Tag: broncos 2024

The Denver Broncos enter their Week 12 bye with an elite defense and the No. 1 seed in the AFC in tow – but questions about their offense and keeping the momentum after knocking off the perennial division champion Chiefs.

Denver7 sports anchor Lionel Bienvenu joined the panel on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football to talk about it all Friday morning on The Spot Denver 3.

“Sean Payton says it just about every week when we talk to him: ‘Confidence is demonstrated ability,’ which means you can’t be confident about something if you haven’t done it – but the Broncos have done it every which way,” Bienvenu said. “They won games in blowouts over the Cowboys and the Bengals. They’ve squeaked by the Jets and the Raiders. They’ve had fourth quarter comebacks against the Giants and the Eagles. So they’ve done it.”

Lionel also talked about the unique timing of the Broncos’ Week 12 bye. While it could give key defensive players like Patrick Surtain and Alex Singleton time to get healthy and back on the field, it could slow the momentum for a team that’s won eight straight.

“The momentum is going to be funny, because you go into Washington against a Commanders team you’re supposed to beat, and if you lose that game, all of a sudden all the ‘Yeah, buts’ come into play,” he said. “So this is a very important game coming up out of the bye week here to keep that momentum going towards the end of the season.”

He dished on Super Bowl aspirations, Sean Payton’s impact in his third season and a great run for pro sports teams in Denver that makes the city coming in at No. 12 in a ranking of the top sports cities.

• Watch the full GMFB segment in the video player below:

DENVER — It’s a tough time to be an opposing sports team visiting the Mile High City.

The Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche are playing at an unbelievably high level at home right now, logging a combined 19-0-2 record when playing in Denver.

The Broncos are 6-0 at Empower Field. The Nuggets are 6-0 at Ball Arena. The Avs are 7-0-2 – the NHL puts overtime losses in a different column in the standings – at Ball, having lost to the Dallas Stars (Oct. 11) and Carolina Hurricanes (Oct. 23) in shootouts on their home ice.

That means since the Broncos’ season kicked off in September, the three major sports teams in-season right now have not lost in Denver in regulation.

Another fun one for Broncos fans: Those three teams combined have the same number in the loss column (5) as the Kansas City Chiefs, after the Broncos knocked off the Chiefs on Sunday to send them to 5-5.

Here’s where the records stand as of the publishing of this article:

• Broncos (9-2)
• Nuggets (10-2) 
• Avs (13-1-5)

DENVER — The Denver Broncos beat the rival Kansas City Chiefs 22-19 Sunday at Empower Field, securing their eighth straight win and keeping themselves in the driver’s seat in the AFC West.

Wil Lutz kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired to earn the win. The winning kick had been set up by a 32-yard pass from Bo Nix to Troy Franklin with less than a minute to play.

Five plays earlier, Nix found Sutton for 20 yards on a 3rd-and-15 in their own territory to keep the would-be game-winning drive alive.

SOUND OFF ON THE GAME: Call the Denver7 Broncos voicemail hotline

The Broncos defense sacked Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes three times and intercepted a pass to thwart a potential scoring drive in Denver territory on Kansas City’s opening drive of the second half.

A pick-six had been called back over an illegal contact penalty earlier in the drive.

Denver scored on its first drive of the game for the first time in nine weeks, settling for the first of Lutz’s five field goals on the day. The Broncos mustered just 88 yards and a pair of field goals in the first half.

Their lone touchdown of the day was a four-yard score by Jaleel McLaughlin, seeing an expanded role in the absence of J.K. Dobbins after he hit injured reserve earlier this week.

Rookie wideout Patrick Bryant had 5 catches for 82 yards in the contest, returning after being briefly sidelined by a hard tackle early in the fourth quarter.

For Kansas City, the only touchdown of the game came on a 21-yard strike from Mahomes to Travis Kelce – the 84th of his career, the most in Chiefs franchise history.

With the win, Denver sits two games up on the Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) and four games up on the Chiefs (5-5) in a division that Kansas City has won each of the last nine years.

The Broncos and Chiefs will rematch on Christmas Day in a game that airs on Denver7.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — So far this season, Broncos rookie running back RJ Harvey has pretty much been making more of an impact with his pass catching than his ball carrying.

That could change Sunday when Harvey figures to play an even bigger role against the Kansas City Chiefs after the Broncos ruled out tailback J.K. Dobbins with a left foot injury.

Also missing for Denver (8-2) will be AP defensive player of the year Pat Surtain II (strained pectoral) and leading tackler Alex Singleton, who is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous testicular tumor. Outside linebacker Jonah Elliss (hamstring) and tight end Nate Adkins (knee) will be sidelined as well.

Harvey’s ready for his number to be called early and often.

“The game, I feel like, it slowed down a lot for me,” said Harvey, a second-round pick out of Central Florida. “When I first got here, things were moving quick, moving fast. I definitely feel more comfortable.”

Harvey has 50 carries for 214 yards and two scores this season. He also has caught 25 passes for 175 yards and four TDs.

“Definitely excited to showcase my running ability,” Harvey said. “Whatever coach wants me to do, I’m willing to do on the field and help my team the best way possible.”

Harvey’s most productive game this season was against Dallas, when he had two rushing TDs and another on a reception. His high-carry contest was 14 (for 58 yards) in a win over Cincinnati. He plays around 30% of the offensive snaps, while Dobbins hovers just over 50%.

“He’s just a guy that’s growing right before our eyes,” Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said of Harvey. “If his workload increases, we’re going to see his production increase and be real excited about it.”

The Broncos enter the contest leading the AFC West as they try to dethrone the Chiefs (5-4), who’ve won nine straight division crowns. Broncos coach Sean Payton is hoping Empower Field at Mile High is extra loud for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense. Maybe even to the point where Mahomes needs to cover the ear holes of his helmet with his hands to hear better.

