The Denver Broncos replicated the kind of magic it had last year in that 33-point fourth quarter nuke it dropped on the New York Giants. Except this time, they executed a comeback against a true Super Bowl contender in the Los Angeles Rams, which makes the comeback even more impressive than that one last year.
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The game was a tale of two halves — seems like that is a typical statement with these Broncos — with the Rams completely dominating and smothering Denver on both sides of the ball for a 16-0 halftime lead. The caveat being that the Broncos’ defense made all of the red zone stops it needed to keep hope alive heading into the third quarter.
The third quarter had plenty of lucky breaks for the Broncos, including a fumble that turned into a bigger gain. They scored touchdowns and two-point conversions in back-to-back drives to tie the game and swing all of the momentum their way and they would close out the win with more big plays in the fourth quarter. It was a heckuva comeback win and the drama lasted to the final play.
Here’s who we’re giving our game balls to:
Talanoa Hufanga gets my game ball this week. He made a game-changing pick-six right after the Broncos had lost momentum. He sealed the game on the last play with another interception. He had a chance at another interception earlier in the game that he dropped, but made plays when it mattered. He also had an absolutely beautifully timed safety blitz to blow up Stafford and force a field goal on a 3rd and long. Safeties don’t get games much better than what we saw from Hufanga this week. Fa’afetai tele, Talanoa! – Sadaraine
My game ball goes to Bo Nix, after a forgettable first half in which he had two interception worthy throws that should have been picked, Bo came out and put on a show in the second half. Nix was 6/12 for 53 yards in the first half. The Broncos had four drives, two of which were three and out. The one drive with any potency ended with a doinked 43 yard FG. While Bo was only 11/22 for 133 yards in the second half, he made the throws when he needed to. Like this throw on the second 2-pt conversion:
Bo also accounted for all three of the Bronco TDs on the game throwing for two and running for one. The Bronco second half drives after the 3-and-out to start the half: TD, TD, INT, punt, TD. – Joe Mahoney
My game ball goes to Pat Bryant. He had a touchdown catch, a two-point conversion, and a 39-yard catch and run that put the Broncos in scoring position late in the fourth quarter. Every time he was targeted, he came down with the ball. Bryant was also on point recovering a J.K. Dobbins fumble in the game to advance it and keep the Rams from making it a turnover. Hopefully his performance tonight is the sign bigger things are still in store for the talented second-year wide receiver. – Chris Hart
Talanoa Hufanga stole the show on the big play front, but it was Brandon Jones mopping up the dirty work on the field. He finished with 12 total tackles, a tackle for a loss, a pass defensed, and a quarterback hit. Both safeties played an outstanding game after the first half struggles and in the red zone they dominated. I was tempted to give my game ball to the officiating crew for that bogus DPI call, but we’ve been screwed by plenty a questionable call so I’ll just call that one a small payout for all the other bad calls that went against Denver. – Tim Lynch
After that dismal first half against LA, Broncos Country was ready for Sean Payton to take the play calling back from Webb. No rhythm. No flow. The offense looked like it had never played before. But as bad as Denver’s offense was in the first half, it was even better in the second. And Webb is a big reason why. The young play caller dialed up some fantastic plays and Nix and the Broncos executed masterfully. There’s always going to be growing pains and a learning curve with a young playcaller, but this should give Webb, the team, and the fanbase the confidence he’s got this. – Ian St. Clair
Zach Allen has been a monster through 3 weeks. He notched his 3rd sack of the season against the Rams, but that and his 2 tackles fall well short of telling the full tale of Allen’s impact on the game. The Broncos’ disruptive defensive end was a headache for LA all evening, clogging up the defensive center and keeping Matt Stafford uncomfortable. – Taylor Kothe
