 9:31 and ended in Jonathon Cooper sacking Maye. They held New England’s MVP-candidate quarterback to a 10-of-21 line for 86 passing yards — just 41 in the first half, before snow blanketed both passing offenses — and held starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson to 71 rushing yards on 25 carries.
And yet it wasn’t enough. Three points and a touchdown, two plays after Jarrett Stidham fumbled the ball backward, was all it took to beat these Broncos. The defense could no longer play hero, without Nix to shoot fourth-quarter lightning bolts from his fingertips.
“It sucks,” tight end Engram said, shaking his head. He waved his hand, gesturing across the locker room. “It sucks looking at them, right now.”
Pat Surtain II (2) of the Denver Broncos breaks up a pass intended for Kayshon Boutte (9) of the New England Patriots during the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)Related Articles
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“Because, they — I mean, they’ve been doing it all year. And they — ” Engram said, trailing off. There wasn’t much left to say.
The foundation of this Broncos season caved in on Sunday night. Midseason, defensive players stood fast after tightrope games about their ability to shut off the spigot on most any offense that came through Denver. Offensive players offered warning signs, though, with veterans acknowledging that they couldn’t continue winning games on the back of their defense.
“We’re not helping them,” running back J.K. Dobbins said after a 10-7 win over the Raiders in early November. “We’re not doing them any justice. Like, I feel bad the way we play on offense and the way they play on defense, because they’re doing so great, and we’re doing so bad. And they’re our brothers too. So, like, it just sucks.
“Because they’re out there, so many plays, playing their butts off — keep, like, we can’t keep doing it to them. We’ll figure it out.”
At times, they did. But the foundation collapsed on Sunday as the snow piled up. Backup quarterback Stidham, who ignited Empower Field with a first-quarter 52-yard bomb to Marvin Mims and a subsequent touchdown, couldn’t throw the ball downfield in the snow. Receivers couldn’t cut. Rookie running back RJ Harvey had a valiant 60 total yards, but couldn’t generate any traction on the grass.
“Defense played great today,” Harvey said postgame. “Just, offense, we needed to execute better up there. Shoutout to the defense. They played their butts off.”
Indeed, every season-long contributor in Joseph’s unit made his presence felt. Understated nose tackle D.J. Jones led Denver with 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss. Edge rushers Cooper and Bonitto completely collapsed New England’s offense in the first half by beating their tackles. Cornerback Pat Surtain warded off two deep balls, and safety Hufanga recorded seven tackles and two passes defensed. Even rookie outside linebacker Que Robinson got in on the party, with a tremendous first-quarter sack of Maye.
Drake Maye (10) of the New England Patriots reacts to being sacked by Malcolm Roach (97) and Eyioma Uwazurike (96) of the Denver Broncos during the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)“They wrote us off, and we continued to keep our head down and grind,” Moss said. “And they’re going to say what they want to say, because we lost this game. But I’m proud of every single guy in this locker room. And we fought our asses off. And it’s going to be great motivation for this offseason.”
A timeless defense, though — finishing 2025 with 76 total sacks in 19 combined regular-season and playoff games — will be lost to time. Joseph could well be tabbed for another job, as could secondary coach Jim Leonhard. Starting defensive end John Franklin-Myers is set to earn a big free-agent payday elsewhere. Linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad are on expiring contracts.
On Monday, they’ll all clear out their lockers and stash the bats somewhere, physical reminders of the wood they knocked until they couldn’t knock any longer.
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