“It means things are going pretty good,” Payton said of that scenario. “The crowd noise is super-important with pass rush on third down. It doesn’t just have to be third down. When they’re in the huddle, it would surprise you how hard it is.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

DENVER (AP) — Look past the clunky offense and the persistent special teams gaffes and you’ll see the exact same thing that carried the Denver Broncos to a tickertape parade the last time they started a season 8-2.

A suffocating defense that erases just about all the warts.

It was Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and the “No Fly-Zone” secondary in 2015 that carried Peyton Manning and a doddering offense across the finish line in Super Bowl 50.

This time, it’s Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen, Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, Alex Singleton and, when healthy, Pat Surtain II, that’s leading the way through all those three-and-outs by scuffling second-year QB Bo Nix and the sputtering offense along with the weekly goof-ups in the kicking game.

The Broncos edged the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7 Thursday night for their seventh straight win thanks to another stellar performance by Vance Joseph’s defense. They sacked Geno Smith a half dozen times, pushing their total to 46, more than any team’s had in its first 10 games since at least 1990.

They’re on pace for an NFL-record 78 sacks.

They allowed just one score in 13 possessions by the Raiders (2-7), of which seven straight featured zero first downs. Eight ended in punts, one of which was blocked by J.L. Skinner, which led to Wil Lutz’s game-winning field goal. Dondrea Tillman had an interception and Hufanga sacked Smith on fourth-and-5 from the Denver 38 for a turnover on downs.

“Our defense was fantastic,” coach Sean Payton said.

And their offense was abysmal again.

“Yeah, cool we’re 8-2 … (but) the defense is winning us the games and we’re not helping them, we’re not doing them any justice,’’ running back J.K. Dobbins said. “ 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. They’re our brothers, too, and it just (stinks) because they’re just out there so many plays, playing their butts off. We can’t keep doing this to them.’’

The Broncos realize the way they’re playing now won’t cut it against the league’s elite, beginning next week with a showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs (5-4), who have won the AFC West nine years in a row.

“This is probably the best team I’ve been on and we owe it to the fan base, we owe it to ourselves to stop playing how we’re playing,’’ Dobbins said. “We got to do better, we just have to do better. Eventually it’s going to bite us in the butt.’’

Said Nix, “At some point we’ve got to start moving the ball and scoring some points. Between penalties and sluggish football we’re just not playing very good. It starts with me, I’ve got to be better … we’ve got to find some juice.’’

Right tackle Mike McGlinchey suggested the offense can’t keep relying on the defense to bail out the Broncos.

“We’ve got to do our part,’’ he said.

What’s working

Denver is on track to obliterate the franchise-record of 63 sacks they collected last season and eclipse the NFL record for most sacks in a season (72 by the Chicago Bears in 1984).

What needs help

Nix’s offense was stuck in neutral much of the night and was flagged eight times. Like the Raiders, the Broncos had more penalties (11) than first downs (10). The last time both the Broncos and their opponents had fewer first downs than flags was back in 1971.

Stock up

Bonitto had 1 1/2 sacks, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits to go with five tackles. According to NextGen Stats, Bonitto has generated 28 pressures in under 2.5 seconds this season, seven more than the next closest pass rusher entering the rest of the Week 10 slate.

Stock down

Rookie P Jeremy Crawshaw regressed from a solid start to the season with three shanked punts. The first one traveled 30 yards to the Denver 41, setting up the Raiders’ only touchdown. The second traveled 36 yards and bounced out of bounds at the Las Vegas 29. And the third one, which followed AJ Cole’s second coffin corner punt for the Raiders, went 38 yards to the Denver 48. Tack on a penalty and the Raiders started at Denver’s 43.

Injuries

The Broncos haven’t missed star cornerback Surtain (pectoral muscle) nearly as much as they’ve missed WR/KR Marvin Mims Jr. (concussion). They’ve muffed two punts in his two-game absence. RG Quinn Meinerz left Thursday night’s game after getting sick in the second half.

Key stat

The Broncos have outscored their opponents 96-36 in the fourth quarter so far, and over their seven-game winning streak, that differential is 86-20.

Next steps

The Broncos get a mini-bye week before they return to work Monday to begin preparing for a visit from Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who are on their bye week. It’ll take a much better all-round effort to beat KC and build a big lead over the team that’s owned the division since 2016.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Denver Broncos have a chance to win a seventh consecutive contest Thursday night in a division tilt against the rival Las Vegas Raiders, and you can watch the game on Denver7.

Denver left Week 9 atop the AFC West and tied for the NFL’s best record at 7-2 – the same 9-game start to a season it had in 2015, when it went on to win Super Bowl 50. Las Vegas failed to convert a game-winning two-point try in overtime Sunday, losing to Jacksonville and falling to 2-6 in the cellar of the AFC West.

Denver7 will air a special hour-long, pregame edition of Denver7 News at 5 p.m. with live coverage from Empower Field at Mile High. The station will air a 30-minute 4 p.m. newscast with ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir shifting up to 4:30 p.m.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Denver7 News will be back on the air right after the game with a postgame newscast featuring game highlights and more news stories that matter to our Colorado communities.

Thursday’s rivalry matchup will feature the league’s third-ranked yardage defense in the Broncos going up against its third-worst yardage offense in the Raiders. On the other side of the ball, Denver’s 13th-ranked offense – with a propensity to get hot when it counts – goes up against Las Vegas’s 19th ranked defense.

HOUSTON (AP) — Bo Nix threw two touchdown passes and Wil Lutz made a 34-yard field goal as time expired and the Denver Broncos rallied to beat the Houston Texans 18-15 Sunday to extend their winning streak to six games.

They improved to 4-0 this season in games where they trailed entering the fourth quarter.

The Broncos (7-2) had punted three times in a row before a 25-yard scramble by Nix got them to their 39 with less than a minute to go. J.K. Dobbins followed with a 9-yard scamper and a 9-yard run by Nix two plays after that set up the game-winning field goal.

