Mile High Report
Call it luck if you want, but 10 wins, nine of them in a row, is not the luck that just happens to you.
It’s the luck you make happen.
Bo Nix understands this acutely.
Last year the Broncos lost multiple close games. They didn’t call it unlucky. They knew they just didn’t make the last play.
So you move on and figure out how to make that last play.
It’s been happening all season and no game proved that more obviously than last night’s OT thriller over the Commanders.
“I understand what it’s like to be on the other side of things, but you just, kind of, keep moving on and you got to have a belief that you’re just going to find a way,” Nix said after the victory. “You know, it didn’t look great there for a minute, but we just found a way to make the next best play. At the end of the day, we scored one more point than they did and that’s the difference in a game in this league.”
In fact, it felt like the “last play” happened over and over.
After Nix led a touchdown drive that was so seamless you might have forgotten how inept the offense appeared much of the night – or at least in the fourth quarter. Thanks to solid run from RJ Harvey to start the drive, a huge gain from Evan Engram and a clutch catch from Courtland Sutton to set up Harvey’s easy TD from the five, the offense changed all the momentum and put the pressure on Marcus Mariota and the Commanders to respond.
Which they did.
It seemed like the defense was going to get a fourth-down stop until a pass interference call denied the Broncos an instant win and gave the Commanders new life.
A Mariota-to-McLaurin touchdown was called back for offensive holding, turning the tide once again in the Broncos favor, giving Denver a new chance for a stop.
But five plays later Mariota drilled McLaurin for an easy three-yard touchdown, and the Commanders were in the driver’s seat.
When the offense lined up for a two-point conversion, going for a win rather than settling for a tie, both teams knew one last play would decide their fates.
Thanks to a timeout, a perceptive play call change from Vance Joseph and an incredibly athletic gamble on staying on course for the sack or being prepared to bat down a pass to a wide open receiver were the confluence of factors that allowed the Broncos to create their own good luck.
“We got incredible belief no matter what. We just feel like we’re going to figure out a way to win the game, make the next play,” Nix said, adding his admiration for Mariota’s performance all night. “We’ve played some really good teams and we’re going to play more. We just got a good belief that we’re going to find ways to win.”
Nik Bonitto, the guy most responsible for that...
