DENVER — For an eighth consecutive season, it appears the NFL playoffs will carry on without the Denver Broncos.
Despite a spirited fourth quarter comeback by Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, the underdog New England Patriots came away with a 26-23 win on Chad Ryland's 56-yard field goal with 2 seconds left.
A relatively smallish but hearty gathering of 60,186 (16,015 understandable no shows on a frigid, holiday night) at below-freezing Empower Field at Mile High fell into shocked silence. A desperation Hail Mary on Christmas Eve night by Wilson fell incomplete and as it did, the Broncos' playoff hopes all but came crashing on the 2023 season.
"Obviously, disappointed,'' said Broncos tight end Lucas Krull, who had four catches, one for a touchdown. "You've got a lot to play for and you come close ... there's a lot of things we're going to look back at and just know we could have done better.
"It's frustrating. It's disappointing. But at the end of the day we've got two games left and we've got to keep fighting and find a way to win."
It probably won't matter if they do. The Broncos are 7-8 with two games remaining. Even if they win those final two against the Chargers and Raiders, though, there are four teams ahead of the Broncos for the No. 7 and final AFC wild-card playoff spot.
The Broncos haven't made the postseason since they won it all in 2015.
"A real frustrating game in that, man, we had a lot of opportunities, I felt, especially in the first half,'' said Broncos' head coach Sean Payton. "Offensively, we struggled. Tip our hats to New England. We fought back in it. ... Our margin for error right now isn't what it needs to be and we end up on the losing end of the game."
Payton had one of those games where he will be second-guessed from beginning -- going for it on fourth down, and failing, instead of taking a sure field goal on the opening gift possession -- to end -- calling two timeouts in the final minute when New England was trying to play for overtime and instead landed a big pass play that beat cornerback Pat Surtain II to set up the game-winning field goal.
The Broncos weren't supposed to lose this game to the 3-11, injury-riddled Patriots but they fell behind, 23-7 late in the third quarter on two Bailey Zappe touchdown passes and a muffed kickoff return by rookie Marvin Mims Jr. that resulted in a gift New England touchdown.
“I feel like, personally, I blew it,'' Mims said. "That’s a 14-point swing. It cost us at the end. I got to be better, I know that.''
Unleashed from a conservative game plan only because the Broncos were shockingly trailing the Patriots by 16 points in the fourth quarter, Wilson started breaking the pocket, running away from trouble and making big throw after big throw in the fourth quarter.
Wilson threw two touchdown passes and two, 2-point conversions in the fourth quarter to rally the Broncos to a 23-23 tie.
"I was proud of how he battled,'' Payton said of Wilson's performance. "He got us back in it."
The Broncos got the ball back with 1:42 left and the score tied, 23-23 but three Wilson incompletions gave the ball back to New England with 58 seconds left.
Whereupon legendary, if seemingly outgoing Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn't want it. He tried to run out the clock and play for overtime but Payton called two timeouts in hopes of getting the ball back. On third and 3 with 47 seconds left, Belichick had one more crafty move to pull. Zappe dropped back and lofted a 27-yard completion to DeVante Parker, who beat Surtain down the left sideline.
The Patriots hurried up to get 9 more yards on two plays, setting up Ryland's long boot for the win.
“We felt like we would get the stop,'' Payton said. "We were not able to. All of a sudden the script is flipped. ... It was a disappointing finish, but credit them. They made the plays they needed to and we were not able to.”
Said Belichick: “That was a wild game. Really proud of our guys, our players and coaches. We came out, had to leave some of our better players in Foxborough. Got off to a rough start, but those guys really battled back, hung in there. Their defense played great in the first quarter and great in the third quarter.
‘Russ’ brought them back and hit a couple big passes today and made some key plays. We missed some, we made some, we made the ones we had to make so, really happy for the work all of the players and coaches put in and how resilient they were coming out here. They were playing a team that’s really been playing well lately.”
The Broncos were down, 23-7 in the fourth quarter but a 47-yard, throw-on-the-run by Wilson to Mims set up a short touchdown pass from Wilson to Krull with 8:33 remaining to make it a game, 23-15.
The Denver defense then came up with a three-and-out stop, giving Wilson and the Broncos the ball back at their own 22 with 6:33 remaining. Wilson hit long-lost receiver Jerry Jeudy for a couple big completions before finishing off the drive with a 21-yard touchdown to Brandon Johnson, who scooted down the left sideline to make it 23-21. Wilson then popped a 2-point conversion pass to Javonte Williams for a game-tying 2-point conversion with 2:53 remaining.
Despite a woeful start that included five sacks taken through the first three quarters, Wilson finished 25 of 37 for 237 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 103.2 passer rating.
The Broncos entered this game with a 7-7 record, but very much in play for the No. 7 AFC playoff seed. All they had to do is beat the 3-11 Patriots, 5-9 Chargers and 6-8 Raiders in their final three games.
The Broncos couldn't get past step one.
Thanks to a long punt return by Mims Jr., the Broncos were leading the New England Patriots, 7-3, at halftime.
