From weep to wow. Gags to riches. Turned off to turnt.
It is difficult to describe something that could not happen, should not happen, not even in this town with this team.
The mouth-agape comebacks of John Elway define this franchise. Peyton Manning had a night in San Diego that remains hard to wrap one’s head around. And to this day, no one can properly articulate how Tim Tebow was able to suspend belief for two months in 2012.
What happened Sunday has entered the group chat. The 2025 Broncos have officially become easier to appreciate than explain. They crawled on their bellies out of a c19-point ditch in the fourth quarter to win one of the wildest games in franchise history. It might be fleeting, but it sure felt like the ghosts of the past.
Broncos score franchise-record 33 fourth-quarter points, storm to walk-off win vs. Giants
“This was a great win for this state, Broncos Country, this team,” bellowed left tackle Garett Bolles after the 33-32 victory over the New York Giants. “We are for real. This is who we are.”
As reporters waited for coach Sean Payton, the screams of joy from the locker room seeped through the walls. These Broncos were jubilant. They are 5-2, a contender, if by record only, in the AFC.
But for the longest time on a gorgeous fall afternoon, they were not. And it hurt. All teams have bad games. Given the time and the place, the first 50 minutes were embarrassing.
A record number of alumni returned to Empower Field for Demaryius Thomas’ induction into the Ring of Fame, to honor the Super Bowl 50 team.
Peyton Manning choked back tears prior to kickoff while describing his friendship with DT. “To have his name go up next to mine in the stadium … it means a lot. We were close.”
DeMarcus Ware, who often prayed with Thomas before games, explained he could “feel peace here.” But to a man, every one of the returning players wanted a win. That is who they are. They walk together forever as champions.
Was it too much to ask the current squad to beat the sorry Giants?
For three quarters, yes.
The Broncos seemed determined to splatter Ragu on Mona Lisa. They punted, stumbled, botched plays, blew assignments. They were booed as they entered the locker room at halftime. Appropriately so. They stunk, firmly in danger of getting blanked at home for the first time ever.
Then, in ways that conjured memories of a decade ago when the Broncos won a staggering 11 one-score games, they found themselves in the final breaths of the fight.
Inside linebacker Justin Strnad delivered the team’s first interception since Week 3. Aqib Talib had a similar pick at Kansas City and at home against the Ravens.
Marvin Mims Jr. caught a pass not intended for him. Man, that jolt like Emmanuel Sanders streaking down the sidelines at Cleveland. Courtland Sutton caught a pass when it mattered most because that is what DT always did, and Sutton, who wore a No. 88 jersey in his postgame presser, is DT in this offense.
The Broncos are clearly not as good as they should be or need to be. But watching them overcome a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit that 1,602 straight NFL teams could not, they might just be tougher than any of us could have ever imagined.
“Never seen anything like it,” ex-defensive end Derek Wolfe said, shaking his head. “Crazy.”
These Broncos have made history in two of their five wins with fourth-quarter magic. First when trailing by 14 in the final 15 minutes at Philadelphia. Then on Sunday.
BoBot Nix became UnBolieveable, the first player in NFL history to rush for two touchdowns and pass for two scores in any quarter.
“I don’t even know how we scored 33 points,” Nix said. “That’s kind of insane.”
Payton mercifully went uptempo, allowing an offense that had failed to score a touchdown on 16 straight possessions over six quarters to awake from hibernation.
“It’s like we had to clean up our own mess,” said Payton, whose offense was so bad for so long even former Broncos quarterback Ben DiNucci asked on Twitter if Davis Webb should be calling plays.
Hard to blame him when the Broncos were down 26-8 with 6:38 remaining. Cornerback Pat Surtain II admitted he “lost hope.”
Then Nix scooted in for a 7-yard score (why he doesn’t run more is one of the most frustrating things about this underwhelming attack). He found R.J. Harvey for a 2-yard touchdown. Then Nix showed why he ran the 400 meters in high school, racing in from 18 yards out.
“I was riding down the elevator and talking with (receiver) Bubba Caldwell about this. That ending reminded me of our Super Bowl team. Somehow finding a way to win,” former running back C.J. Anderson said. “You only win games like that in Denver. You get teams in this altitude, wild things happen.”
But on a footprint where Elway has taken souls, this defined imagination.
After taking a 30-26 lead with 1:51 remaining, the defense, so sturdy, finally broke. Well, that’s not totally true. The Broncos got screwed on an interference call that placed the ball on the 1-yard line. Cornerback Riley Moss turned, found the ball, and ran into Beaux Collins. The official across the field, not the one two feet away, threw the flag. Payton lost his mind, running onto the field, drawing a penalty.
“Straight (B.S.),” Talib said. Teammate T.J. Ward scowled, “(Bleep) no that wasn’t P.I. They were trying to give the game to them.” Or as Chris Harris Jr. put it, “Just terrible.”
The Broncos, however, caught a break with the ball at the 1-yard line. Dart scored on the first play, leaving 37 seconds on the clock, and then the Giants missed the PAT.
You knew what was going to happen next. Nix to Mims for 29 yards. “When I saw Courtland go past me, I was like (bleep) that ball wasn’t for me.” Nix to Sutton for 22 yards on a play the Broncos added on Saturday. Wil Lutz jogged onto the field and the Broncos walked off with the most improbable win.
It was 2015 again.
“That is what championship teams do. That is what they do,” Talib said as the Super Bowl 50 players exited the stadium. “We were always going to remember this weekend for D.T. and our team. But, it definitely makes it a (heck) of a lot more special to get the ‘Dub.'”
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