From zero to 33: How the Broncos pulled off an unlikely fourth-quarter comeback win

DENVER — As the man in the vest, the one who keeps the clock for the network television broadcasts and lets the officials know when it’s time to restart the game, spun an arm to signify the start of the fourth quarter, the Denver Broncos were in a bad place Sunday afternoon.

After numerous mistakes on both sides of the ball, they were down 19-0 to the New York Giants with few possibilities and even fewer reasons to hope.

The Giants had gained 292 yards on the usually stout Broncos’ defense in the first three quarters, with rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart throwing two touchdown passes. The Broncos had punted six times on offense and had six possessions go for 21 or fewer yards.

“Not where you want to be,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said. ” … But at some point, we’re going to go down and score. It may be too late, but at some point, we’re going to go down and score. … We scored a quick one in the fourth, and it was like once we scored and got the 2-point conversion, we knew how to play all of a sudden.”

After 45 minutes of zero points, the Broncos scored 33 in the fourth quarter, needing all of them to shock the Giants 33-32. Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold and Giants reporter Jordan Raanan provide a glimpse inside a wild final quarter that turned a sleeper of a game into a back-and-forth contest that had three lead changes in the final two minutes and a walk-off, game-winning kick.

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THE BRONCOS’ FIRST touchdown was far from conventional. Wide receiver Troy Franklin dove to catch a deflected pass in the back of the end zone for a 2-yard score, putting Denver within 19-8 with 14:08 left in the fourth quarter. But perhaps thanks to karma, the Giants’ ensuing touchdown also came on a ricochet.

On third-and-17 from the Broncos’ 41-yard line, Dart threw a pass intended for wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson that Denver safety Talanoa Hufanga just missed. But the ball clanked off Robinson and into the air. Tight end Theo Johnson caught it in stride, moving from the right to left. He then raced down the left sideline and into the end zone for a 41-yard score.

Johnson: “Craziest play I’ve ever seen.”

That play put the Giants up 26-8 with 10:14 left, and they had seemingly reestablished control of the game. New York had a 98.9% win probability at that point.

Giants edge rusher Brian Burns: “It might have been a sense of getting a little comfortable. We had a decent lead, a nice-sized lead.”

The Broncos responded with a 13-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Nix and a 2-point conversion pass to Franklin to trim the Broncos’ deficit to 26-16 with 5:01 to play.

Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke: “You have a 13-play drive, 17-play drive, 19-play drive, whatever it is, regardless of altitude, those drives start to weigh on you.”

Broncos coach Sean Payton: “Body language is important to me. It’s hard to do something like that if your body language isn’t right. … We finally started making some plays.”

Nix: “We’re just resilient. It’s not easy mentally to continue to fight like that and put everything on the line. But there was really nothing to lose.”

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DESPITE THE BRONCOS’ two touchdowns, the Giants had a 97.4% chance to win when they got the ball at their 30 with 5:07 left. Two Cam Skattebo runs netted 5 yards, giving the Giants a third-and-5 with 4:56 left.

The Broncos rushed seven men on the third-down play. They were playing man coverage, but inside linebacker Justin Strnad dropped into coverage at the last second. Dart didn’t get the ball over his head. Strnad intercepted the pass and returned it to the Giants’ 19-yard line.

Strnad: “We sent some pressure at Jaxson [to] try and force his hand a little bit, and he tried to sneak one by me. I think he just tried to fit it behind me.”

Dart: “My feet got a little stuck in the ground. I have to be way better than that. It’s unacceptable. Yeah, I have to be better.”

Giants coach Brian Daboll: “They had pressure, and they made a good play.”

Dart: “Absolutely [beating myself up about the interception]. I can’t do that. We were in full control of the game, and in that situation, can’t do that. It was an unacceptable mistake by me.”

Payton: “When he first caught it, I thought there was a 40 [Strnad’s number] on their team. … It’s like a double whammy — not only do you get the ball, you get it there. That was probably the difference between winning and losing.”

The Broncos scored four plays later, on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Nix to rookie running back RJ Harvey. The extra point cut the Giants’ lead to 26-23 with 3:51 to play, and the Broncos now had a 19.1% chance to win.

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THE BRONCOS’ DEFENSE held the Giants to 2 yards and a three-and-out in the following possession. After Marvin Mims Jr. returned the punt to the Broncos’ 32-yard line, Denver faced a third-and-11 from its 32 with 2:14 left.

But Nix found Mims for a 31-yard gain to the Giants’ 38, then connected with tight end Evan Engram up the left sideline for 20 more yards two plays later. On first-and-10 from the Giants’ 18-yard line on the first play after the two-minute warning, Payton dug out a run play the Broncos had used last season against his former team, the Saints.

Nix sprinted around the left end on a QB sweep for the score, and the Broncos went ahead 30-26, their first lead of the game, with 1:51 to play.

Payton: “We got man [coverage], we kind of saved that little crack series — we ran it a little bit in New Orleans a year ago, so [Nix] has got good enough legs. And if you watch the film, everyone on defense is on the right side of the field and you’ve got your left tackle and quarterback [on the left side].”

The Giants’ defense appeared to be gassed at this point.

Okereke: “No excuses. Every team that comes to play Denver goes through [the altitude].”

Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II: “I don’t know [if we were gassed]. Can’t give up 33 points in the fourth quarter.”

