While visions of sugarplums danced through the heads of many young Denver Broncos fans, it turned into the nightmare before Christmas once again for the hometown team against the New England Patriots on Sunday. We take a look at the naughty and nice from the game.
Stud: D.J. Jones
On the first play of the game, defensive lineman D.J. Jones sacked Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe and caused a fumble that had the Broncos on the New England six-yard line. Unfortunately, Denver could not punch in a touchdown or any points whatsoever, which could have ended up being the deciding points of the game.
Dud: Courtland Sutton's injury
The loss of Courtland Sutton was felt all across the Broncos offense. When the veteran receiver went down, almost all offensive production went out the window. Quarterback Russell Wilson’s favorite target was absent for most of the game and it showed in a major way.
Dud: Third quarter
After going into halftime with a 7-3 lead, the Broncos gave up 20 unanswered points in the third quarter. Two Bailey Zappe touchdown passes and a muffed kickoff return-turned-touchdown from Marvin Mims turned the tide to an eventual 23-7 deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It looked impossible to all watching that there would be a comeback attempt…
Stud: Fourth quarter
… until it happened. In the fourth quarter, suddenly the Broncos’ offense found life. Russell Wilson threw two touchdowns, and the Sean Payton-led offense finally put together two successful two-point conversions to roar all the way back to even the score at 23-23. Denver’s only unsuccessful drive of the fourth quarter with 58 seconds left allowed Zappe and the Patriots to drive into field goal range and eventually win the game, 26-23.
Dud: The Broncos' playoff hopes
With the loss to the Patriots, the Broncos effectively kissed their playoff hopes goodbye. After beginning the season with a 1-5 start, the Broncos battled back to a 7-7 record with playoff aspirations. The loss feels like a kick in the pants to those who hoped for a playoff berth. But there is so much to be optimistic about, despite the disappointment. The Broncos have won seven games this season, the most since 2021. They came back from a 50-point drubbing against the Miami Dolphins to win games against playoff teams like the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills and potential spoilers in the Green Bay Packers. Perhaps the biggest overall win of the season came against the defending Super Bowl champs and (extremely likely) AFC West winners Kansas City Chiefs. This season brought a lot of frustration, but there is also a lot of hope for the future. So, while this loss is difficult, let’s look to the next chapter for this Broncos team. And that starts next week by winning against another AFC West foe in the Los Angeles Chargers.
