In the first three quarters of Denver’s NFL game against New York on Sunday, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix completed 11-of-25 passes for 105 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran twice for 2 yards as the Giants entered the final period with a 19-point lead.
But in the fourth quarter, Nix completed 16-of-25 passes for 174 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, threw for two 2-point conversions and ran three times for 46 yards and two touchdowns as Denver rallied for a 33-32 victory.
The Broncos’ 33-point fourth-quarter outburst marked the second-most points scored in the final period by an NFL team. It’s exceeded only by the Detroit Lions’ 34 points in the fourth quarter of a 37-27 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sept. 20, 2007. And in that game, the Lions got an interception return and a kickoff return for touchdowns. Denver did all its scoring with the offense – four touchdowns and a 39-yard field goal by Wil Lutz on the final snap.
“I don’t even know how we scored 33 points in a quarter,” Nix said. “That’s kind of insane. It’s just whatever we had to get done, we did it.”
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Trailing 19-0, the Broncos got their first points on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Nix to wide receiver Troy Franklin to complete an eight-play, 78-yard drive 52 seconds into the final period.
But New York went back up by 18 on quarterback Jaxson Dart’s 41-yard touchdown pass to tight end Theo Johnson. Dart completed only 15-of-33 passes, but they produced for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
Denver went 74 yards on 13 plays for another eight points with 5:13 to play with Nix’s 7-yard TD run and 2-point pass.
The Giants did not answer this time. Instead, Broncos outside linebacker Justin Strnad intercepted Dart and ran it back 21 yards to the New York 19-yard line.
“That probably was the difference between winning and losing the game,” Denver coach Sean Payton said.
Nix’s 2-yard touchdown pass to running back R.J. Harvey and Lutz’s extra point had Denver within three of the lead with 3:51 left.
Two minutes of clock time later, Nix ran 18 yards for a touchdown as the Broncos took a 30-26 lead. In between, New York had a three-and-out and Nix completed passes for 31 yards to wide receiver Marvin Mims and 20 yards to tight end Evan Engram.
Though now down, the Giants were not out. A fourth-and-19 completion for 19 yards and three penalties against Denver – roughing the passer, pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct (on Payton) – put New York on the Broncos 1-yard line. Dart scored from there with 37 seconds to play. But for the second time in the game, Jude McAtamney missed the extra-point kick, leaving the Giants only two points in front.
A former Pinson Valley High School and Auburn standout, Nix completed a 29-yard pass to Mims and a 22-yard pass to wide receiver Courtland Sutton before spiking the football to stop the clock with two seconds remaining.
“What’s crazy is we installed it yesterday,” Nix said of his final completion, “and the first live rep that we got was what you watched. Courtland Sutton’s just the man. That’s all I got to say.”
Lutz’s final kick lifted Denver to a 5-2 record and into first place in the AFC West.
“You win a game like that, it’s like the best thing ever,” Nix said. “It’s my first time sort of winning a game like that. It was awesome. It was a great team win. Every side of the ball made a huge impact in the game at some point. We just kept making plays and kept hope until the very end.”
In their next game, the Broncos play the Dallas Cowboys at 3:25 p.m. CDT Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.
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