The Denver Broncos moved to 2-0 on the season with a 20-19 victory over the Oakland Raiders at home. Some crazy things happened in this game.
The Denver Broncos improved to 2-0 on the season with a 20-19 victory over their division rival Oakland Raiders. Some really crazy things happened in and as a result of this game.
Denver’s NFL record streak of 397 home sellout crowds was witness to some NFL firsts, some Denver Broncos firsts, and just, in general, some really intriguing things that don’t often happen at this level of football.
An epic comeback
Despite the fact that a 12-point deficit does not seem like a very big one to overcome at halftime, you can literally count on two hands the number of times the Broncos have done it in their franchise history.
Sunday’s 12-point comeback was the biggest since the Broncos came back from down 24 points against the San Diego Chargers in 2012 (one of the greatest games in Broncos history) and the 10th time in franchise history they have overcome a 12-point (or more) halftime deficit.
What’s more with this comeback is the fact that only four teams in the NFL over the last four seasons have found a way to win on their last drive of the game.
Those other four teams finished with eight, 11, and 10 wins respectively. Denver’s story is yet to be fully written, but there’s something to be said about the resilience this team has shown and the fact that the last three times teams opened with comeback wins of this fashion, they won no fewer than eight regular-season games.
Mr. B’s 350th
The Broncos have officially won their 350th game under Pat Bowlen’s ownership. According to the team, this is the fastest (581 games in total) that an owner has ever reached the 350 win mark.
This is not entirely surprising considering the fact that the Broncos have the third highest win percentage in all of professional sports since Bowlen took over as the team’s owner in 1984.
The difference
The difference in this game — quite literally — was Shaquil Barrett’s blocked PAT at the end of the first half. The Raiders would have had a 13-point lead going into halftime were it not for Barrett’s block.
When those things happen in the moment, they don’t seem like a huge deal. When your team wins or loses a game by one point, they are a huge deal.
In 2016, the Broncos won on a blocked PAT in much more dramatic fashion when Justin Simmons and Will Parks combined for a block and score against the New Orleans Saints. This one was much less dramatic because so little was going right for the Broncos, but it had just as much of an effect on the outcome of the game as if Barrett had blocked a game-tying extra point at the end of regulation.
Phillip Lindsay makes history
Phillip Lindsay made NFL history in this game. He not only ran for over 100 yards for the first time in his NFL career (107 rushing yards, 111 total yards of offense), but he became the first undrafted rookie in NFL history to rack up over 100 yards from scrimmage in each of his first two games in the league.
Lindsay also had the longest run from scrimmage (53 yards) of any player since the Broncos’ 2016 regular-season finale when Justin Forsett had a 64-yard run against the Raiders.
Lindsay also led Denver running backs in snaps played on Sunday. He led the team in touches in week one and led the way both in touches and snaps against Oakland.
Lindsay may not be listed atop the Broncos’ depth chart at running back, but no player has been featured more this season.