No thanks to the Broncos’ offense.
Top receiver Courtland Sutton and No. 2 pass catcher Jerry Jeudy didn't have a reception in the first half. Sutton banged his head on the ground after a failed deep-ball attempt on the first series. He went back in for a few more plays in the first quarter, before he was taken to the locker room with concussion-like symptoms. Payton said after the game Sutton is in the concussion protocol.
The Broncos were leading, 7-0 after the first quarter and didn’t feel super great about it. They missed a great chance for a 10-0 or 14-0 lead.
On the first play of the game, Denver defensive tackle D.J. Jones stormed through the middle and clobbered Patriots young quarterback Bailey Zappe into fumbling the ball away. Jones scooted his 6-foot, 305-pound self to the ball and the Broncos were in business at the New England 6 yard line. Jones had zero sacks through the Broncos’ first 13 games but now two in his last two games.
Two plays later, it was third-and-goal at the 2. In many respects, the turning point of the game. Wilson threw into end zone traffic and it appeared to be intercepted but the ball hit the ground and replay reversed the call to incomplete.
On fourth and goal at the 2, Payton didn’t take the easy 3-point field goal, as he often has early in a game this season, and instead went for it. A Javonte Williams’ running play against the Patriots' No. 2-ranked run defense was stopped at the 1 and the Broncos blew their great chance. Williams finished with just 24 yards rushing on 11 carries.
“I felt confident in a couple plays,'' Payton said. "Normally I would say, especially early, that I would kick the field goal. But I felt pretty good if we didn’t get it, where we had them backed up. It was really more about me feeling like we had two or three good opportunities relative to the plays we were wanting to run.”
The Broncos next two series started at the New England 46, and New England 25. The first opportunity ended in a three-and-out punt. The second great chance was set up by Mims' 52-yard punt return. Wilson hit a couple short passes to his backs, and Williams had a couple strong runs, including a 3-yard plow forward for a touchdown with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
Once again, the Denver defense coached by Vance Joseph was the difference early. The Jones’ sack-fumble-recovery was wasted but it otherwise held the Patriots to 109 yards in total offense in the first half. New England kicker Chad Ryland made a 33-yard field goal but missed badly right on a 47-yard attempt with 33 seconds left in the half.
Broncos kicker Wil Lutz missed a 57-yard field goal left as the half ended.
The second half was about Zappe, a second-year quarterback from Western Kentucky who was among the Patriots' end of camp cuts, and New England's defense dumping on Russ. Zappe threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter -- a 15-yard catch and dive to running back Ezekiel Elliott and 11-yard strike to tight end Mike Geseki.
After those touchdown throws, Mims fumbled the kickoff -- twice -- and the Patriots' Cody Davis recovered it at the 1 and tumbled into the end zone for a touchdown. It was 23-7 Patriots.
Bronco fans booed their team on Denver's next possession. A running play to Jaleel McLaughlin for 2 yards. Booo. A running play to Williams for no gain. Booo. Wilson taking another sack that sent the punt team on the field. Booooooo.
“You don’t want to play like this,'' said Broncos safety Justin Simmons. "We didn’t play nearly well enough to win this game. I am proud of the team and the way we fought to get to this point but extremely disappointed in how we executed and, I guess, lack of execution in this game.”
Kareem decision looms
Merry Christmas, Kareem Jackson.
The Broncos have until 2 p.m. Christmas Day to either activate the veteran safety back on their 53-man roster, or release him. Jackson has been a 14-year NFL starter, including eight games this season.
However, some issues have arisen. He was suspended twice this season, for a total of six games, for what the NFL deemed was repetitive unnecessary roughness hits on opponents. He actually missed seven of eight weeks including a bye week. For a 35-year-old safety, that’s a ton of time away from the elite speed of NFL game day.
Jackson was off the suspended list this week and eligible to play against New England but Broncos head coach Sean Payton took advantage of a roster exemption until Monday and kept the veteran off the game-day roster.
Jackson practiced this week, but P.J. Locke was the starter. It’s difficult to dress Jackson as a backup because he doesn’t play special teams. Backup safeties must be special teams contributors. Dellarin Turner-Yell is the Broncos’ backup safety who is a standout special teamer.
Then again, Jackson is one of the team’s six captains. On Christmas Day, will emotional intangibles come into play?
Russell Watch
The loss that practically dooms the Broncos' playoff hopes now directs attention on Wilson's future with the team. He has a $39 million guarantee for next season but another $37 million in guaranteed payout in 2025 if he is still on the team March 17.
The "early trigger" guarantee means if the Broncos don't want want to commit to 2025 for Wilson, they would have to release him by March 17 and eat the $39 million for 2024. There are significant salary-cap implications for cutting or trading Wilson after this season.
“I’m just worried about next week and playing great football,'' Wilson said when asked about his future. "I came here to win and win a championship for us and to find a way to do that. I obviously love being here with these guys, these teammates. I’m excited to keep playing ball and playing hard for us.”
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