ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — What in the name of Sean Payton is going on with the Denver Broncos?
The same Broncos team that gave up 70 points and lost by 50 at Miami, the same Broncos team that got trampled by the mediocre New York Jets at home, just beat the Buffalo Bills, 24-22 in and exhilarating down-to-the-last-second game Monday night at Highmark Stadium.
The Broncos, once 1-5 and a contender for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, are now 4-5 with a three-game winning streak and another win or so away from legitimate contention for an AFC playoff spot.
"It's pretty unbelievable,'' said right guard Ben Powers. "Had you told me after the Miami game that we were going to get on this three-game roll I would have told you you're crazy. But we've got a locker room that believes in the guys next to him and we've got a locker room that believes in getting better by week and we're going to continue to grow and see where this thing takes us."
There was absolute bedlam in the Broncos' locker room following the game. The joy was unbridled, And by the way, how did Russell Wilson throw such a perfect pass while in retreat on that fourth down play in the first half and how in criminy did Courtland Sutton get two feet down on pass that was about 2 yards out of bounds when he leaned out to catch it?
"Coming into Buffalo and getting a win on Monday night is special,'' Powers said. " I think it's nothing but a confidence booster for our team.''
The celebration figures to go on long into the night at a Buffalo hotel as Payton decided win or lose his players would spend one more time here before flying home Tuesday afternoon.
"That'll be different but that's what we do,'' said Payton, the Broncos' first-year head coach.
The red-hot Minnesota Vikings are up next, Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High. But they're no hotter than the Broncos, whose turnaround is remarkable given the depths of their embarrassment in week 3 in South Florida.
“It’s the NFL. I mean, credit these guys,'' Payton said, nodding towards his noisy locker room. "There’s a little toughness to this league. ... You have to bow up a little bit and you have to demand it of each other at practice during the week. You win during the week. I felt like we’ve been practicing during the week better—a lot better. If you do that and you demand that of each other, then Sundays become a little bit less chaotic.”
Monday night was not exactly calming on anyone's nerves. Broncos Country has to admit their team got a few breaks in beating the Bills, none bigger than after kicker Wil Lutz running out on the field with no timeouts -- 'Hurricane' is what the special teams unit calls the fire drill when 11 guys have to run on the field as the clock ticks down -- only to miss a game-losing, 41-yard field goal wide right with 4 seconds remaining.
But wait. The Bills' fire drill brought 12 men on the field, a penalty which allowed Lutz a do-over from 5 yards closer and this time he made a game-winning, 36-yard field goal, setting off a celebration not seen since the Broncos called Toro! Toro! for Jason Elam's game-winning field goal here to open the 2007 season.
"I went through some adversity personally tonight,'' said Lutz, who clanked one extra point off the left upright and had another 1-point kick muffed by a bobbled snap before missing, then making, the end-of-game field goal. "But short memory. One kick at a time and I'm proud of how we handled that as a unit."
Luck or no luck, the Broncos outplayed the Bills most of the game. The Bills committed four turnovers while the Broncos only had one.
"A lot of bad football,'' said Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
And Wilson outplayed Allen if there was a scoreboard on the quarterbacks.
Barely, but Wilson was the definition of a gamer. It was Allen who scrambled in from 5 yards out to give the Bills a 22-21 lead with 1:55 left in the game, the first time Buffalo held a lead. Wilson came back with two nice check-down completions to Samaje Perine for 18 and 8 yards that picked up two first downs.
But with 40 seconds remaining, Wilson was sacked off a Bills' all-out blitz that knocked the Broncos out of field goal range.
That left 35 seconds remaining, the Broncos were facing third-and-10, were trailing by a point, and had no timeouts remaining. The Bills sent an all-out blitz again on the next play and this time Wilson, in his 12th season as an NFL quarterback, knew what to do.
“I was ready for it, just in case,'' Wilson said of the zero blitz.
Wilson saw receiver Jerry Jeudy break open deep and threw it in a hurry, off his back foot, as far as he could. The ball was perfectly underthrown as it drew a pass interference penalty on the Bills' Taron Johnson.
First down Broncos at the Bills' 17 yard line with 29 seconds remaining. The Broncos had Wilson take a couple middle-of-field knees while the Bills burned up their remaining timeouts to set up a straight-on shot for Lutz. With the clock ticking down, Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica led the "Hurricane" call, which meant his field goal team needed to hurry their selves onto the field as the clock ticked towards zero.
Lutz set up in plenty of time but missed a 41-yard field goal to the right.
Hold on, penalty on the Bills for having 12 men on the field.
Re-kick. This time Lutz drilled a 36-yard field goal. The Broncos had their third straight win, stunning the Bills.
"I've got to handle that situation better,'' Lutz said of running on the field and getting set as the clock ticks down. "I had plenty of time to take my steps and everything. And I didn't. I'm kind of mad at myself the way I handled that kick. Saved by the grace of God."
Wilson deserved it. Midway through the second quarter, there was a play where he was in serious trouble. He had done a great job of escaping pass-rush pressure throughout the first half, but this time he turned and there was Bills’ defensive end Shaq Lawon bearing in on his midsection. Since it was fourth-and-2 from the Bills' 7 yard line, the moment was daunting.
Yet, Wilson remained poised, pivoted in retreat to gain a foot or so of separation and with his back foot back to the 23-yard line, he lofted a pass towards the left side of the end zone where Sutton was running over from the middle. The Bills’ secondary seemed to have the pass well covered, but Wilson found an small area that wasn’t and Sutton did the rest.
