Broncos beat Rams by an inch in thriller after trailing by 16 at the half

Even an inch can provide high drama.

Bo Nix reached high over the top of a scrum on third-and-goal from well inside the 1-yard line and the Denver defense survived a final push by Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford on Sunday night, delivering the Broncos a dramatic, 30-26 primetime victory over the Rams.

It took Nix and the Denver offense seven tries to cover the last 7 yards, aided by a pair of Rams penalties, but in the end they covered the ground they needed and polished off a second straight home win over a Super Bowl contender in classic Broncos fashion.

They faltered early. They fell behind. They rebounded late. They created magic at Empower Field.

What else would you ever expect from Sean Payton’s team at this point? Flat offense early? Check. Defense reeling behind the crush of a balanced and grinding Rams attack? Check.

Furious second-half rally? Check. Frantic finish? Check. One-score win? Is that even a question?

In the end, Payton’s team prevailed again late thanks to another mad dash from Nix down the stretch and another stadium-rattling play from Vance Joseph’s defense.

The Broncos took their first lead of the game with 5:01 remaining when Talanoa Hufanga at long last logged his first interception for Denver and ran it back 67 yards for a touchdown.

Before Stafford, the future Hall of Famer, threw to the flat and watched Hufanga undercut it, the veteran safety had put his hands on the ball time after time after time.

He did it early in Sunday’s game, too. And while break-ups are nice, defensive backs want picks.

Hufanga had dropped too many over his first 19-plus regular-season games in Denver.

Until he didn’t. Then he caught two in a row.

The pick-six might have delivered Denver the lead, but that lasted less than 90 seconds on the game clock because Riley Moss fell down in coverage and watched Konata Mumpfield haul in a wide-open 48-yard touchdown with 3:38 left that put the Rams back in front, 26-23.

Then, as he’s done so many times already in his Broncos career, Nix went to work in crunch time.

He hit Pat Bryant for 39 yards on second-and-20, then Troy Franklin for 20 more to give the Broncos a chance to win the game.

Josh Wallace, playing in place of the injured Jaylen Watson, was targeted relentlessly by the Broncos after he entered the game and was called for pass interference that marked the first of two Rams infractions, handing Denver first-and-goal chances.

Nix at first appeared to score on a 2-yard run around the right end, but his bright orange cleat kissed the sideline grass inches short of the goal line.

Then, finally, he reached over the top and finished the job once and for all.

The Broncos, shut out for more than two quarters to open, scored 30 points in 22:01 of game time from the middle of the third quarter to the final minute of regulation.

Nix threw touchdowns to Pat Bryant and Nate Adkins that were punctuated with 2-point conversion tosses to Jaylen Waddle and Bryant, knotting the game in the fourth quarter.

Then they took the lead, lost it and took it back again.

Then Stafford took the Rams all the way down into scoring territory one more time before having a throw into the end zone from 19 yards out on the final play of the game intercepted by Hufanga.

The Broncos sideline erupted, the crowd simultaneously went berserk and exhaled and Denver improved to 2-1.

The Broncos would have been better off leaving their opening offensive script in the meeting room by mistake.

Denver went three-and-out to start, continuing an auspicious start to the season when it comes to starting games. The Broncos’ three opening drives this year have each been three plays. Bo Nix threw an interception on third down against Kansas City and Denver went three-and-out against Jacksonville and then again Sunday night against the Rams.

The only real scoring chance in the first half came on Denver’s drive and it ended in a 43-yard field goal attempt from Wil Lutz that hooked wide.

Other than that, the Rams ran the ball, ran the clock and ran the roost for the opening 30-plus minutes.

By the time halftime rolled around, they’d racked up 273 offensive yards to the Broncos’ 67, 46 plays to Denver’s 21, 87 rushing yards to Denver’s 21 and posted a nearly two-to-one time of possession edge.

That the scoreboard showed 16-0 almost discounted the extent to which the Rams dominated in every facet.

Despite the gaudy yardage totals and multiple-score lead, Payton made it clear during a brief halftime interview with NBC that he put the disadvantageous position squarely in his offense’s lap. Asked what Denver needed to do to get its offense in gear, he said, “”We’re going to see right here on this first drive. We have to have balance and take some stress off our defense.”

Instead of following through, though, the Broncos went three-and-out to open the third quarter and took just 52 seconds off the clock in the process.

Even without immediate help from the offense, though, the Denver defense righted the ship. They forced three straight punts on possessions that netted the Rams minus-4 yards before an early fourth-quarter interception thrown by Nix — the ball end-over-ended into Josh Wallace’s arms after Kobie Turner got his fingers on it out of Nix’s hand — set the Rams up with field position too good to squander.

Even then, the Denver defense surrendered just seven yards in as many plays, but Harrison Mevis’ fourth field goal of the night gave the Rams a 19-16 advantage with 8:40 to go.

________