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Denver Broncos | News

Broncos, Briefly: Monday, Sept. 17, 2018

This was the Broncos' chance to put last year behind them, to finish a come-from-behind win, to be led down the field by their new quarterback and to show their Week 1 win over Seattle wasn't a fluke.

In the huddle, the offensive players were confident when they returned to the field with 1:58 remaining Sunday against Oakland trailing by 2 points. No timeouts? Big deal. And one play into the drive, bad field position (their own 10-yard line)? No worry.

"We knew we were going to win," left tackle Garett Bolles said. "That was just our attitude."

**NFL Week 2: Bortles Unchained, Mahomes Unstoppable**(Albert Breer, Sports Illustrated)

Case Keenum is 12-1 in his last 13 regular season starts, and 13-2 if you include playoffs. And while I'm not going to give him all the credit, Keenum has come through when the Broncos have needed him. Last week he put together a seven-play, 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter to give Denver the go-ahead touchdown. This week, 10-play, 62-yard march set-up Brandon McManus' game-winning 36-yard chip shot.

More like hearts stopped. Turns out, he did exactly as he had been programmed. Each week, late in the week, Broncos' coach Vance Joseph holds a "Football 101" session. It's all about game situations -- clock management, when to use timeouts, when to get out of bounds, when to save the timeouts and spike it, when to challenge, up by six, down by three. The players are quizzed on it.

As Joseph gathered the team in the victorious locker room, several players were heard saying, "Football 101, Football 101.'' This 20-19 win, as it turned out was textbook, Football 101. Including the Patrick play.

The heat was on coach Vance Joseph, quarterback Case Keenum and the rest.

But, with Joseph doing a masterful job — yes — on the sideline, and Keenum stalking the sideline, coaxing his mates with "Once we get started, there'll be no stopping us."

The Broncos had possession three more times in the third and fourth quarters.

While the defense shut out the Raiders for the final 25 minutes and 25 seconds, the offense scored on a field goal, a touchdown, and with six seconds showing, another field goal by Brandon McManus to pull off a climatic comeback for the first time in almost a year.

Two games, two fourth-quarter comebacks and two wins for the Broncos. "We showed a lot of character and fight, and that's good, but we can't keep waiting like that," cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. With games coming up against the Ravens, Rams and Chiefs, Denver can't keep racing the clock in the fourth quarter to try to clean up early mistakes. The Broncos had one first down in the first half Sunday and didn't have an offensive touchdown drive until their first possession of the third quarter. -- Jeff Legwold

"When you're in that role, you never know when you'll have to jump into the game," Turner said. "You have to be ready and make sure you're going through all of the adjustments on the sidelines with the o- line and the coaches know what to expect."

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