Nix couldn’t do much in the first three quarters against Houston’s top-ranked defense, but RJ Harvey’s 27-yard TD reception and Troy Franklin’s 2-point conversion grab tied it at 15-all early in the fourth quarter.

C.J. Stroud sustained a concussion when he was hit at the end of a slide early in the first quarter. Ka’imi Fairbairn tied a career-high with five field goals, but the Texans struggled to move the ball with Davis Mills at quarterback after Stroud’s injury.

They punted six consecutive times after a field goal made it 15-7 on their first possession of the second half.

Mills was 17 of 30 for 137 yards as the Texans fell to 3-5.

Nix 18 of 37 for 173 yards with an interception.

The Broncos were down by six when Courtland Sutton’s 30-yard touchdown grab gave them a 7-6 lead about five minutes before halftime.

Houston regained the lead with a 38-yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the first half.

Michael Bandy fumbled a punt with about 40 seconds left in the second quarter and it was recovered by Jaylin Smith. Houston cashed in on the error with a 40-yard field goal to push the lead to 12-7 at halftime.

Harvey had five catches for 51 yards and his score made him the first rookie to have a touchdown catch in three straight games in franchise history.

Nico Collins had seven catches for 75 yards for Houston after sitting out last week recovering from a concussion

The Texans had a first down on the 1 on their second drive. But Nick Chubb was stopped on first down and British Brooks was stuffed on the next two plays before a false start penalty on fourth down forced Houston to settle for a field goal to make it 3-0.

Stroud was injured on the next possession. He scrambled for 6 yards and was hit on the shoulder near the end of his slide by Kris Abrams-Draine and the back of his head violently bounced off the turf.

Calen Bullock intercepted Nix on Denver’s ensuing possession to give the Texans the ball near midfield. Collins had a 26-yard reception to get that drive going and a 10-yard catch a few plays later gave them a first down at the 2.

But the Texans couldn’t do anything after that and a sack of Mills on third down left them to settle for another field goal to push the lead to 6-0.

Fairbairn missed from 51 on Houston’s first drive.

Injuries

Denver: Star cornerback Pat Surtain II missed the first of what is expected to be several games with a pectoral strain. … DB J.T. Gray left in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. … WR Trent Sherfield injured his knee in the third.

Texans: LB Christian Harris missed the second half with a shin injury. … OL Tytus Howard left in the first half to be evaluated for a concussion. … DE Darrell Taylor injured his ankle in the third quarter.

Making history

Marcedes Lewis made history Sunday, when at age 41 he became the oldest tight end to ever play in an NFL game. When he entered the game on the fourth snap of Denver’s first drive he also became the oldest player to appear in a game in franchise history. Lewis, who was signed Wednesday, is the second-oldest active player in the NFL behind Aaron Rodgers, who will turn 42 in December.

Blocked

Denico Autry blocked a 51-yard field-goal attempt by Lutz on Denver’s first drive. It’s the 13th blocked kick of his career, tying Julius Peppers for the second most in the NFL since 1991.

Up next

Broncos: Denver hosts Las Vegas on Thursday night.

Texans: Houston hosts Jacksonville next Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Pat Surtain II is out and Dre Greenlaw in back.

Denver’s defense saw some shuffling this week as the Broncos (6-2) prepared to put their five-game winning streak on the line Sunday at Houston, where the Texans (3-4) were installed as slight favorites.

Surtain, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is expected to miss multiple games with a strained left pectoral muscle he injured while making a tackle last week in Denver’s 44-24 rout of the Dallas Cowboys.

He’ll be replaced in the starting lineup by second-year pro Kris Abrams-Draine, whom coach Sean Payton said this week has the best hands on the team.

“Not having Pat’s going to be huge for us,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Thursday. “But I expect no drop-off. The standard doesn’t change.”

It sure helps they’ll be getting Greenlaw back from his one-game suspension for berating referee Brad Allen following Denver’s historic come-from-behind 33-32 win over the New York Giants two weeks ago.

“I just shouldn’t have put my teammates in that position,” Greenlaw said Thursday in his first public comments since his suspension. “That was just an emotional game, first game back.”

That game marked Greenlaw’s Denver debut after he missed the first seven weeks of the season with a quadriceps injury that lingered for six months.

Greenlaw, who missed most of last year after tearing an Achilles tendon in the 2024 Super Bowl between his former team, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Kansas City Chiefs, had six tackles in just 21 snaps against the Giants.

“I thought it went well. We won the game. It felt good for me to go out there after a year and a-half just to play football,” Greenlaw said. “I felt like the game went good, but that’s two weeks ago now so I don’t even know how that game went, man.”

After making a splash in his Denver debut, Greenlaw had to miss yet another game, something he called “very difficult.”

“Of course you want to be out there anytime you’ve got a game, but I mean just whoop the Texans, that’s all I can think of,” Greenlaw said.

Greenlaw said he’s confident he’ll slip right back into his role despite a dearth of practice reps since he got injured in the spring, not long after signing a three-year, $31.5 million free agent contract.

“We’ve got a great defense already. Guys are flying around making plays. And for me, I just want to be a part of that, just want to have fun out there with them and show them what I can do,” he said.

Although he was on a strict pitch count two weeks ago, Greenlaw is angling for much more playing time against the Texans.

The more the Broncos can get out of Greenlaw, the better, especially as they deal with the absence of Surtain, whom Joseph has called the fulcrum of the defense around which he builds his entire scheme.

“Obviously, you’re never as good as you could be without your best player,” Joseph said. “But I’m confident in our group. It’s a hand-picked roster and every year you talk about next man up. So, here’s a chance for a young player to come play and make a name for himself.”

Not that Abrams-Draine will have to bear the burden by himself.

That will fall on the rest of the secondary, including starting cornerback Riley Moss, rookie Jahdae Barron and the front-seven, including Greenlaw.

