The Denver Broncos fell once again on Sunday and dropped to 3-10 on the year. It was a different week, but the same story.
Lost in the shuffle of the team’s 14th consecutive loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was the fact that the Broncos nearly pulled off what would have been the second-largest comeback in NFL regular season history.
The Broncos looked about as bad as they had all season while allowing the Chiefs to jump out to a 27-0 lead. But after an outburst following a failure to convert on third down by Jerry Jeudy, the Broncos came alive.
The turnaround was sparked by interceptions by Josey Jewell and Patrick Surtain which directly led to two touchdowns which were both caught by Jeudy.
At halftime, the Broncos trailed 27-14 and it seemed like they could steal some momentum. But it was the Chiefs they were playing against so it was tough to get too hopeful.
Then the Broncos started the second half off with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Marlon Mack. The lead was down to six and the Broncos looked like a completely different team, yet the possibility of a historic comeback was not even mentioned.
Only one game in NFL regular-season history would have been a bigger comeback
The Chiefs were able to get a touchdown late in the third quarter to go up 34-21 but the Broncos kept fighting. Then in the fourth quarter, while running for a first down on 3rd-and-11, Wilson was knocked out of the game.
Brett Rypien came on and tossed a touchdown to Jeudy moments later, his third of the day. But it wasn’t enough.
Though Jewell added a second interception to give the Broncos another chance, Rypien threw an interception himself on the ensuing possession and the Chiefs were able to hold on.
Only one game, a battle between the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints in December of 1980, would have had a bigger comeback — 28 points.
There were two postseason games with bigger comebacks, but had the Broncos been able to complete the comeback on Sunday, it would have been the brightest spot in an otherwise terrible season.