The Denver Broncos found a way to do it again, coming back from a 16-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football.
Denver Broncos ride strong second half wave to comeback vs. Rams
It’s never just easy for this Broncos football team, and they seemingly thrive in the most chaotic of environments. After trailing 16-0 at halftime to the Los Angeles Rams and struggling to find a rhythm on offense or defense, the Broncos kicked things up another gear in the second half. After only having 67 yards of offense in the first half, Bo Nix and the offense found a way to get rolling in the third quarter.
Nix connected with Pat Bryant for a touchdown to trim the deficit to 16-6, and an incredible dot on a 2-pt. conversion attempt to Jaylen Waddle made it 16-8. Denver’s defense came up big on the ensuing drive to force a punt, and Nix led another drive downfield, finding Nate Adkins for a score and Bryant on a successful 2-point attempt to tie it up at 16-16.
The Rams found ways to answer, but the Broncos kept fighting. Trailing 19-16 and the Rams driving past midfield, Talanoa Hufanga changed the course of the entire game with a 66-yard pick-six that gave the Broncos the lead once again.
Matthew Stafford and the Rams answered it immediately with a touchdown drive, catching Riley Moss on an out-and-up.
Then, Bo Nix took over. Facing a 2nd and 20, Nix fired a shot across the middle of the field to Bryant, who ran for 39 yards. Then Troy Franklin got involved on a 21-yard catch that ultimately led to Nix punching it in from one yard out to give Denver the 30-26 lead, and Hufanga called game with two seconds left, intercepting Stafford for the second time of the evening to complete the comeback.
Broncos slow starts still a problem
The win is incredible for Denver, but the slow starts are still a problem, and one that Broncos head coach Sean Payton says they have to figure out sooner rather than later.
“Yes, [we’re] more than just that though,” Payton said. “I don’t disagree, but there’s a lot that goes into that, and we’ve got to get that corrected.”
Part of that is helping Bo Nix and the offense get into better rhythm early. Denver utilized a committee approach at running back, but there was never a rhythm in terms of letting one guy stay warm and ride the hot hand. The Broncos rotated J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, and Tyler Badie on nearly every down throughout the evening.
Penalties and inconsistent protection on the offensive line have also been an issue, with Nix getting sacked once early in the game and throwing an interception late in the game due to having his hand hit as he threw. At times, when the Broncos offense struggles to generate anything, Nix presses, and sometimes a little too much, which leads to some of the good plays and the bad ones.
There’s no perfect utopia right now for this Broncos offense, but it’s clear as day they have the talent to figure it out. They put up 30 points in the second half (23 offensively), and they’ve scored 33 points in a quarter (last year vs. NYG).
For now, this is a team that thrives in uncomfortable, pressure-filled situations, and Nix continues to thrive in the ‘gotta have it’ moments.
“I think as a team, we keep ourselves in the game at the end,” Nix said. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just a belief at the end of the game that we’re going to go out there and do it. Usually we have good momentum and it’s carried us into the second half, or in that case the end of the game. For us, once you’ve done it once, you feel like you can do it again. It’s just kind of where we are. We have a great belief that fourth quarter, end of game we’re going to have the ball last and no matter what, we’re going to go down and hopefully do whatever it takes to win the game or if not, tie the game and let our defense go out there and keep the game going. I think it’s just an overall belief, a team belief. When we get in the huddle, you don’t see any flinching in anybody’s eyes.”
If this team can find a way to get hot early and sustain, they’ll be a legitimate contender this season.