ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — When the Broncos needed it most, Russell Wilson delivered.
In prime time.
The prospects of a playoff run teetering between miniscule and manageable.
The football world watching.
The wind roared and so did Bills Mafia, but Wilson did what he’s done so many times over his 12-year career.
The Broncos quarterback engineered a go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown drive and a last-minute dash into field goal range to help propel the Broncos past Buffalo, 24-22, on Monday night.
Denver kicker Wil Lutz knocked home a 36-yard field goal to deliver the final margin, though it came with drama. He missed a 41-yard attempt, but Buffalo had 12 men on the field.
Round 2, from 36 yards, was pure.
“Saved by the grace of God,” Lutz said.
The key play on the game-winning drive: A 28-yard defensive pass interference penalty by Taron Johnson on Jerry Jeudy down the field on a third-and-10 heave.
The Broncos have won three straight since a 1-5 start.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft? How about a re-entry into the AFC postseason picture instead?
Blow up the roster and start over? This team instead has gelled.
And if the pandemonium and the wall-rattling music thumping from the visiting locker room here as Monday night ticked toward Tuesday morning is any indication, they’re planning on making more noise the rest of the way.
“Winning’s a learned skill. You can’t just pick it up and start doing it,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “You’ve got to learn how to do it. And do it through the experience of these kind of games.
“To get it done when you don’t have your best stuff offensively — the defense played lights out all night and to get four turnovers, that’s unbelievable. We’re playing complete, team football right now and it’s fun.”
Wilson and the Broncos offense had gone dormant for the entire third quarter — 12 yards on 15 plays in the period — before they found a groove in the fourth.
Rookie Marvin Mims Jr. ripped off a 29-yard punt return and then Wilson engineered a 7-plus minute, go-ahead touchdown drive that culminated in a wide-open touchdown pass to Javonte Williams.
The key plays, though, came on third-down conversions on third-and-11 and third-and-7 back-to-back after Denver had been 0-for-10 on third-and-6 or longer.
“Russ did Russ things,” said receiver Courtland Sutton, who earlier in the game hauled in an improbable toe-drag touchdown on a fourth-and-2 heave from Wilson, who finished 24-of-29 passing for 197 yards, two touchdowns and 30 rushing yards.
“He’s probably one of the greatest two-minute quarterbacks of all time,” McGlinchey said.
Lutz hit the left upright after Sutton’s touchdown, and Riley Dixon dropped Mitch Fraboni’s snap and botched another attempt after Denver’s last TD. The result: a 21-15 lead rather than seven points with 5:06 to play.
Right on cue, Josh Allen and the Bills went right down the field and took the lead on a quarterback keeper with 1:55 to go.
That nearly spoiled what was a terrific early performance from the Broncos defense.
Nickel Ja’Quan McMillian stopped James Cook in his tracks on the first snap of the game, then ripped the ball free and took it for himself.
On Buffalo’s second drive, a Josh Allen fastball bounded off the hands of receiver Gabe Davis and into the waiting arms of Justin Simmons, ending a scoring threat.
Then late in the half corner Fabian Moreau picked Allen for Denver’s third takeaway of the first half.
All three came compliments of players who weren’t on the field during the lowest lows of the Broncos’ early-season defensive unraveling. McMillian and Moreau simply weren’t playing and Simmons missed two games due to injury.
The only real problem for Denver: The Broncos started at Buffalo’s 28 and 25 after McMillian’s fumble recovery and Moreau’s interception and came away with just six points.
The takeaways, though, continued an epic turnover binge for Vance Joseph’s defense. Dating back to the second quarter of Week 8 against Kansas City, the Broncos logged eight takeaways over 14 defensive possessions.
Then the second half opened with Joseph’s group riding to the rescue again. The Denver offense started with a lifeless possession, but defensive end Zach Allen chased down Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen on fourth-and-3 near midfield after Sean McDermott kept his offense on the field in a decision that smelled like desperation.
“I think ball security,” Payton said Saturday when asked for the key for his offense Monday night. “(Buffalo) is a team team, if you look statistically speaking, they cause more fumbles than pretty much anyone in the league. I think they are second. … There are certain things that you can have your best plan and effort and everything else, but that is the trump card that can keep you from winning.”
The Broncos finished plus-three, but they picked a bad time to commit their first turnover on offense. In a field position game, Denver would have punted from around midfield except Sutton fumbled a third-and-6 completion and the Bills took over at their own 46-yard line and promptly went 54 yards in seven plays for their second touchdown of the night. This one tied the game at 15 with 6:42 left in the third quarter.
Denver struggled all night to convert on Bills giveaways. The Broncos’ four drives after Buffalo turnovers went like this:
Three plays, six yards, field goal
Six, 30, punt
Three, nine, field goal
Three, four, punt.
At the end of the day, though, they will wake up Tuesday and fly home with a win.
Asked if it was the biggest of his career, Sutton had an answer befitting a team that thinks the tide is turning its way.
“So far,” he said.
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