“We have a good plan to kind of pull Pat’s weight with multiple guys. It won’t just be one guy. It will be all of us, our D-line providing pass rush and our young DBs just playing it right and playing to the system,” Joseph said.

Joseph is thrilled to get Greenlaw back on the field to help share that load after such a tantalizing appetizer against the Giants.

“Mentally, he’s been awesome. He’s been locked in. He’s been studying. Even when he wasn’t practicing, he was taking every walk-through rep. So, mentally he’s fine,” Joseph said. “Physically, obviously, he needs more reps to kind of get his football air. He was a little tired in his first game. But it’s good having him back.”

And Greenlaw said he’s eager to add to an already elite defense that leads the league in sacks (36), third-down percentage (39.9) and red-zone percentage (40.0) and is top-5 in net yards and points allowed per game.

“For me it’s not about me coming in and trying to be more or do more,” Greenlaw said. “It’s just about me going out there, being myself, because that’s why they brought me here.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

DENVER (AP) — Bo Nix threw for four touchdowns, rookie R.J. Harvey scored three times and the Denver Broncos routed the Dallas Cowboys 44-24 on Sunday for their fifth consecutive victory.

J.K. Dobbins ran for 111 yards on 15 carries and the Broncos (6-2) also got big performances from rookies Pat Bryant and Jahdae Barron as they extended the NFL’s longest home winning streak to nine games.

Bryant scored his first touchdown and Barron picked off Dak Prescott for his first career interception.

Despite two TD runs from former Denver running back Javonte Williams, the Cowboys (3-4-1) lost for the eighth straight time to the Broncos, whom they haven’t beaten since the heyday of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin in 1995.

The Broncos, who lost star cornerback Pat Surtain II to a shoulder injury just before halftime, won the toss and chose to receive, a decision that backfired when Nix threw right at cornerback Trikweze Bridges, whose interception set up Brandon Aubrey’s short field goal.

Excluding a kneel-down at halftime, the Broncos scored on seven of their next eight possessions.

Nix led Denver on four TD drives for a 27-10 halftime lead, and his second TD toss to Troy Franklin made it 37-17. His 5-yarder to Harvey made it 44-17.

Harvey took a pitch from Nix and went 40 yards for Denver’s first touchdown. Then, Nix found Franklin for a 25-yard score that gave Denver a 14-3 lead.

After Williams knifed in from a yard out to pull Dallas to 14-10, Harvey took a direct snap and scored from a yard out. Nix followed that with a 24-yard, over-the-shoulder strike to Bryant for a 27-10 halftime advantage.

It looked as though Aubrey was going to get a shot at a long field goal, maybe even a record-breaker before Prescott was picked off by Barron with 12 seconds left in the first half.

Williams’ second 1-yard TD run pulled Dallas within 27-17 in the third quarter.

Nix was 19 of 29 for 247 yards with the four TDs and one interception. Prescott was 19 of 31 for 188 yards and was intercepted twice.

Including their 33-point fourth quarter last week to stun the Giants, the Broncos have outscored their opponents 77-37 over their last five quarters.

Injuries:

Cowboys: S Alijah Clark left with injured ribs in the second half.

Broncos: Surtain, the reigning defensive player of the year, suffered a lower right leg injury in the first quarter but returned. He injured his left shoulder on a tackle just before halftime and was ruled out in the third quarter. … TE Nate Adkins (knee) left in the fourth quarter.

Up next

Cowboys: Host Arizona on Monday, Nov. 3.

Broncos: At Houston next Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

DENVER — The Denver Broncos pulled off one of the most improbable comebacks in NFL history Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High.

Denver scored all 33 of its points in the fourth quarter to surmount what was a 13-0 deficit at halftime, 19-0 to start the fourth quarter and 26-8 with just over five minutes to play. Here are some of the wackiest stats from the unbelievable win:

Denver’s 0.2% chance to win

The Broncos had just a 0.7% chance to win the game down 18 with 6:38 left and facing a fourth-down plan, according to NextGen Stats. ESPN Analytics said their chances were even slimmer a play earlier, giving Denver 0.2% odds to win when facing a 3rd-and-12 with 7:12 left.

1,602-game streak snapped

Teams across the league had combined for 1,602 consecutive wins when leading by 18 or more points in the final six minutes of regulation, according to NFL analyst Ari Meirov. Denver snapped the streak Sunday.

Zero to hero

The Broncos’ 33 points were the most scored in the fourth quarter by any team that had been shutout for the first 45 minutes, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Homage to DT

The late Broncos great and Super Bowl champion Demaryius Thomas was inducted into the team’s Ring of Fame Sunday, and was honored with tributes before the game and at halftime.

Thomas was 33 years old when he died of medical complications in 2021.

The Broncos, of course, needed 33 points in the fourth quarter to overcome the Giants.

Bo-nafide superstar

According to ESPN and the Elias Sports Bureau, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix became the first player ever to log two or more passing touchdowns and two or more rushing scores in a single quarter.

Nix put the Broncos on the board with a 2-yard passing touchdown to Troy Franklin in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. He drew Denver to within 10 with a 7-yard rushing touchdown with 5:13 left, then found running back RJ Harvey for a 2-yard passing touchdown 82 game seconds later. Nix’s 18-yard touchdown run gave the Broncos the lead with 1:51 to play.

DENVER (AP) — Wil Lutz kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Denver Broncos to a thrilling 33-32 win Sunday over the stunned New York Giants, who took a shutout into the fourth quarter.

The Broncos’ improbable comeback snapped a streak in which NFL teams had won 1,602 consecutive games when leading by 18 points in the final 6 minutes of a game.

