Russell Wilson conjured some Sunday night magic.
The Broncos quarterback dinked and dunked and scrambled.
Then he lofted a pass to the back of the end zone and Courtland Sutton hauled in a go-ahead 15-yard touchdown with 63 seconds left in the game.
A failed two-point try kept the score at 21-20 and gave the Vikings a chance, but Denver’s defense came up with one more stop on Minnesota quarterback Josh Dobbs and company.
“We all as players and this organization, we believe,” said Wilson, who finished 25 of 37 for 259 for a touchdown. “We’ve been believing, relentlessly, every day.”
Winning streak? Alive and well.
A team that started 1-5 is now back to level at 5-5.
Denver has reeled off four straight wins for the first time since 2016 to make that a reality.
Its veteran quarterback had a lot to do with that in prime time after a mostly quiet three-plus quarters.
Wilson on the go-ahead drive completed 6 of 9 passes for 68 yards, four to running back Samaje Perine and the touchdown to Sutton, which Wilson said was a call he checked into at the line of scrimmage.
“That was a gutsy drive,” head coach Sean Payton said. “That was a good two-minute drive, now.”
Vintage stuff from the 12th-year veteran, indeed.
“He might be the greatest two-minute quarterback in the history of the NFL,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said of Wilson. “When the game’s on the line, he’s at his best and at his calmest. The ability to see things clearly when (stuff’s) hitting the fan… he played great.”
For much of the night, though, the Denver offense did not, despite a couple of primo chances created by the club’s turnover-happy defense.
Ja’Quan McMillian twice set up the offense in terrific position, first with a fumble recovery off of quarterback Josh Dobbs on the third play of the game and then again early in the fourth quarter on an interception.
McMillian, a big-play machine in recent weeks, gave Wilson and company the ball first at the Minnesota 30-yard line and then at the 9-yard line. The result? A pair of measly field goals.
Those represented one part of a massive failure in the red zone and on third down for the Broncos’ offenses in the pair of departments that nearly undid them.
Denver failed on each of its first four red zone trips, settling for field goals on each occasion. They failed on 10 of their first 11 third-down tries on the night, too. None more brutal than a pair of attempts early in the fourth quarter as the Broncos tried to mount a comeback. First, a third-and-1 conversion turned into an illegal formation penalty and then a Wilson sack, leading to Lutz’s fourth field goal of the night.
After inside linebacker Josey Jewell forced a pop-up throw and McMillian interception to set Denver up with first-and-goal, they went backward. But Wilson recognized an all-out blitz on third-and-goal and threw hot to Jerry Jeudy, who broke open on a slant. Go-ahead touchdown? Nope. Jeudy dropped the ball and in the process squandered what would have been a go-ahead score.
Lutz brought Denver within 17-15, but the Vikings mounted a 14-play, 63-yard drive that chewed 7:20 off the clock and ended in a 30-yard Greg Joseph field goal that put the visitors up 20-15 with 3:17 to play.
As it turned out, the drama was only just beginning.
Minnesota controlled most of the build-up thanks to a rushing attack that entered Sunday night averaging less than 90 rushing yards per game but piled up 175 against the Broncos.
Dobbs capped an early march with a terrific 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh Oliver after shedding a sack attempt by Jonathon Cooper. Cooper got him on Minnesota’s next red zone trip to force a field goal, however, helping the Broncos stay within 10-9 at halftime.
“Man, I cannot believe that,” Cooper said of Dobbs. “He was more elusive than I thought. Credit to him, he made some good plays.”
When Payton has talked in recent weeks about Denver’s defensive turnaround, he’s often referenced the group’s improved play against the run. Though the rest of the Broncos’ statistics have looked markedly different over the past five games, the group hasn’t consistently shut down opposing rushing attacks. Minnesota clearly took that message despite not being a strong rushing outfit over the first half of the season. The duo of Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler sliced and diced Denver’s front seven, combining for 28 carries and 154 yards.
In order to make an improbable playoff run, Denver likely needs to get to 10 wins on the season, though not all wins are created equal. When teams invariably bunch up around the cut line for the seven-team playoff field in each conference, record against division and conference foes usually comes into play. In that regard, next week’s home game against Cleveland and then back-to-back road games are more impactful than Sunday night against the Vikings or the close of a three-game road set in mid-December at Detroit.
All the same, finding a way past the Vikings at home in prime time for a fourth straight win only serves as further confidence for a team that’s been far from perfect in recent weeks but still has found a way to claw back from a 1-5 start to .500 with a critical stretch of AFC games against Cleveland at home and then on the road against Houston and the Los Angeles Chargers coming up next.
For Sunday night, though, Broncos CEO Greg Penner summed up the thriller best through a smile as he walked out of the locker room and through the post-game interview area.
“Never a doubt,” he said.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
