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Drew Lock made Denver Broncos history on Sunday when he led the team to a furious comeback to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 on the game’s final play. Lock became just the third Broncos’ quarterback to be down by 10 or more points at halftime and be outscored in the third quarter, but still win the game.
Only three times in Denver Bronco history has the team trailed by >=17 in 3rd Q and won the game. 1983 - Elway brought us back against Colts. 2000 - Gus Frerotte (?!?) brought us back against Chargers and yesterday with @DrewLock23 bringing us back. https://t.co/50YvU4XLPj
— Joseph Mahoney (@ndjomo76) November 2, 2020
Only two other quarterbacks in team history have duplicated this kind of comeback and, no, Peyton Manning isn’t one of them. Many will think back to that 2012 game on Monday Night Football against the then San Diego Chargers. Down 24-0 at halftime, Manning and the Broncos came out to light up the third quarter to close the gap to 24-14 by the start of the fourth quarter where they would add three more touchdowns for a 35-24 win.
No, only two other games the Broncos have won where they were down double-digits at halftime and outscored in the third quarter only to come back to win the game.
Baltimore Colts at Denver Broncos - December 11th, 1983
Many of you will remember this as John Elway’s first fourth quarter comeback. The best of the three, Elway and the Broncos were down 19-0 to start the fourth quarter. However, Elway would toss three touchdowns in the final 15 minutes to lead Denver to a 21-19 win over the then Baltimore Colts.
San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos - November 19th, 2000
Ya’ll remember Gus Frerotte? In this game, Denver was down 24-10 at halftime and 34-17 entering the fourth quarter before Frerotte went crazy with a three touchdown fourth quarter to lift Denver to a 38-37 over the Ryan Leaf-led Chargers. He would finish with 462 yards, with 5 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
Los Angeles Chargers at Denver Broncos - November 1st, 2020
Then, of course, we have our teams most recent victory. Drew Lock and the Broncos had one of the worst first halves in recent memory, but a strong defensive effort kept the game close at 14-3, but that quickly turned into 24-3 before the Broncos offense woke up midway through the third quarter. Four touchdowns later, the Broncos would enter this elite company of comeback games in team history.