The Broncos (5-2) trailed 26-8 with just over 5 minutes remaining but scored on a 7-yard Bo Nix scamper, R.J. Harvey’s 2-yard catch, an 18-yard keeper by Nix and Lutz’s game-winner after Jaxson Dart seemingly broke the Broncos’ hearts with a 1-yard TD with 37 seconds left that gave New York a 32-30 lead.

Jude McAtamney missed his second extra point of the afternoon, however, and after Tyler Badie returned the kickoff 19 yards to the 23, Nix found Marvin Mims for 29 yards and Courtland Sutton for 22.

With no timeouts remaining, Nix and the offense raced to the line of scrimmage at the Giants 21 and spiked the ball with 2 seconds left.

The snap was high but Lutz nailed the field goal to secure Denver’s fourth consecutive win overall and NFL-best eighth straight at home.

The Giants (2-5) appeared to dodge the defeat when Dart threw incomplete to Beaux Collins near the goal line in the final minute and cornerback Riley Moss was whistled for pass interference. Broncos coach Sean Payton ran out onto the field to argue the call and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. That put the ball at the 1 and Dart took it from there.

The Broncos had taken a 30-26 lead on Nix’s 18-yard keeper with 1:51 remaining.

The Broncos were actually in danger of getting shut out at home for the first time in their 66-year history when they were blanked for three quarters.

The Giants, who grabbed a 26-8 lead on a deflected touchdown catch with 10:22 remaining, left several points on the field on two missed extra points and a failed 2-point conversion.

Dart threw a trio of touchdown passes, one of them to Cam Skattebo, as the Giants built their big lead.

Harvey’s 2-yard TD catch came on a deflected pass, and Nix’s 2-point pass to Sutton made it 19-8, but on the ensuing drive, on third-and-17 from the Denver 41, the Giants got their own ricocheted touchdown when tight end Theo Johnson hauled in Dart’s pass after it went off wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson’s hands and raced into the end zone.

Trailing 26-8, the Broncos scored twice sandwiched around Justin Strnad’s interception that set up his offense at the New York 19. First, Nix scored on a 7-yard keeper, then threw a 2-point pass to Franklin to make it 26-16 with 5:13 remaining. Then he hit Harvey from 2 yards out to make it 26-23.

The Broncos’ comeback came on a day the franchise honored the late Demaryius Thomas by inducting him into the team’s ring of fame.

By the halftime ceremony, the Giants had taken a 13-0 lead highlighted by Dart’s 44-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Benninger in the first quarter and his 13-yard strike to Scattebo in the second quarter for the rookie running back’s first career TD grab.

New York made it 19-0 on Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s 31-yard scamper late in the third quarter, but the 2-point conversion failed.

Dre Greenlaw made his debut for Denver after spending the first six weeks of the season sidelined by a quadriceps injury. He had six tackles.

Injuries

Giants: S Jevon Holland left with a knee injury in the first half and didn’t return. … CB Paulson Adebo went out with an unspecified injury in the third quarter.

Broncos: RT Mike McGlinchey got hurt with 4:42 remaining and walked off with an unspecified injury.

Up next

Giants: visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Broncos: host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver’s defense helped the Broncos deliver the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season and prevented them from handing the New York Jets their first win.

The jubilation that followed Denver’s comeback against the defending champions last week made for an enjoyable flight across the Atlantic to face the winless New York Jets in London, where they eked out a 13-11 win Sunday thanks to a defense that sacked mobile QB Justin Fields nine times.

Coming back to Colorado at 4-2 with a share of the AFC West lead made for an enjoyable return flight, too.

“It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing,” coach Sean Payton said.

One has to go back to Oct. 19, 1969, to find a time the Broncos had more sacks. They had 10 that day against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Broncos limited the Jets to 2 of 15 on third downs, their league-leading fourth game this season in which they allowed two or fewer third-down conversions.

And the Jets finished with minus-10 yards passing.

“That’s pretty funny,” said league sacks leader Nik Bonitto, who was in on two takedowns of Fields.

The Broncos needed that kind of performance from their best unit because the offense sputtered once again, with Bo Nix throwing for 174 yards and J.K. Dobbins leading a scuffling ground game with 40 yards on 14 carries.

Asked about a defense having his back — one that collected nine sacks and surrendered just nine completions — Nix said: “It’s almost, you know, impossible what they did. It was impressive. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things where I don’t get to watch a whole lot of it. I wish I could. They’d be a fun defense to watch, probably an awful defense to play against. I know that kind of from practice. But they turned it on.”

Payton called it “a gritty performance by our defense,” and he was quick to add, “We’ll look at the film and there will be a number of things in the kicking game and offensively we want to clean up.”

In their victories over Philadelphia and New York on their extended road trip, the Broncos punted a whopping 14 times in 23 drives excluding kneel-downs. They had a seven-series stretch Sunday that produced six punts and a safety.

Winning ugly is still winning, though.

What’s working

Denver’s defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in three of the Broncos’ six games. OLB Jonathon Cooper’s two sacks gave him 28 for his career. That’s the most by any seventh-round draft choice in their first 70 NFL games since the league switched to a seven-round draft format in 1994.

What needs help

The offense is stuck in neutral way too often and special teams keeps allowing big play after big play like the 72-yard kickoff return in the first half.

Stock up

TE Evan Engram. After a slow start, Engram is working his way into Nix’s comfort zone. He has been targeted 19 times over the last three games with 13 receptions. Of his team-best five receptions Sunday, four resulted in a first down.

Stock down

LG Matt Peart was whistled for three infractions in his first start in place of Ben Powers, who will miss a couple of months with a torn chest muscle. After a false start, Peart’s holding call negated a 13-yard catch by Courtland Sutton, and another flag wiped out a 24-yard catch-and-run by Troy Franklin to the New York 19 on third-and-5, resulting in a punt.

“We’ll go back and look at the tape, but it wasn’t — listen, it wasn’t just him,” Payton said. “We had a number of errors that there will be a lot of us that want to clean some stuff up.”

