The Denver Broncos defense saved the day on Thursday Night Football, surviving a late fourth-quarter rally from the Seattle Seahawks.
Denver Broncos survive Seahawks 4th-quarter rally, defense rises up for overtime win
Thursday’s game for the Denver Broncos was truly a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Broncos defense ramped up the pressure on Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks offense, while Bo Nix and the Broncos offense put up 14 points in the second quarter and had 130 yards of offense in the first half. But Denver’s offense only generated 29 yards at the end of regulation in the second half, which highlighted a legitimate concern with this unit.
It felt like Nix and the offense were generating rhythm, and then the second half occurred. The Broncos offense punted on eight of their 13 possessions on Thursday night outside of their two back-to-back touchdown drives, and they also had two pitiful end-of-half drives to close out the second half and the end of the game.
The Broncos’ defense carried the boats despite being on the field for a majority of the second half. Denver’s offense’s longest drive of the second half was a five-play, 23-yard drive that took 3:24 off the clock. Outside of those three minutes, the Broncos’ offense typically possessed the football for less than two minutes per drive the rest of the way.
“Coach had a really good game plan for us this week, and all we had to do was execute,” Nik Bonitto said. “We knew with this team we were going against, if we stop the run, we’re going to have a great opportunity to get after the pass. Obviously with our DBs covering the backend too, it just works hand-in-hand.”
Enter the Broncos’ defense. They were on the field for 82 plays on Thursday, and they came up big. After rattling Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers for five sacks last week, the Broncos got after Darnold five times on Thursday evening and registered 17 quarterback hits. They made every yard painful for Seattle, who almost rallied to win in the fourth quarter after Jaxon Smith-Njigba exploded in the clutch.
Without Talanoa Hufanga or Patrick Surtain II, and with a limited Riley Moss, the Broncos defense did their job, forcing three takeaways. Bonitto forced a fumble in the second quarter, Kris Abrams-Draine snagged an incredibly difficult interception in the fourth quarter that should have sealed the game, and Ja’Quan McMillian came up big in overtime with his interception of Darnold that ultimately set up Wil Lutz game-winning 53-yard field goal.
“It starts with the defensive line,” McMillian said. “They were getting after the quarterback all night, so he was feeling the pressure. Then ‘VJ’ (Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph) made a great call. We were in Cover-2, I was playing half and he kind of just threw the ball up in the hole shot. He thought he had the hole shot, and I just flashed across the receiver’s face and made a play on the ball.”
Denver’s defense forced Darnold to drop back 51 times, and they kept him from throwing a touchdown. What’s more impressive is that Denver, even though JSN went off in the fourth quarter, held him scoreless. Defensively, you’ll live with a wide receiver catching 12 passes for over 100 yards if you ultimately limit him from doing damage and scoring on deep explosives, and that was the Broncos ‘ game plan, maybe not the fourth-quarter scare, though.
Broncos news and notes and coffee talk
Broncos outside linebacker Jonah Elliss left the game in the fourth quarter with a lower leg injury and was carted back to the locker room. He was seen with a boot and a scooter after the game. We’ll likely find out sometime next week how long he may be projected to miss.
Something to keep an eye on: with outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper’s pending jury trial pushed to March 2027, there is a possibility the NFL could take him off the commissioner’s exempt list, which technically would allow him to play if removed. As with all legal developments, the league is aware and is monitoring the situation.
Rookie running back Jonah Coleman will be eligible to come off of injured reserve this week if he’s ready to return. Denver saw running back Tyler Badie leave with a thumb injury, and he did not return for the remainder of the game.
With the mini bye week approaching ahead of Week 7’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, it’s worth wondering whether or not Sean Payton could look at any potential personnel changes on offense, including QB, who has struggled drastically over the last three games.
If Nix’s struggles continue, as well as the offense as a whole, it could sink the team down the stretch. If any personnel changes do take place, the first place to potentially look may come on the offensive line.
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