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Jeff Legwold, ESPN senior writer
DENVER — In the end, even a coach with a resume as long as Sean Payton’s as an NFL head coach could only utter a quick sigh after the Denver Broncos’ wild 41-32 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Monday night at Empower Field at Mile High.
“Holy cow,” Payton said as he took the podium.
Payton had just watched his Broncos win a game despite allowing 497 passing yards and four touchdowns to Browns quarterback Jameis Winston, plus 235 receiving yards to former Broncos first-round pick Jerry Jeudy. as Cleveland finished with a staggering 552 yards of offense overall. But in the whirlwind, the Broncos defense also produced three interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and Denver moved to 8-5 to remain in the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoff race.
“Some games go in a direction that you think they’re going to go, obviously that game went in a very different direction, we made enough plays to win,” Payton said. “…We got the next win and that was the most important thing. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but we were able to finish.”
Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix said: “It’s really about moving on to the next drive, not worrying about the score, not worrying about what happened before… We just had to put it all together as best we can and “find a way to win a game… a game where you literally have to score more points, no matter how it happens.”
Jeudy’s reception total was the most the Broncos had given up in franchise history. Winston’s passing total was the second-highest by an opposing quarterback against the Broncos, trailing only Tony Romo’s 506 yards in 2013.
The Broncos led 21-10 and 28-17 in the second half only to see the Browns take a 32-31 lead with 8 minutes, 57 seconds left in the game on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Winston to Nick Chubb. fourth touchdown pass of the game.
But the Broncos drove 61 yards in 11 plays on their next possession, including two third-down conversions, to take a 34-32 lead after a 27-yard field goal by Wil Lutz. The Broncos finally stopped the roller coaster when cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian intercepted Winston on the next possession and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown (outside linebacker Nik Bonitto had returned an interception 71 yards for a score earlier in the game).
“Things got a little ugly on the sideline… we just had to get everyone together,” safety PJ Locke said. “We said, ‘They’re testing us, there’s going to be games like this, they’re testing us right now,’ but we pulled it out, we just pulled it out. It was crazy… we had the last bit. Faith… JMac was blown away. a great play happened.”
Payton said: “A great game, the game was full of them, but that was significant. It’s just a different game, we have to learn from it. We are in that moment here in December when all these things matter, we have to learn from it. “
Broncos linebacker Cody Barton intercepted Winston in the end zone with 44 seconds left to end the Browns’ final drive. The victory keeps the Broncos on track in the AFC playoff race and also improves their AFC record to 4-4, a potentially important tiebreaker in the coming weeks.
The Broncos have a bye next week and return to face the Indianapolis Colts (6-7) on Dec. 15 in Denver. It’s the first time the Broncos have been at least three games above .500 this late in a season since 2016, the first year of the current playoff drought.
The Broncos haven’t been to a playoff game since winning Super Bowl 50 to end the 2015 season.
“Obviously, when we go back and look at that defensive tape, there’s going to be a lot of things we would have done differently,” Payton said. “…And yet, we had two interceptions for a touchdown, another interception. I told them in the locker room that it wasn’t pretty, but in the end we did what we had to do, especially late… I’m proud of the way we that we fought and got the next victory.
