ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the Broncos waited to learn who their Divisional Round opponent would be, their bye week practices had key focuses.
Third down, red zone, two-minute.
"These games are going to come down to a two-minute [scenario]," Head Coach Sean Payton said Friday on his message to his team.
That statement turned out to be predictive of Wild Card Weekend, as each of the first four games ended as one-score results. In the first three matchups, the team leading at the two-minute warning ultimately lost the football game. And in the fourth game — San Francisco's win over Philadelphia — the victorious Niners came up with a fourth-down stop on the edge of the red zone with just 21 seconds remaining.
The Broncos' own Divisional Round opponent punched their ticket to this weekend's meeting with two-minute success, as the Bills scored with 1:04 to play before picking off Trevor Lawrence on the first snap of Jacksonville's ensuing drive.
As Denver hosts its first playoff game in a decade against the reigning MVP, the Broncos' ability to succeed in those tough moments could be critical — and Denver has shown its mettle this season. The Broncos tied an NFL record with 11 one-score wins, and many of those victories came courtesy of two-minute success.
The Broncos shut down last-gasp drives to earn early season wins over the Titans, Eagles and Jets, while Denver's offense surged late in wins over the Giants and Texans. In a season-defining win against the Chiefs in Denver, the Broncos came up with a key stop before driving for the game-winning field goal.
Over the course of the season, quarterback Bo Nix led seven game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime — and a number of those scores came in an end-of-game scenario.
"I don't think anybody on the offense flinches," wide receiver Courtland Sutton said of the Broncos' two-minute success. "If you look at our demeanor on the sideline, no matter what's going on during the game, I would like to say that the demeanor of our offense is very even-keeled.
"… I think we've proven throughout the course of the regular season that everyone should have that confidence, belief and faith in us that until that game is zeroed out, we have a chance to go win that game."
Over the course of the regular season, the Broncos posted a plus-64 fourth-quarter point differential. That gap ranks second in the NFL and just above the third-ranked Bills' plus-50 fourth-quarter differential.
Sutton said the credit for the offensive success can be attributed to each player, and it's created a level of belief heading into the postseason. Tight end Evan Engram said the confidence initially stemmed from the team's 14-point fourth-quarter comeback in Philadelphia in which Denver scored 18 unanswered points in the final frame.
"That was really the first one," Engram said Tuesday. "[Against] a team that's been undefeated since last year and defending Super Bowl champs and you get a win like that, it's definitely going to build confidence. Obviously we've had a bunch more after that. … Looking back, I think that was kind of the jump start for us."
And having a quarterback like Nix — who has made defining plays with both his arms and his legs — is certainly part of why the team has belief.
"When our backs are against the wall, we know we have a guy back there that steps up in those moments," Engram said.
PREPARING FOR ALLEN, BILLS
The Broncos will face one of their toughest challenges of the season as they host the reigning MVP in Josh Allen, and Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph acknowledged the difficulty of preparing for a player with size and mobility who can also "make every single throw" on the field.
"You can't simulate it, obviously," Joseph said. "If you could, you would. But you can't. There's one Josh Allen, and he lives in Buffalo. He'll show up Saturday morning, and we've got to get him stopped. [There's] ways to win every game, and we have to practice that way and have a plan that way and adjust quickly and obviously put the fires out when they come. That's our job."
As the Broncos ready for the challenge, Joseph hopes Denver's defense — which finished the regular season first in red-zone defense, second in third-down defense and third in scoring defense — is at its best.
"I'm hoping we play our best football Saturday," Joseph said. "It's time. It's been a long, long, good year for our defense. Some ups and downs, but it's time to play our best ball. That's the expectation."
