Final Score: Broncos overcome Packers comeback attempt to secure 19-17 home win

The Denver Broncos had not won a home game all season, but in their fourth attempt they would overcome a comeback attempt by the Green Bay Packers to secure a 19-17 win to move to 2-5 on the season. They also snapped a 10-game losing streak when leading at halftime.

The game was a lot closer than it was midway through the third quarter when the Broncos took a 16-3 lead, but the Packers stormed back with two touchdown drives to take a lead midway through the fourth quarter. Denver’s offense would come out and do just enough to kick a 52-yard field goal to take a lead and safety P.J. Locke would secure the win with an interception on Jordan Love with just over a minute to go in the game.

The Broncos’ defense has now shown up for two games in a row holding opponents under 20-points. Hopefully this new defense is here to stay.

First Quarter

The Broncos first possession was a good one. They faced a third and eight early on, but Russell Wilson went deep to Courtland Sutton for a 33-yard gain.

From there, the running game took over until Javonte Williams plunged into the end zone from three yards out. A holding penalty on the offensive line wiped that out and forced Denver to settle for a field goal instead to cap an 11-play, 62 yard drive to open the game.

The two teams began trading punts from there with the first quarter coming to an end with the Broncos moving the ball on their third drive. Two nice runs by Jaleel McLaughlin and Javonte Williams had Denver into Packers territory. Samaje Perine broke a tackle for a big gain down to the Packers 30 yard line as the first quarter came to end with Denver in scoring range.

Broncos 3, Packers 0.

Second Quarter

After getting the ball to the Packers 11-yard line, the Broncos offense stalled again and settled for a Wil Lutz field goal to go up 6-0 early in the second quarter.

The second quarter turned into an ugly offensive battle as both teams struggled to do anything for much of the quarter. Denver’s defense had been outstanding throughout the first half holding the Packers offense on every series.

That defensive effort began to wane late in the second quarter as the Packers finally put together a potential scoring drive late. They would get the ball again to start the third quarter, so putting up points at the end of the first half would have been good for them heading into halftime. Instead, the whiffed the field goal wide left to keep Denver out in front by six.

With just 45 seconds left in the half, however, the Broncos offense streaked down the field with several big throws by Wilson and a 22-yard run by Wilson that setup a field goal of their own instead to go up by two scores at the break.

Broncos 9, Packers 0.

Third Quarter

The Packers continued being able to move the ball to start the second half, but like Denver their offense continued to stumble inside the red zone and settled for a field goal.

Meanwhile, the Broncos offense continued to be able to move the football with ease against the Packers defense in the second half. They would cap the drive on a beautiful wide open pass from Wilson to Courtland Sutton to put Denver up, 16-3.

Denver’s defense had played well in this game, but one area that hounded them all game was on third downs. The Packers kept finding ways to convert on third downs and late in the third quarter that finally turned into an all-important scoring drive.

Jordan Love threw the ball up into the end zone and it looked like an easy interception by Pat Surtain, but Romeo Doubs dive into the ball and wrestled it away from Surtain before they both landed on the ground in the end zone where refs would rule it a touchdown. There was some disagreement on who should have be awarded the catch, but it doesn’t matter. There is no review for those judgement calls.

That score would cut the Broncos lead back to 6.

Broncos 16, Packers 10.

Fourth Quarter

Despite dominating through three and a half quarters, the Broncos defense began showing cracks into the fourth quarter. That culminated with Kareem Jackson likely earning himself another fine with a defenseless hit on the receiver. The hit was egregious enough for him to be ejected from the game with over 13 minutes left in the game.

That would catapult the Packers offense to a scoring drive where they would convert on two fourth down tries. The second being for a touchdown reception that was deflected off one wide receiver’s hands and into another’s for a game-changing score to put Green Bay up 17-16.

With plenty of time left in the game, the Broncos offense came back out to try to answer the Packers comeback. They burned two timeouts in the second half on defense, so they had to do it without those. They were able to get close enough to have Wil Lutz try a 52-yard field goal that went right down the middle to give Denver a 19-17 lead.

A massive catch and run by AJ Dillon could have all but iced the game for Green Bay just before the two minute warning with a huge gain into Broncos’ territory. However, a holding penalty pushed them back and then Jordan Love yolo’d a ball deep that was intercepted by P.J. Locke to ice the game for Denver’s defense.

Broncos 19, Packers 17.