The Denver Broncos entered the NFL’s Sunday night game on an eight-game winning streak. The Washington Commanders came in on a six-game losing streak.
But Denver needed outside linebacker Nik Bonitto to bat down a 2-point conversion pass with 2:47 left in overtime to keep the streaks going as the Broncos escaped with a 27-26 victory.
“When you realize the game’s over, you can take a deep breath and enjoy it,” Denver quarterback Bo Nix said.
First with the football in overtime, the Broncos went 76 yards in five plays for a touchdown. The big play was a 41-yard gain when tight end Evan Engram took a pass across the middle from Nix and ended up at the Washington 11-yard line.
RJ Harvey ran 5 yards for Denver’s overtime touchdown, but Nix had gotten the rest of the yards on four consecutive completions.
“Being able to go down the field and score flips the pressure,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “… Bo was fantastic in that final drive. Evan made a great play. A lot of guys stepped up. And then defensively, look, they’re a tough out. The quarterback was able to make some plays.”
Washington’s overtime drive to a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marcus Mariota to wide receiver Terry McLaurin was much more dramatic than Denver’s overtime series after the Commanders kicked a field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter to cap an 18-play possession.
The Broncos lost a fourth-down interception to a pass-interference penalty after Mariota made a miraculous escape from a sack, Mariota lost a 30-yard touchdown pass to McLaurin to a holding penalty and the touchdown that counted came on fourth down.
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As in each of the victories in the streak, Denver trailed on Sunday night before coming through with its seventh win by four or fewer points.
“I was told a long time ago by one of my many offensive coaches that pressure is a privilege and not many people get to be in that opportunity,” Nix said, “so if it’s going to be me who gets this opportunity, I’m going to make the best of it. It doesn’t always go your way. Fortunately for us, it’s gone our way in these games. Last year, we were on the opposite end of these close ones, so I understand what it’s like to be on the other side of things.
“But you just got to keep moving on, and you got to have a belief you’re going to find a way. It didn’t look great for a minute, but we just found a way to get the next best play and, at the end of the day, score one more point than they did.”
Before the overtime fireworks, the play of the game had occurred with 23 seconds left in the first half.
Denver took a 13-7 lead when Nix threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Courtland Sutton even though the quarterback was about to hit the ground, falling sideways after being smacked on a scramble.
“From my perspective, it kind of feels like you’re floating for a second,” Nix said. “But I was obviously a little bit close to being down, but stayed up just long enough. (Sutton) did a great job. He started on the other side of the field and ran all the way to the other side, so he just scrambled with me and got open.
“And in a game like that, we literally talk about a game of inches, but it really does come down to an inch or two every once in while.”
The pass to Sutton was Nix’s eighth completion of the drive as he accounted for all 64 yards in the scoring series.
“That was an amazing throw,” Payton said. “… That was an important drive. That two-minute drill was the difference between winning and losing.”
After Washington took a 14-13 lead on the opening series of the second half, Nix converted three consecutive third-down snaps – on an 11-yard scramble and completions of 31 and 21 yards – to set up Harvey’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 3:59 left in the third quarter.
But in the fourth quarter, which has been so pivotal during Denver’s winning streak, Nix completed 6-of-11 passes for 32 yards, took a sack and was intercepted by linebacker Bobby Wagner at the Broncos 36, setting up one of the two fourth-quarter field goals that Washington used to send the game into overtime.
A former Pinson Valley High School and Auburn quarterback, Nix completed 29-of-45 passes for 321 yards with one touchdown and one interception and ran two times for 16 yards against the Commanders. The passing yardage tied for the second-most on Nix’s career list.
In their next game, the Broncos play the Las Vegas Raiders at 3:05 p.m. CST Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. At 10-2, Denver has a two-game lead at the top of the AFC West standings with five games to play.
“There’s something special, but we also feel like there’s more in the tank, more to grow from,” Nix said. “As much as we feel like we’ve had success, there’s a lot of guys in that locker room that are eager to perform better. We know that there’s a higher ceiling we can play up to.”