Injuries

LB Garret Wallow was ruled out early in the fourth quarter with an unspecified injury.

Key stats

Justin Fields completed 9 of 17 passes for 45 yards. He lost 55 yards on the nine sacks, for a minus-10 net passing yards. That’s the fewest yards the Broncos have allowed in their franchise history and second fewest in the NFL since 1990.

Wil Lutz’s 57-yard field goal in the first quarter was his longest since joining the Broncos in 2023. Lutz has the two longest field goals in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium history, also making a 60-yard field goal in 2022 with the Saints.

Next steps

The Broncos face the well-rested New York Giants (2-4), who defeated the Eagles on Thursday night before getting the weekend off while the Broncos were overseas.

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DENVER — The Broncos leaned heavily on their defense Sunday, pulling off a gritty win over the Jets to improve to 4-2 on the season, and it’s undoubtedly the Talk of the Town.

“All’s well that ends well,” said Lionel Bienvenu. “If defense wins championships, then this team will be in the mix at the end of the season.”

Denver’s defense dominated with nine sacks and 11 quarterback hits, while the offense sputtered through penalties and inconsistent play.

“The defense really couldn’t have done any more today; they were phenomenal,” said Bradey King. “The offense had flashes, but then disappeared for quarters at a time.”

Tight end Evan Ingram led all receivers with five catches for 42 yards and was a rare offensive bright spot.

Head coach Sean Payton acknowledged the win wasn’t pretty, saying, “It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing.”

Next up: the Broncos return home to face a red-hot Giants team led by rookies Ken Scadabo and Jaxson Dart. It’s a quick turnaround, with no bye after the London trip, but Denver has a chance to build serious momentum.

“The Giants have been fun, which you don’t usually say about them,” Bienvenu said. “It’s going to be a game to watch.”

Catch the full conversation every Sunday on Talk of the Town.

The Denver Broncos have left the thrill of a stunning victory far behind.

After all, their 21-17 win over the previously unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles was last week — and a continent away.

“Yes, we definitely have to get back honed in, get back focused and move on to the next game,” Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper said as the team prepared to face the New York Jets on Sunday in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“You can’t live on this game and be like, ‘Wow, we beat the Eagles,’ and then just carry that into the week,” Cooper added. “No, it’s time to flush that one. Process it, review it, learn from it and then on to the next one.”

That would be the struggling Jets (0-5), who are still looking for their first win under Aaron Glenn. He’s the first coach in franchise history to begin his tenure with five losses. A loss to the Broncos (3-2) on Sunday would give them their third 0-6 start and first since they opened 0-13 under Adam Gase in 2020.

“Listen, we say it’s a long season, but we know how these weeks continue to compile and we have to make sure we get out of this hole that we’re in,” Glenn said. “And we all understand that.”

• Denver7’s Micah Smith and Nick Rothschild are in London this week, and we’re chronicling their adventures in the story below. They’ll be meeting up with Broncos Country and exploring the city ahead of Sunday morning’s game.

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Broncos blog: Broncos host flag football camp for London-area school kids

The Jets are the only NFL team without a win. They were steamrolled by the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, falling 37-22 in a game that was never close. Glenn has preached patience, but frustrated fans are just about out of that — especially with the team appearing likely to extend the league’s longest active playoff drought to 15 seasons. No team has made the postseason after starting 0-5.

Still, Denver quarterback Bo Nix was miffed at the mere suggestion the Broncos could overlook the Jets.

“I think in the league, quite honestly, it’s a little disrespectful to consider anybody a trap team,” Nix said. “I think any game you can walk in and slip up and lose, that’s just the league. … They were a couple of walk-off plays away from having two or three wins. I definitely think that is something you’ve got to be careful with.

“This is not a team to just toss around like they’re winless, but I think we will be ready to go.”

Consecutive DPOYs?

Take it from the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year: Denver outside linebacker Nik Bonitto has what it takes to win the award this season.

“He’s my favorite, I’m not going to lie,” Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II said of his teammate, who leads the league with seven sacks. “Shoot, even last year he was up for it. I think this year he’s setting himself apart. I know we’ve got a lot more games down the road, but as long as he stays consistent, stays healthy, for sure … I think his game has leveled up.”

Familiar foes

Glenn spent the final season of his 15-year playing career in New Orleans, where Sean Payton was his head coach in 2008. He returned to the Saints eight years later, serving as Payton’s defensive backs coach for five seasons.

The two will square off Sunday for the first time as opposing head coaches.

“I owe a lot of my coaching development to Sean,” Glenn said. “I think he’s a hell of a coach. … He’s one of the guys that I love everything about who he is and what he’s about and I’m looking forward to competing against him.”

Payton recalled speaking to Glenn for about 20 minutes the night before the former cornerback took the job with Jets in January. The two haven’t chatted since, but might have a few moments to catch up before the game.

“He’s a tremendous coach,” Payton said. “He was a huge asset to us in New Orleans. I’ve said this before, as a head coach you love to see guys get these opportunities. … Aaron’s getting things built there.”

Roll or rut?

After starting last week with seven punts in eight possessions, the Broncos scored on all three of their fourth-quarter drives with the 18 unanswered points producing the win at Philadelphia.

So, is Denver’s offense on a roll or in a rut?

“Our defense just continued to make a stop,” Nix said. “We just kind of had some hope, had some life there at the end of the game, and we just kept chipping away, found things that worked, and eventually put some touchdown drives together.

“It’s tough to win games like that.”

Tough takeaways

The Jets’ defense is making dubious history this season.

They’re the first NFL team to have no takeaways through the first five games since 1933, when turnovers were first tracked, according to ESPN Research. The only team since 1960 to go six straight at any point without a takeaway was the 2018 San Francisco 49ers, according to Sportradar.

