When the Broncos scored a touchdown with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Eagles, Denver head coach Sean Payton made an aggressive decision.
Instead of sending Wil Lutz out for a PAT to tie the game at 17 apiece, Payton kept the offense on the field for a two-point play to try and take the lead.
Payton was rewarded for his confidence in the offense, as quarterback Bo Nix found an open Troy Franklin on the right side of the end zone for a successful conversion, giving the Broncos an 18-17 lead.
Denver eventually won the contest 21-17, getting stops on Philadelphia’s last two offensive possessions.
But what made Payton want to go for two midway through the final period?
“Well, No. 1, we felt situationally with time left on the clock — we came here to win a game and I had two or three calls that I loved,” Payton said in his postgame press conference. “So, sometimes you use those calls inside the 5, but we got to a call that I had a lot of confidence in, and the guys executed. It was perfect. But we felt — I think there were seven and a half minutes. Let’s do that. Let’s keep being aggressive.”
The only thing Payton didn’t like about the fourth quarter was his call on third down on Denver’s last drive that resulted in Bo Nix taking a sack.
“And I regret one call at the very end, the last call on third down. We had another one that would’ve been perfect,” Payton said.”We settled for the field goal and then played real good defense. So, good win.”
The victory also displayed how the Broncos can handle being in a hostile road environment.
“We talked about it,” Payton said. “I said, look, you don’t get a chance to play these games that have a ton of upside. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s downside, but there’s a ton of upside relative to defining what you become. And this is one of them.
“I think they were confident coming in. I asked them afterwards, ‘Who are you afraid of?’ And this is a league that’s, man, this is a fine line between a groove and a rut, and it was a good win.”
As noted by the CBS broadcast, before Sunday afternoon, the Broncos were 1-112 all-time when trailing by at least 14 points in the fourth quarter on the road.
They’ve now doubled their win total.
With some gutsy play and coaching decisions, the Broncos upset the Eagles 21-17, handing Philadelphia its first loss of the season.
Down 17-3 at the start of the fourth quarter, Denver first narrowed Philadelphia’s advantage to seven points with a 2-yard touchdown run by J.K. Dobbins.
Then after a Philadelphia three-and-out, quarterback Bo Nix put together a strong drive — hitting tight end Evan Engram with an 11-yard touchdown to put the Broncos in a position to tie the game.
But that’s when Denver head coach Sean Payton got aggressive, electing to go for two instead. Nix rolled to his right and found Troy Franklin open in the end zone, giving Denver a narrow 18-17 lead.
The Broncos forced another punt, then went on a solid four-minute drive ending with a 36-yard field goal by Wil Lutz. At one point, it looked like Denver would have fourth-and-1. But a potentially controversial unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Zack Baun gave the Broncos a first down to continue the possession.
With no timeouts, the Eagles had 1:06 to get into the end zone. They had a Hail Mary attempt from the Denver 29-yard line to end the game, but the ball was knocked out of DeVonta Smith’s hands and fell incomplete.
Nix ended the game 24-of-39 for 242 yards with a touchdown. He also had three carries for 22 yards.
Dobbins finished the contest with 20 carries for 79 yards with a touchdown.
The Eagles offense had a nice 90-yard drive in the first half, with Smith’s 52-yard catch setting up a touchdown. Then Saquon Barkley caught a 47-yard deep pass for a touchdown early in the third quarter.
But beyond that, the Broncos’ defense stopped the unit. Denver sacked Hurts six times, as Nick Bonitto leading the way with 2.5 of them.
After the week of consternation about the passing game, Hurts finished 23-of-38 for 280 yards — a season high — with two TDs, as Smith caught eight passes for 114 yards. But A.J. Brown had just five catches for 43 yards.
It’s a big win for Denver, as the 3-2 club will head across the pond for a matchup against the 0-5 Jets in London next weekend.
Having lost for the first time in over a calendar year, the 4-1 Eagles will be back at it quickly, playing the 1-4 Giants next week on Thursday night.
The Broncos have taken a fourth-quarter lead over the Eagles in unconventional fashion.
After Bo Nix threw an 11-yard touchdown to Evan Engram, Denver’s offense lined up, went for two, and got it with a Nix pass to receiver Troy Franklin.
Conventional wisdom would have had the Broncos kick an extra point to tie the game at 17-17. But head coach Sean Payton elected to gamble and it paid off.
That play happened with 7:36 left in the final period.
After a slow start, Nix has now led the Broncos to touchdowns on consecutive drives to take the lead. The young quarterback converted a third-and-15 with a 34-yard pass to Courtland Sutton to keep the latest possession going.
The Broncos are trying to make it a game against the Eagles.
J.K. Dobbins put in a 2-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make the score 17-10, Philadelphia.
Dobbins’ touchdown capped a 10-play, 64-yard drive. The Broncos faced just one third down on the possession, converting it with Bo Nix’s 6-yard pass to Courtland Sutton on third-and-2.
Denver has converted just 3-of-12 third downs on the day.
Nix is 16-of-30 for 125 yards. Dobbis has picked up 72 yards on 15 carries.
Denver will have an opportunity to tie the game after sacking Jalen Hurts on third-and-long on the ensuing possession.
Jalen Hurts has hit a long touchdown pass — but not to an Eagles wide receiver.
Instead, Saquon Barkley got loose down the field and Hurts hit him with a deep ball for a 47-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter.
The play concluded a short four-play drive to open the third quarter.
Hurts is now 16-of-23 for 212 yards with two touchdowns. His season high in yards for the first four weeks of the year was 226, and it sure looks like Hurts should eclipse that today.
On the injury front, Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson is out with an ankle injury. Tight end Grant Calcaterra has also been ruled out with an oblique injury.
