Head coach Sean Payton spent the bye week hammering home one message: the Denver Broncos cannot keep giving games away. After a deep self-scout, he pointed to penalties and turnovers as the biggest threats to their push for the AFC’s top seed, per The Athletic.
Cleaning up flags was priority No. 1, ball security No. 1A. It fits the larger project in Denver, where Payton, rising assistant Davis Webb, and a locked-in Wil Lutz, fresh off a three-year extension, via NFL Network, are trying to pair high-powered offense with clean, disciplined football down the stretch.
In Sunday night’s thriller against the Washington Commanders, that obsession with details showed up in the biggest snap of the game. After Bo Nix’s touchdown drive opened overtime, Washington answered with an 11-play, 65-yard march, finishing with a Terry McLaurin 3-yard TD on fourth-and-3. Down 27-26, the Commanders lined up to go for two and the win.
That is when Payton called what he later described to ESPN as a “Kodak” moment. Seeing Washington’s alignment, Denver burned a timeout to reset. During the break, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph changed the call, shifting from one pressure look to another designed to create a free rusher while still accounting for Marcus Mariota’s designed QB runs.
With protection rules dictating who was picked up, the Commanders left edge rusher Nik Bonitto unblocked, exactly the outcome Denver was hoping for. Bonitto timed the snap, exploded off the edge, and blew up Mariota’s throw at the line, sealing a one-point victory.
The play capped a night where Denver’s offense again showed its ceiling without quite putting the game away. Nix threw for 321 yards with a touchdown and an interception, Evan Engram led the way with 79 receiving yards, and Courtland Sutton added a score.
But after a 20-14 lead entering the fourth quarter, two Jake Moody field goals forced overtime before RJ Harvey’s touchdown and Bonitto’s defensive heroics decided it.
At 9-2 and sitting atop the AFC on a tiebreaker, Denver knows these are the margins that will define its season. Payton’s “Kodak” timeout, Joseph’s adjustment, and Bonitto’s finish are the blueprint: prepare, diagnose, and win the snap that decides everything, starting again next week against the Raiders.
