As noted by the CBS broadcast, before Sunday afternoon, the Broncos were 1-112 all-time when trailing by at least 14 points in the fourth quarter on the road.
They’ve now doubled their win total.
With some gutsy play and coaching decisions, the Broncos upset the Eagles 21-17, handing Philadelphia its first loss of the season.
Down 17-3 at the start of the fourth quarter, Denver first narrowed Philadelphia’s advantage to seven points with a 2-yard touchdown run by J.K. Dobbins.
Then after a Philadelphia three-and-out, quarterback Bo Nix put together a strong drive — hitting tight end Evan Engram with an 11-yard touchdown to put the Broncos in a position to tie the game.
But that’s when Denver head coach Sean Payton got aggressive, electing to go for two instead. Nix rolled to his right and found Troy Franklin open in the end zone, giving Denver a narrow 18-17 lead.
The Broncos forced another punt, then went on a solid four-minute drive ending with a 36-yard field goal by Wil Lutz. At one point, it looked like Denver would have fourth-and-1. But a potentially controversial unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Zack Baun gave the Broncos a first down to continue the possession.
With no timeouts, the Eagles had 1:06 to get into the end zone. They had a Hail Mary attempt from the Denver 29-yard line to end the game, but the ball was knocked out of DeVonta Smith’s hands and fell incomplete.
Nix ended the game 24-of-39 for 242 yards with a touchdown. He also had three carries for 22 yards.
Dobbins finished the contest with 20 carries for 79 yards with a touchdown.
The Eagles offense had a nice 90-yard drive in the first half, with Smith’s 52-yard catch setting up a touchdown. Then Saquon Barkley caught a 47-yard deep pass for a touchdown early in the third quarter.
But beyond that, the Broncos’ defense stopped the unit. Denver sacked Hurts six times, as Nick Bonitto leading the way with 2.5 of them.
After the week of consternation about the passing game, Hurts finished 23-of-38 for 280 yards — a season high — with two TDs, as Smith caught eight passes for 114 yards. But A.J. Brown had just five catches for 43 yards.
It’s a big win for Denver, as the 3-2 club will head across the pond for a matchup against the 0-5 Jets in London next weekend.
Having lost for the first time in over a calendar year, the 4-1 Eagles will be back at it quickly, playing the 1-4 Giants next week on Thursday night.