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THE GIANTS GOT the ball back at their 35-yard line with 1:51 remaining. Plenty of time for their rookie quarterback to rebound and be the hero.

Dart: “I never felt like we were going to lose the game. I looked at the clock when they scored and said, ‘We have a lot of time left.’ And I had no doubt that we were going to go down there and score.”

The Giants looked to be in trouble. They were facing a fourth-and-19 with 1:08 remaining, but Dart found Robinson in the middle of the field for 19 yards. Tack on a roughing-the-passer penalty on Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers, and the Giants were still in business.

Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas: “It was a great play. We needed that. It was a big one. We talk about got-to-have-it moments all the time. We just needed a few more plays to get this one.”

The catch and penalty moved the ball to the Broncos’ 40-yard line, and on third-and-10, the Giants got another reprieve. Broncos cornerback Riley Moss was flagged for pass interference against Giants receiver Beaux Collins on the Broncos’ 2-yard line, a call that enraged Payton so much that he sprinted to the middle of the field to express his displeasure to the officials near the goal line.

Payton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, which moved the ball to the Broncos’ 1-yard line.

Payton: “That was silly. … I just wanted them to hear me.”

The drive concluded with Dart taking a QB sneak in for the score with 37 seconds remaining. It was originally ruled down short of the end zone, but replay showed that Dart had fully extended over the goal line before his knees hit the ground.

Daboll: “[Dart is a] competitive guy.”

Giants kicker Jude McAtamney missed the ensuing extra point, his second miss of the day. It proved costly. Daboll said one of the misses was a byproduct of a sloppy “operation.” But the kicker wasn’t about to make any excuses.

McAtamney: “First one was on me. Got to make the kicks. Not going to shy away from that. I’ll take full responsibility.”

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THERE WERE 37 seconds when the Broncos took over on their 23-yard line. Nix immediately found Mims for a 29-yard gain to move the ball to the Giants’ 48-yard line.

Daboll: “[There were] two double robbers sitting right there in the middle part of the field, different than what we did [in Week 2] at Dallas, man-to-man with two routers, they hit a cut and they didn’t look over their left-hand side.”

Okereke: “I think we anticipated the concept. They ran a deep dagger, the No. 3 and No. 2 receiver going vertical. And one ran a dig. They were trying to hit that dig. We had the dig covered. It was a tough play. The window, the in-breaker and the [No. 2] guy running forward, he kind of just fell in. It was bang-bang. Guys were there. They just made a play in a critical situation. That is what it takes to win games in this league.”

The Giants had rushed three on the play to Mims, with eight in coverage. That didn’t sit well with the players.

“Drop eight!” Burns said incredulously, along with some expletives, as he walked through the bowels of the stadium toward the locker room.

When asked afterward about the decision to rush only three men, Burns pursed his lips, turned his head away and declined to answer. Lawrence had an unusually long pause when faced with the same question.

“Leave that to the coaches,” he said.

A neutral zone infraction on Burns, who didn’t get to the line of scrimmage before Nix spiked the ball to stop the clock and moved Denver to the Giants’ 43 with 18 seconds left. At that point, Broncos kicker Wil Lutz said he began to think he might have to attempt a kick of 60 or more yards with the game on the line, so he started to prepare for that.

Lutz: “The weather today was incredible, so that helps; the conditions were awesome. I try to never put a number on it. We go 64 [yards], 65 each way in pregame to just kind of see where we’re at. Obviously, I’m not going to let pride get in the way here, you got to keep it straight. … We are kicking it no matter where it is. In that situation specifically, there was no line. We were going to give it a chance wherever the ball was when the clock called for a field goal.”

On first-and-5 from the Giants’ 43, Payton sent in a play the Broncos had not installed until Saturday’s walk-through. It called for wide receiver Courtland Sutton to move into the slot and then push up the sideline to make a play that could also stop the clock.

Payton: “A perfect back-shoulder throw.”

Nix: “We installed it [Saturday], and the first live rep that we got was what you watched. Courtland Sutton is just the man, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

Nix threw the ball up the left sideline, and Sutton made a leaping catch over Giants cornerback Deonte Banks. The 22-yard gain put the ball on the Giants’ 21 as the Broncos raced to the line of scrimmage. Nix spiked the ball to stop the clock with two seconds remaining.

On a day when the Broncos had honored the franchise’s last Super Bowl winner and put one of the team’s most beloved players in its ring of fame — wide receiver Demaryius Thomas — Lutz lined up a 39-yard winner that had seemed extremely unlikely. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw got a difficult snap down, and Lutz sent a raucous crowd home happy with the winning kick.

Lutz: “Everybody in this building knew we were playing for more than just us today. … Everything that just happened, I love the game of football. But at this position, it’s important to keep your heart rate low.”

Dart: “It was a loss that shouldn’t have happened.”

It was the third Broncos game this season to come down to the last play, and the first of those that Denver won after walk-off losses to the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively. It moved the 5-2 Broncos into sole possession of first place in the AFC West for the first time since Week 4 of 2016.

Nix: “Just never flinch and never back down. You know, it wasn’t pretty for a long time. I mean, me included, we were all like, ‘Man, it’s just not our day. We can’t get anything going.’ And then it just takes a few plays and a few moments and a few guys making plays and a few pieces of encouragement by guys, and all of a sudden, you go.

“I mean, I don’t even know how to score 33 points in a quarter. That’s kind of insane.”