“It has to be a conscious thing,” linebacker Jamien Sherwood said. “It can’t just be going in there and making the tackle. You have to go in there with the mindset that I’m going to make the tackle and punch the ball out. When the ball goes up in the air, I’m going to go up and get it. I’m going to be the one to bring the ball down.”

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AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton contributed to this report.

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ENFIELD, England (AP) — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton asked the team bus driver in London how long it would take to get to Leicester.

Too long, it turns out, because Payton is too busy preparing his team to face the New York Jets on Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But the memories are close for Payton, who played quarterback for the Leicester Panthers in 1988. The Panthers had played in what amounted to a semi-pro league in the British American Football Association. The sport had begun to gain popularity after public broadcaster Channel 4 started airing NFL highlights in the early 1980s.

Payton reminisced Wednesday about his experience in the central English city. Teams could have four Americans, and the rest were locals.

“They had all sorts of jobs,” he said of his British teammates, “from bouncers to construction. Some were young, some were older. It was fun.”

• Denver7’s Micah Smith and Nick Rothschild are in London this week, and we’re chronicling their adventures in the story below. They’ll be meeting up with Broncos Country and exploring the city ahead of Sunday morning’s game.

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Broncos blog: Denver7 touches down in London Town for the Broncos-Jets game!

Payton had a sense that he was headed into coaching at the time.

“The four of us lived in a house, we’d go work out in the mornings, play some golf, put practice plans together,” he said. “We were pretty good.”

Payton previously coached New Orleans to victories in London — 37-32 over San Diego in 2008, and 20-0 over the Miami Dolphins in 2017, both at Wembley Stadium — and each time he said he’s been able to catch up with old friends from his Leicester days.

On Friday, the Broncos plan to host U17 players from the Leicester Panthers at practice.

“I was 23 years old,” he recalled, “right out of college and basically playing for pizza, because you enjoyed it. It was a good six months, it was nice.”

He’s previously described his Leicester experience as similar to the John Grisham novel “Playing for Pizza.”

His mother had asked: “All your friends are getting married and they have health insurance, what are you doing?”

After leaving England, Payton officially began his coaching career when he took a job as an assistant coach at San Diego State.

‘Hoping to get a London game’

The Broncos came to England after their big 21-17 victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia. After Sunday’s game, it’s back to Denver to host the New York Giants on Oct. 19. Their bye is in Week 12.

“We’ll be smart as to how we practice next week,” Payton said.

Getting away as a group can provide bonding experiences, he said.

“In New Orleans, we got displaced several times because of hurricanes, and I always felt it helped our team,” Payton said. “We were hoping to get a London game, because this type of experience with your team I think is really positive.”

The Broncos stayed on the East Coast last season for games at Tampa Bay and the Jets — both victories.

Trap game? Bo says no

The 0-5 Jets are the only winless team in the NFL, but don’t call it a trap game.

“Any game you can walk in and slip up and lose, that’s just the league,” second-year quarterback Bo Nix said. “They’ve been close on some games. There a couple of walk-off plays away from having two, three wins.”

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bo Nix threw an 11-yard touchdown pass and J.K. Dobbins rushed for a 2-yard score in the fourth quarter as the Denver Broncos wiped out a 14-point deficit to hand the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season, 21-17 on Sunday.

The Broncos batted down Jalen Hurts’ last-gasp pass on the final play of the game to send the Super Bowl champions to just their second loss in their last 22 games.

The Broncos (3-2) caught a huge break in their rally when the Eagles had a late fourth-down conversion called back on an illegal shift penalty whistled against running back Saquon Barkley. The Eagles (4-1) were forced to punt and Hurts could not lead one more comeback.

His final heave on second-and-10 from the 29 was knocked down as time expired to send the jubilant Broncos into the locker room with an improbable win. Nix waved his arms in celebration toward dozens of Broncos fans in orange that stood near the visitors tunnel.

Nix threw for 242 yards — a week after he threw for a career-high 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Bengals — and Denver’s formula of run-first offense and a dominant defense came to life in the fourth quarter.

The Broncos totaled just 199 yards and trailed 17-3 at the end of the third before Nix got the offense rolling. Dobbins, who followed his 101 yards rushing against Cincinnati with 79 yards on Sunday, punched in a 2-yard TD run in the fourth to make it 17-10.

The Broncos got the ball back and Nix hit Courtland Sutton for 34 yards on the decisive drive. Nix connected over the middle with Evan Engram for the 11-yard TD.

Broncos coach Sean Payton gambled for the 2-point conversion and they got it when Nix hit Tony Franklin for an 18-17 lead with 7:36 left in the game.

The play stunned and silenced the Philly crowd — a familiar gut punch to the fan base after the Phillies wasted a three-run lead a night earlier in a playoff loss to the Dodgers.

Yet, these are the Eagles and they weren’t going to just easily surrender their 10-game winning streak.

At fourth-and-4 from the Eagles 49, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith on a long reception for what should have been a first down, only for the flag on Barkley to wipe it off the board. Smith had eight catches and 114 yards receiving.

That was it for the Eagles. Will Lutz tacked on a 36-yard field goal with 1:11 left for a 21-17 lead.

Hurts threw for 280 yards. He had a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert and a 47-yard TD pass to Barkley in the third quarter for the 17-10 lead.

Injuries

Broncos: RB Tyler Badie left with a shoulder injury late in the fourth.

Eagles: G Landon Dickerson suffered an ankle injury and TE Grant Calcaterra suffered an oblique injury.

Up next

Broncos: Are on the road Sunday against the Jets.

Eagles: Have a short trip on a short week Thursday night at the Giants.

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DENVER (AP) — The medicine comes Monday night for the Cincinnati Bengals or the Denver Broncos.

The Bengals (2-1) are coming off the worst loss in franchise history, a 48-10 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings in their first game since franchise quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury that required surgery.

The Broncos (1-2) have lost on walk-off field goals in back-to-back games despite never trailing in the fourth quarter.

