Instant reaction: Broncos upend Commanders in overtime thriller

The Denver Broncos squared off against the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night Football. Coming off a bye, I was expecting a dominant performance by the Broncos. In fact, most of the staff also felt Denver was poised for a decisive victory. However, things didn’t go as we had all thought.

Instead, it was another gritty and hard-fought battle that made its way to overtime. When it mattered most, the Broncos rose to the occasion and defeated the Commanders 27-26. Here are some instant reactions and takeaways from tonight’s game.

A mixed bag of results for the Broncos offense in primetime.

In order for the Broncos to be at their best to finish out the regular season, the offense finding a way to be more efficient and sustain drives will be mission critical. That, in my opinion, will make the difference being a contender and a pretender. As far as their performance tonight against the Commanders? There were some things to like, but also some things to be very concerned about.

Usually suspect to slow starts, the Broncos putting 13 points on the board in the first half on four possessions seemed like a success. Sure, it would have been ideal to see those first two drives result in more than field goals, but there have certainly been worse first half performances to date. All things considered, I thought Bo Nix fared quite well completing 15-of-25 passes in the first half for 146 yards and 1 touchdown. That stat line should have been better, but a handful of drops hindered the offense’s efficiency.

The Courtland Sutton touchdown from Nix early in the second half was a thing of beauty. It was nice to see the offense respond after the Commanders had taken the lead. However, Nix’s telegraphed interception a few drives later to Bobby Wagner was a major blemish on his performance today. On top of that, the rushing attack was hit or miss for most of the game. Moving forward that is still a big issue for them to figure out.

But you know what? That scoring drive in offense was incredible. You couldn’t have asked for a better result. It was a clutch drive, and it was great to see Nix and Engram connect on that huge play to get them into scoring position. More of that moving forward—please and thank you!

After the bye week blues: Denver’s defense struggles in aspects they usually excel.

One of the primary objectives for the Broncos for the remainder of the season was to ensure they limited their self-inflicted wounds. While the Broncos did a bit better in the penalty department tonight, they took a step backwards in aspects of the game they have usually been consistent with.

To date, the Broncos’ defense has been tremendous. Certainly, the biggest bright spot on the team by a wide margin. My only issue with them has been their inability to generate turnovers. Overall, they have performed well against the run, tackled well, and have been one of the best third down and red zone defenses in the league. Against the Commanders, they struggled with all of them.

Tonight’s defensive outing was the exact opposite of what I thought would happen. I felt the defense would shine. Alas, they gave up 143 yards rushing and 419 yards of total offense. Marcus Mariota performed admirably and helped lead their team to thirty first downs. Yes, thirty.In recent weeks, Denver has done well limiting the impact of opposing tight ends in games. Unfortunately, Zach Ertz had a field day. He was a problem for Denver’s defense all night. Ertz had 106 yards and 10 receptions. Moving forward, that will also have to be something Denver addresses.

Miscellaneous thoughts and musings:

• A tip of the hat to wide receiver Courtland Sutton who surpassed 6,000 career receiving yards after his performance on Sunday Night Football.

• Quite a few folks gave Riley Moss some grief because of his coverage on the Commanders go-ahead score in the third quarter. In my opinion, Treylon Burks just came down with an unfathomably awesome grab. That was an incredible catch—maybe one of the best I’ve seen this season.

• I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—I’ll take ugly wins any day of the week. I’m happy the Broncos came away with a victory, but tonight’s effort seemed quite a bit sloppy. I’m feeling more optimistic about the offense after how clutch they were in overtime. However, I’m a bit concerned to see the defense struggle so much. The Commanders had a great game plan and were efficient. Even so, this is one of the least inspiring efforts from that side of the ball this season. In order to be a contender in the playoffs, Denver will have to do a much job on third downs and stopping the run.