DENVER — In a battle of NFL contenders, the Broncos were the ones left standing.
The Broncos responded from a nine-point second-half deficit to earn a 34-26 win over the Packers and cement a spot in the playoffs.
In a game that featured six lead changes, the Broncos made a series of big plays in the second half to earn their 11th consecutive win and improve to 12-2 on the season. With the win, the Broncos became the first team in the AFC to clinch a playoff berth and hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC through Week 15.
Led by a terrific four-touchdown performance from Bo Nix and a Denver defense that flipped its fortune in the second half, the Broncos pushed their home winning streak to 12 games.
These were the players and plays that made the difference in the Broncos' Week 15 win over the Green Bay Packers.
GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
The Broncos trailed by nine points and had just gone three-and-out when Jordan Love and the Packers took the field early in the third quarter looking to add to their lead. When Love launched a first-down pass deep to Christian Watson, cornerback Pat Surtain II made a highly athletic play to record his first interception of the season. Surtain leapt in the air for a diving pick to take the ball away and give the Broncos the ball back. Denver scored a touchdown on its next drive to cut the lead to two, and the Broncos would add two more touchdowns later in the game to retake and then solidify the lead. Without Surtain's big play, the Packers may have put the game out of reach. Instead, Denver got the takeaway it needed to earn a win.
DEFINING STATISTIC
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In the first half, the Packers' top 10 offense found plenty of success. Green Bay scored on all four of its first-half possessions to build a 16-14 lead, and the Packers added a touchdown on the first drive of the second half, as well. But beginning with Surtain's interception, allowed just a field goal over the Packers' final six drives. In all, Denver got five second-half stops — including two interceptions and a pair of turnovers on downs. For a Denver defense that was challenged early, it was quite the response.
MEMORABLE HIGHLIGHT
In a game in which the Broncos posted their second-highest point total of the season and also picked off Jordan Love twice, there were plenty of memorable plays to choose from. In this spot, we'll go with Courtland Sutton's fourth-down catch in the fourth quarter that set up the Broncos' final touchdown drive. Leading by just one point at the Green Bay 41-yard line, the fourth-and-2 loomed large in the game. With a conversion, the Broncos had a chance to score a touchdown and extend the lead. If Green Bay came up with the stop, though, the Packers would have been able to retake the lead with just a field goal. Sutton made a terrific grab with a defender in close coverage to get the needed yardage and set up Denver's score.
BOX-SCORE STANDOUTS
Quarterback Bo Nix posted arguably the best performance of his career, as he tied his career high with four touchdown passes and threw for more than 300 yards against the league's sixth-ranked scoring defense.
Wide receiver Courtland Sutton posted his second 100-yard game of the season and his first since Week 3. Sutton made several huge plays, including a 42-yard catch, a toe-tap touchdown grab and a critical fourth-down conversion.
Cornerback Riley Moss grabbed his first interception late in the game with the Packers trailing by eight and looking to tie the game.
Cornerback Pat Surtain II also gets a nod for a ridiculously athletic interception that swung the tenor of the game.