You can watch the Monday Night Football matchup on Denver7 at 6:15 p.m. September 29.

Denver failed to close out the Colts and the Chargers on the road. The Broncos’ five combined fourth-quarter drives in those games netted a missed 42-yard field goal indoors, two three-and-outs, a red-zone interception and a chip-shot field goal that followed first-and-goal from the 5.

Last week, Bo Nix overthrew a wide-open receiver three times on deep balls in Denver’s 23-20 loss, hallmarks of a sputtering start that’s raised questions about whether coach Sean Payton put too much on Nix’s plate or his shoulders by talking up his second-year quarterback and the Broncos’ Super Bowl chances.

“I don’t think so,” Nix said Thursday. “I think it’s better than him talking about how tough of a season it’s going to be. So, I’d rather have the confidence going in and have the whole season to play and just get to go out there and play it out (rather than) a coach that doesn’t really have the confidence in us.”

Addressing Nix’s overthrows — and his footwork on the heaves — was about 50th on Payton’s to-do list this week and Nix said he wasn’t overly concerned about them, either.

“I know I’m going to miss several throws in the future and I’m probably going to miss a few deep ones,” Nix said. “I’ve just got to keep throwing them.”

The Bengals won their first two games but lost Burrow in Week 2 and were awful last week at Minnesota, turning the ball over five times. They surrendered two defensive touchdowns and the other three gaffes resulted in 17 more Vikings points.

Jake Browning has already thrown five interceptions in the seven quarters he has played. Coach Zac Taylor said the game plan doesn’t change much with Browning in for Burrow, but Cincinnati will need to be more balanced on offense.

The Bengals are averaging only 2.4 yards per carry, and lead back Chase Brown is getting hit behind the line of scrimmage on nearly 80% of his carries. Brown is averaging only 2 yards per carry through three games.

“I think it’s unfair to put it on a player,” Taylor said. “It’s on all of us offensively, collectively, to find a better answer.”

Uncorking Higgins

Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins has just seven receptions for 104 yards so far and last week he caught just one of two passes thrown his way for 15 yards. But a trip to Denver might just be the antidote. Last December, he caught 11 passes for 131 yards and three TDs in the Bengals’ 30-24 overtime win over the Broncos.

He had a dozen targets in that game alone but has 14 combined targets in 2025.

“That’s the thing about our guys, there’s not an ego involved in any of this,” Taylor said. “There’s been games before where some of our main guys have caught a ball or have been targeted once. They know the next game might be 12 targets and 10 catches.”

Mile High magic

The Broncos have won six consecutive home games, prompting wide receiver Courtland Sutton to declare, “They don’t call it home-field advantage for nothing.”

Part of that advantage is the altitude.

“Our guys understand what it’s gonna feel like a little bit,” Taylor said. “You can get winded. Countless times I’ve been there. … So as the game goes, you just have to be mindful of which guys are getting a lot of reps and try to give them breaks when you can.”

Close-out conundrums

A play here, a play there, and the Broncos would be among the league’s 3-0 teams.

“I think that’s the crazy thing,” Nix said. “We’ve played really good opponents and we’ve led in the end of the game. We’re one play in the fourth quarter away from putting the game out of reach. It’s going to be soon that we make that play.

“But we definitely have to learn from these losses and learn why we’re not finishing the game, learn why we’re not putting the game out (reach). When you play a good team and you don’t do that and you keep letting them hang around, they’re going to find a play. So, we’ve got to be the team that finds that play.”

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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Justin Herbert found Keenan Allen for a tying touchdown with 2:44 remaining and then led Los Angeles into position for Cameron Dicker’s game-ending 43-yard field goal as the Chargers beat the Denver Broncos 23-20 on Sunday for their first 3-0 start since 2002.

After Herbert eluded the Broncos’ pass rush and connected with Allen — who fought off Riley Morris in the end zone for the 20-yard score — Bo Nix and the Broncos (1-2) went three-and-out. That set up Herbert and the Chargers on their 32, and he went 4 of 4 on the final drive.

Herbert was 28 of 47 for 300 yards with the TD and one interception. At 27 years, 195 days, he became the youngest NFL player to reach 2,000 career completions, surpassing Drew Bledsoe. Herbert did so in his 82nd career game, making him the second-fastest player to reach the mark.

Coach Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers beat their third straight division rival after opening with wins over AFC West opponents Kansas City and Las Vegas. Their stretch of not allowing a touchdown in the second half ended against Denver.

Trailing 10-3, the Broncos engineered three scoring plays in 3 minutes, 40 seconds over the end of the second quarter and start of the third to take a 17-10 lead.

Nix found a wide-open Courtland Sutton for a 52-yard TD that capped a seven-play, 72-yard drive and pulled the Broncos within 10-7 with 38 seconds left before halftime. It was the first time Denver had crossed midfield and it came on a busted coverage by Chargers safety Alohi Gilman and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste.

The Broncos struck quickly to open the third. J.K. Dobbins scored on a 19-yard run up the left sideline in which he avoided multiple tacklers, giving Denver its first lead at 14-10.

Wide receiver Derius Davis committed a costly fumble on the Chargers’ next possession. JL Skinner recovered at the Chargers 30 and four plays later, the Broncos got a 42-yard field goal by Wil Lutz for a 17-10 lead.

The Chargers got a 32-yard field goal by Dicker on their first drive of the game and a 3-yard TD run by rookie Omarion Hampton to lead 10-3 with 1:53 left in the second.

Nix finished 14 of 23 for 153 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Injuries

Chargers: RB Najee Harris did not return after being hurt on a non-contact play in the second quarter. The team said he had a left ankle injury. … G Mekhi Becton sustained a concussion in the second quarter and did not return.

Up next

Broncos: Host Cincinnati on Monday, Sept. 29.

Chargers: Visit the New York Giants next Sunday.

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