The Denver Broncos survived in overtime in Sunday’s primetime showdown with the Washington Commanders despite making Marcus Mariota look like the former Oregon Ducks star sensation he was. The offense put up 27 points, but lacked consistency in the run game, while the defense gave the Commanders every chance to win late, but Nik Bonitto answered the call.

Denver Broncos survive in overtime

Coming out of the bye week, the Broncos were inconsistent on offense and defense in Sunday’s game against the Commanders, winning 27-26 in overtime.

Now sitting at 10-2, the Broncos continue to move one step closer towards the AFC West and a potential home playoff game, but Sunday’s game revealed some concerns to start the second half of the season.

Broncos defense struggles in second half season debut

There is always a tale of two halves, and Sunday’s game against the Commanders revealed a Broncos defense that didn’t look anything like the unit we saw in the first 11 games of the season.

Entering Sunday’s game, the Broncos’ D was the NFL’s best red zone and third-down defense. They struggled in both of those areas on Sunday as they struggled to stop the run, giving up chunk plays in the passing game, and couldn’t get off the field consistently enough against a Marcus Mariota-led offense.

On third down, the Commanders converted 8-of-17 attempts and were a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone.

To negate the Broncos’ pressure and pass rush, Mariota and the Commanders went to the quick passing game early, then began to run the ball effectively, which opened things up for their offense, with receivers and tight ends constantly running free near the sideline and across the middle.

The defense couldn’t stop the run consistently enough either, with bad angles, arm tackles leading to them surrendering over 100 yards on the ground going into the third quarter of Sunday’s game.

Denver’s defense had a 5% pressure rate on Sunday Night Football, a season low compared to their 41% pressure rate coming into the game.

The Broncos D bent, giving up chunk plays on early downs, but didn’t break late in the fourth quarter as the Commanders sent the game into overtime.

After Bo Nix led a touchdown scoring drive in overtime, the defense needed to make a play, but surrendered a touchdown on their ensuing drive. It was Nik Bonitto’s deflection of a Mariota two-point conversion attempt that sealed the victory.

Denver’s defense allowed 419 yards to Mariota and the Commanders and will have to fix those blemishes before they face the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday.

Broncos lack of consistent run game is going to sink them if they don’t figure it out

It was clear as day that Sean Payton didn’t and doesn’t trust his run game, and that was on display on Sunday Night Football. Jaleel McLaughlin and RJ Harvey were the two primary ball carriers in Sunday’s game, but they didn’t see nearly as much volume, and the offense didn’t have enough success blocking for them for a portion of this game.

Harvey had two rushing touchdowns on the evening, including a six-yard score in overtime that gave the Broncos a 27-20 lead.

Bo Nix had 45 pass attempts on the evening, while Denver had only 19 rushing attempts amongst their two backs.

If they don’t figure out how to run the ball at a more consistent rate throughout the rest of the season, the Broncos won’t achieve their goal of winning the AFC West and could find themselves bounced early in the playoffs. As the season winds down, we’re seeing teams across the league lean heavily on their defenses and the run game, and the Broncos’ display on Sunday didn’t display much confidence in either unit.

Hopefully, this is a one-game display for the defense and not a trend that develops, but the run game, or lack thereof, has been the red-alert trend of the season so far, and it continued as Denver opened their second half of the season.

The Broncos move to 10-2 and are tied for the best record in the NFL after Week 13.