DENVER – This is how the Denver Broncos live.
Sweat it, then pull it out.
It happened again Saturday at Empower Field – and this time it punched a ticket to the AFC Championship Game.
The Broncos survived the Buffalo Bills for a 33-30 victory in overtime of the AFC divisional playoff, winning with Wil Lutz’s fourth field goal, a 24-yarder with 10 minutes, 16 seconds elapsed into OT. The game-winning kick was aided by two Bills defensive pass interference penalties after Denver gained possession with JaQuan McMillian’s interception.
But that’s not the only major drama enveloping Sean Payton’s team, which notched its NFL-high eighth victory this season after trailing in the fourth quarter.
Bo Nix, Denver’s second-year quarterback, is done for the rest of the playoffs after suffering a fractured bone in his right ankle in the waning moments.
Now the Broncos have something else to sweat. Payton said Nix is scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala.
“This team all year has lost key players, and we’ll rise up for the next challenge and go from there,” the Broncos coach said after returning to the podium for a second press conference to break the news about Nix.
Next-man up: Jarrett Stidham, a seventh-year pro who hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game since 2023.
Said Payton, “Stiddy is ready to go.”
We’ll see. Yet even without Nix, the Broncos (15-3) can’t be counted out when considering the manner in which they have lived on the edge all season.
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That’s the identity this team has embraced. And it’s tough to blame them for that when they’ve won with pivotal plays from a wide cast of characters.
On Saturday, they won with a season-high five takeaways by the defense – including two Josh Allen interceptions and two fumbles by the star quarterback – that set up the Nix-led offense for another crunch time rally.
“People think you can’t win that way in the league. And you can,” Garett Bolles, Denver’s all-pro left tackle, told USA TODAY Sports. “Because it’s the belief.
“You know, there’s a meter that goes back and forth in football. Sometimes, it gets away from you and you’ve got to pull it back. The great teams find a way to win. And we have that type of culture, the love that we have for each other, that we don’t want to let each other down.”
McMillan’s interception was one in a series of turnovers to impact the game, yet it also fueled controversy as he wrestled the football away as Brandin Cooks tried to haul in a deep pass from Allen, as both players tumbled to the turf. It set up the drive that positioned Denver to win – aided by pass interference penalties on Taron Johnson and Tre’Davious White that set up Lutz’s chip-shot game-winner.
The game-ending sequence added up to another measure of heartbreak for Buffalo, which advanced to at least the divisional round of the AFC playoffs for the sixth consecutive season but has been unable to break through to a Super Bowl.
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And what a difference a year makes. Last season, the Broncos season ended with a convincing, 31-7 loss at Buffalo in the wild-card round. Now they earned the right to get Buffalo – and any other AFC challengers – on their own turf after claiming the No. 1 seed.
“It’s just different,” Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper told USA TODAY Sports. “Last year was our first time going into the playoffs. We weren’t used to the atmosphere. We weren’t at home. It was just a different type of environment. Now that we have a year of experiencing that, we knew what to expect, how to prepare and everybody was ready for.”
That covers a lot of ground. As Cooper spoke, he pointed to his locker mate, Nick Bonitto, and proclaimed, “This is my favorite teammate of all time.”
Bonitto surely provided reason for glowing compliments. He produced two of the takeaways, chasing Allen from behind on a scramble during the final seconds before halftime, which set up a 50-yard field goal from Lutz. On the opening possession of the second half, Bonitto sacked Allen and forced another fumble that set up another Lutz field goal.
Another big play came from Alex Singleton, whose hat-on-ball hit on James Cook shifted early momentum fueled by Buffalo’s running attack. Later, safety P.J. Locke made a spectacular interception to snuff out a scoring threat.
On the other side, Marvin Mims, Jr. and Lil’ Jordan Humphrey snagged sure-handed TD catches.
Then there was Frank Crum, the backup lineman. He scored Denver’s first touchdown in the second quarter, with a seven-yard reception on a tackle-eligible play. It was the first TD Crum has ever had an any level of competition. It was also representative of Payton’s creativity – borrowed from the Detroit Lions playbook with Taylor Decker.
Payton, mindful of the wide range of contributors, said he gave out five game balls during the postgame locker room celebration. He could have given out more, given all there was to unpack from the triumph that marked the franchise’s first home playoff game in a decade.
Regardless, they can breathe a sigh of relief. Denver collected five turnovers and still nearly lost.
The Bills forced overtime with a 50-yard Matt Prater field goal with five seconds on the clock. That game-tying boot answered for Nix’s 26-yard TD pass to Mims, with 55 seconds left on the fourth-quarter clock.
It was that kind of flow.
Denver scored 13 consecutive points late in the first half and early in the second half – aided by two Buffalo turnovers – to seize momentum. Buffalo scored 10 straight points early in the fourth quarter to flip momentum.
And now the momentum is all in Denver’s hands along with the drama – at least for another week.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell