It\u2019s time to regard the Denver Broncos as Super Bowl contenders.<\/p>\n
You knew this day was coming when Sean Payton, convinced that the NFL\u2019s wealthiest ownership group would perform well, took over in Mile High Land a few years ago.<\/p>\n
Sunday, that day arrived. The Broncos, two-plus seasons into Payton\u2019s run, joined a softening list of AFC contenders by beating the NFL\u2019s most talented team on the road<\/p>\n
Importantly, it wasn\u2019t a fluke.<\/p>\n
Scoring 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as their playcallers found good cards to play and their players kicked butt, the Broncos beat the Philadelphia Eagles 21-17.<\/p>\n
Denver (3-2) dealt the Eagles (4-1) just their second loss in 22 games and can build on it by beating the pitiful Jets (0-5) in London next week.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what jumped out with the Broncos after a dismal three quarters by their offense: the pieces with Denver now fit and recall, if not in talent of those Drew Brees-led clubs, the coherence of Payton\u2019s better New Orleans Saints teams, the fourth of which won a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
When it mattered most, the Broncos were stronger, faster and smarter than the defending champs.<\/p>\n
Payton\u2019s varied playcalling and Bo Nix\u2019s smart quarterbacking clicked on a trio of scoring drives and a go-ahead two-point pass.<\/p>\n
Receiver Courtland Sutton snatched two misfires. He won often against a good cornerback, Quinyon Mitchell.<\/p>\n
J.K Dobbins, building on his comeback season with the Chargers, timed up several sharp rushes.<\/p>\n
Launching the comeback from 17-3, Denver\u2019s blockers outplayed the NFL\u2019s most talented defensive front.<\/p>\n
One sequence saw the blockers announce Denver as a resourceful outfit. When veteran Mike McGlinchey hobbled out, Alex Palzewski replaced him and promptly displaced and pancaked tackle Bryon Young, leading to Dobbins\u2019 2-yard surge on one of several effective power-style run plays down the stretch.<\/p>\n
After Nix led another TD drive, Payton shone his brightest by unleashing a two-point pass design that created a good angle for receiver Troy Franklin against the Eagles\u2019 least capable cornerback. Off a rollout, Nix hit his former Oregon teammate slanting toward a front pylon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been repping that play a few weeks,\u201d Nix said.<\/p>\n
Defensively, the Broncos have an emerging star in Nikk Bonitto, 26.<\/p>\n
The edge rusher, whom Payton inherited, had two-and-a-half sacks, a tackle for loss and victories in setting the edge.<\/p>\n
Twice besting All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson, who was sidelined recently by a neck injury, Bonitto led an explosive, varied defense called by coordinator Vance Joseph.<\/p>\n
Yet for all their fourth-quarter success, the Broncos may have suffered a third defeat this season on the game\u2019s final play, had All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain not swatted Jalen Hurts\u2019 29-yard pass that went to receiver DeVonta Smith\u2019s fingertips in the end zone.<\/p>\n
For folks who enjoy high-caliber football, Patyon\u2019s rising Broncos, thankfully, aren\u2019t another AFC team that\u2019s devolved into a mess.<\/p>\n
Suffice it to say that John and Jim Harbaugh haven\u2019t been saying, \u201cWho\u2019s got it better than us?\u201d in recent days.<\/p>\n
John\u2019s Ravens have imploded, a shocking development. Injuries have hit hard, but the problem-solving and roster depth hasn\u2019t met Harbaugh\u2019s standard.<\/p>\n
Brother Jim, in the meantime, may have contracted the Chargering virus.<\/p>\n
Dumb penalties. Key turnovers. Missed tackles. Team Spanos has stunk up its past two games, racking up 192 penalty yards and earning boos Sunday in the Kroenke Dome, where the Commanders turned the gifts \u2014 which included multiple injuries to blockers \u2014 into a win.<\/p>\n
The cheap Bengals continue to Bungle, wasting another year of quarterback Joe Burrow\u2019s career due to injuries related to poor blocking.<\/p>\n
As for Peter Carroll\u2019s first Raiders team: If I had to choose between eating only broccoli for breakfast, lunch and dinner or watching the Raiders, I\u2019d ask for a fork and a bowl of melted butter.<\/p>\n
So the Broncos being the Broncos again is good for the AFC, where the Colts have also ascended to give the Bills and Chiefs some competition.<\/p>\n
Because there\u2019s always a San Diego angle, know this, too, about the Broncos.<\/p>\n
Payton began his coaching career at San Diego State as a 25-year-old assistant under Denny Stolz and later served as Marshall Faulk\u2019s positional coach for Faulk\u2019s final two seasons at the school. In chats, he oozed confidence and spoke at warp speed.<\/p>\n
Broncos safety JL Skinner, a graduate of Point Loma High School \u2014 the alma mater of Hall of Fame cornerback Eric Allen \u2014 survived a final-drive pass Sunday in which he grappled with Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert. A flag could have flown; it did not. A sixth-round pick in Denver\u2019s first draft under Payton, the 6-foot-4 Skinner has become a regular in Joseph\u2019s defense. He must be bright.<\/p>\n
Joseph was sharp as a rookie defensive coordinator, as Philip Rivers learned nine years ago when Joseph\u2019s guys picked off four passes in Mission Valley to lead the Miami Dolphins to the win as a four-point underdog.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to regard the Denver Broncos as Super Bowl contenders. You knew this day was coming when…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":280677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1370,1232,3549,7264,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-280676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115324626083151684","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}