In my pickleball league, we have a common saying, “Better to be lucky than good.”
But if Sean Payton were playing in my league, he’d say that because we were good, we got lucky.
At least I assume he’d say that…since that’s how he feels about the Broncos’ 16-game streak of winning one-score games.
“When those things keep falling your way, that’s not by accident,” he said.
He makes a good point. You create your own luck. And while the Broncos have had some “lucky breaks,” it was because they played well enough to create those situations.
Devon Key’s interception wasn’t lucky. It was a good (really good) heads-up play because he was focused on the ball.
Last week’s amazing false start to save the day against the Chiefs wasn’t “lucky,” it was a good (really good) Mile High crowd making a huge difference.
And 16 wins in a row by one score or less — an NFL record by the Broncos — is not luck.
As Bo Nix would argue, it’s character, toughness and competitiveness.
It’s also skill and practice.
“We’re just comfortable in that moment,” Nix said, noting it’s not like they want it to only be winning by one score, but it’s a lot better than losing by one. “Until I figure something out about how to change it, just glad we’re on this side and winning them and not in a streak of losing them.”
Nix is also not too interested in the streak, as much as he is what it means — the Broncos keep winning games.
“I don’t care. …in 10, 15 years, nobody’s going to care about \[the streak\],” he added. “They’re going to talk about wins … but it’s cool right now. It’s great as we go, but it definitely would be nice to win by more than a score.”
But as long as the team and its QB have the mentality that getting that go-ahead score, or saving it, is just something they need to do — while playing a lot of really good teams — then it’s probably going to keep happening.
“I’ll be honest, it seems like it’s always the same feeling. There’s always a look in the huddle that, like, hey guys, we don’t have a choice right here. We got to go make something out of it,” Nix said, highlighting the second-half touchdowns on Sunday. “Those were really, really important.”
Nix highlighted the touchdown drives — the first to go ahead after getting down, 14-13, and the second to extend that lead, 26-14, which became crucial when the Panthers fought for a comeback of their own and scored a touchdown.
“I thought that was the best part of the game because it showed that we stacked two drives together, two critical moments and gave our defense some rest on the sideline with those longer drives,” Nix said. “Also, a good cushion and they did just a good job responding and scoring.”
But that rest also allowed the defense to be fresh for the “lucky breaks” that came its way. Like after a near lost fumble on the offense’s three-and-out, giving the Panthers three minutes on the clock to try for the comeback win, only to be stymied by a strip sack from Nik Bonitto.
“That was big,” said Payton. “We talked about the ball security, and it finally came and it was a huge play, obviously. It was a huge play.”
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