By an inch, Sutton’s left foot was in bounds. By a quarter inch, Sutton dragged his trailing right foot on the blue carpeted end zone as he reached across the white line to snag the ball. Upon replay review, the initial incompletion ruling was deemed a mistake.
Touchdown, Denver.
"That was one of the more unbelievable catches I've seen by Court,'' Powers said.
"There's a lot of practice,'' said Sutton, who made a one-handed, toe-tap touchdown catch against the Chiefs in week 6 in a loss at Arrowhead Stadium. "You practice it as much as you possibly can so it becomes an unconscious thing."
With Vance Joseph’s resurgent Denver defense forcing another four turnovers – including two interceptions off Allen – the Broncos led 15-8 at halftime and had a chance to pad their lead in the third quarter. But a Sutton fumble in Bills' territory early in the second half led to Buffalo scoring a game-tying touchdown on a 3-yard scoring run by former Bronco Latavius Murray.
A 27-yard punt return by Broncos rookie Marvin Mims -- his third big-play return of the big game -- set up the Broncos for a go-ahead drive. Wilson started his series near midfield. A third-and-10 completion to Jerry Jeudy for 19 yards was a huge play and Wilson finished it off by throwing under duress to running back Javonte Williams, who walked in untouched for a go-ahead 3-yard touchdown.
Holder Riley Dixon bobbled the snap, though, so the Broncos didn't tack on the extra point. It was 21-15 Broncos instead of 22-15. Broncos' special teams lost three points on extra points -- the missed kick by Lutz, the bobbled snap by Dixon and offside on Denver defensive tackle Mike Purcell that changed a Bills' extra point kick to a 2-point conversion.
With the Bills down 21-15 and roughly 5 minutes remaining, a long run by Cook set up first and goal for the Bills and it was second-and-goal from the 5 at the 2-minute warning. On the first play after the break, Allen scrambled in from 5 yards out and the extra point kick by Tyler Bass gave Buffalo its first lead of the game, 22-21 with 1:55 remaining.
The Broncos entered play Monday night well-rested from their bye week and the confidence provided by a two-game winning streak. They were also 7-point underdogs but the oddsmakers weren’t paying attention to the work Payton has been doing the past month.
"I've got nothing but good things to say about Sean Payton and what he's done for this program and where it's headed,'' Power said. "I'm proud to call myself a player under him."
The transformed Broncos began their turnaround four weeks ago by not playing all that well but still beating the Green Bay Packers in Denver, 19-17.
They then played much better in forcing five Kansas City turnovers to finally beat the Chiefs, snapping their 16-game losing streak against the seven-time defending AFC West champs, again at Empower Field at Mile High. After a bye week, Payton dug out a few tricks to prepare his team for the road trip to Buffalo, where the Bills were 5-4 with one loss to the lowly Patriots.
Payton had the Bills logo painted on each of the Broncos’ practice fields. During practice Saturday he had the Monday Night Football theme song blaring from outdoor speakers. He had his team leave Saturday afternoon for a Monday night game, a day earlier than is common. And he will have them stay another night in their Buffalo hotel before flying out Tuesday afternoon – a night later than customary.
"You guys can write about that,'' Payton said.
On a chilly, windy night, the Denver defense continued it’s remarkable run of creating turnovers. The Bills won the opening coin toss and made the unusual decision of taking the ball first rather than defer, as if they wanted to make a statement with their struggling offense.
On the first play, Broncos nickelback Ja’Quan McMillian flat took the ball way from running back James Cook, who was held up after taking a screen pass. The fumble gave the Broncos the ball at the Buffalo 28, but three run calls and a false start penalty meant settling for a 40-yard Lutz field goal.
Turnover one was worth 3 points. Turnover two prevented at least 3 points and maybe more. Allen from the Broncos’ 28 threw across the middle a tad high to an open receiver Gabe Davis, who still should have caught the ball around the Denver 15. But the ball clanked off Davis’ hands and Justin Simmons from his center-field safety position dove to intercept at the Broncos’ 12.
No points for the Bills. Come again why they took the ball first?
Allen threw another interception to Broncos cornerback Fabian Moreau late in the first half to set up Lutz end-of-half field goal, which came after the special teams unit was forced to hurry on to the field as the clock ticked down.
he last time the Broncos won in Buffalo was the 2007 season opener. As the Broncos’ field goal until rushed onto the field – Toro! Toro! – was the call, Jason Elam nailed a 42-yard field goal at the buzzer for a 15-14 win.
Same place, same situation, 16 years later.
With Allen and Cook fumbling an RPO exchange early in the second half and Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton outhustling Bills' receiver Stefon Diggs for the loose ball, the Denver D had a remarkable 9 takeaways in back-to-back games against Kansas City and Buffalo. Singleton again played every defensive snap and led the Broncos in tackles with 11.
The game time temperature was officially 48 degrees with a 9 mph wind – balmy by mid-November Buffalo standards, but questionable because the flags on top of the stadium whipped into a stiff horizontal position.
Nevertheless, Wilson was 24 of 29 for 193 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 30 yards. Javonte Williams had 79 yards rushing off 21 carries. Sutton had 8 catches for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Allen was only 15 of 27 for 177 yards with a touchdown, but two interceptions. Von Miller, the former Broncos' star, didn't play much for the Bills (22 of 75 defensive snaps, or 29 percent) against his former team and he didn't make much of an impact when he did. He was one of the first players to leave the stadium.
When asked by 9NEWS for his thoughts, Miller said: "I'm still gathering them. The Broncos played good, though."
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