Miles
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
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The Broncos weren't perfect on Thursday night.
There were several mistakes in a 37-28 win over the Jets, most notably a trio of interceptions and eight penalties.
In the early weeks of the season, Denver also fell victim to a slew of poor plays that offset their successful gains.
"There's always a couple sequences in a game usually revolving around turnovers, big plays and lack of execution that can impact the outcome of a game," Head Coach Vic Fangio said after the Broncos' loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As the Broncos won their first game of the season, though, they were able to overcome their negative plays. And instead of lamenting a close loss, the Broncos were able to ride a sequence of positive plays to a win.
"There was a few of those [sequences] tonight," Fangio said after the Broncos' win over the Jets. "We weren't always on the right end of them, but we were on the right end just enough."
One of those sequences came in the fourth quarter, as Brett Rypien completed a third-and-7 pass to Tim Patrick for 31 yards, Brandon McManus drilled a 53-yard go-ahead field goal, Bradley Chubb sacked Sam Darnold on fourth down and Melvin Gordon III put the game away with a 43-yard touchdown scamper.
In previous weeks, perhaps the Broncos fail to make all four of those plays. And without all four, perhaps the Broncos don't get a win.
If Rypien didn't complete the pass to Patrick, the Broncos would have had to decide whether to punt the ball away with 4:11 to play in the game or attempt a fourth-and-7. If McManus missed his 53-yard kick, the Broncos would have been trailing by two points with just over three minutes to play. If Chubb didn't bring Darnold down, perhaps New York gains another few yards and kicks a game-winning field goal. And if Gordon didn't score, the Broncos may have had to punt the ball back to New York for a last-gasp drive.
The margins for success were thin — but the Broncos still succeeded.