DENVER — The Broncos offense knows they pulled a fast one in Thursday night’s 10-7 win.
The numbers that prove it? Denver snapped an 88-game losing streak for teams that had 10 or fewer first downs and a negative turnover margin. No NFL team had won a contest with that stat line in 15 years.
Credit these Broncos with doing the near-impossible. Or credit their defense.
Meanwhile, once again, the offense hobbled along. This is becoming the norm in an 8-2 start that has the Broncos in prime postseason position — every team since 1996 to start 8-2 has gone to the playoffs — but having convinced few outside of their locker room of being title worthy.
“It’s good to have an 8-2 cushion,” tight end Adam Trautman said. “But also we realize [stuff] needs to get figured out.”
In a five-quarter stretch against the defensively-challenged Giants and Cowboys, Sean Payton’s attack racked up 77 points. In the other 21 quarters since the start of October, his offense has just 62 points to its name — a meager 11.8 points-per-60-minutes average.
Thus, what it delivered Thursday night — 10 points on a windswept night — wasn’t exactly an aberration; it’s looking more like the norm, at least at this point in the season.
Denver had nearly as many possessions without a first down — nine — as points. One of those resulted in a field goal thanks to J.L. Skinner’s blocked punt, which set the offense up in prime position at the Las Vegas 12-yard line with 1:29 left in the third quarter.
A botched Bo Nix scramble, an errant throw after a case of happy feet and a fruitless screen pass later, the home fans showered the offense with boos.
It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last, as the next two series ended in another three-and-out and an interception.
And if you think players were upset with fan reaction, well …
“They should,” running back J.K. Dobbins replied when asked about fans booing throughout the game. “We’re not very good at times, so, they should be mad because we have so much talent.
“We just gotta get together, we gotta figure it out … The guys who are on offense, we got to figure it out. And we will. We have the guys to figure it out, and we will.”
View on Threads
MEANWHILE, THE BRONCOS DEFENSE IS DOING GENERATIONAL THINGS
Denver’s defense pulled off one feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 1989 and another that has happened just once in the 21st century — racking up 46 sacks in the first 10 games of a season (most since the 1989 Minnesota Vikings) and holding a fourth opponent in the first 10 games to 10 or fewer first downs (only done since 2000 by the 2023 Cleveland Browns).
In other words, after a sluggish start to the season, it’s living up to the preseason hype. Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen, Jonathon Cooper and Friends are a collective F5 tornado and the Raiders and Geno Smith were the latest trailer park left in their wake.
That the defense has allowed just 36 points in two-and-a-half games without Pat Surtain II — an average of 14.4 points per 60 minutes — roars two messages about this exceptional unit: Its pass rush is the galvanizing force, and its young cornerbacks have grown up in a hurry.
As vital as Pat Surtain II is to the team’s long-range hopes of a championship this season, the team can now be cautious with him and not feel any undue pressure to rush him back by the Nov. 16 showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs. The defense has talent to spare.
But at some point, there will come a time when Denver’s D buckles a bit.
And remember this: The Broncos are 0-2 when facing teams whose starting quarterbacks have a success rate of over 50 percent; there are just 11 passers in the NFL among the 32 with at least 160 plays so far this season.
Four of the Broncos’ final seven games are against teams with such quarterbacks — and four of the other six teams currently in AFC playoff position have quarterbacks with success rates over 50 percent.
That gauntlet starts with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The Broncos defense is ready. But success against Kansas City is likely to look a tad different than it did against Davis Webb and Geno Smith.
That means Payton’s offense had better find its form. Because if it hears more boos in Week 11, the Broncos are likely to see a game trimmed from their AFC West lead.
“They’re the best defense in the league and they’re doing this,” Trautman said.
“But at some point we gotta pick up the slack — and we know that and we take full accountability for that and we’ll be ready to fix it.”
YouTube video