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Broncos Fans Have Playoff Dreams and Nightmares After Win Over Vikings

What a difference four weeks have made for the Broncos.
November 20, 2023
Image: Courtland Sutton had plenty of reasons to smile after hauling in the game-winning touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings on November 19.
Courtland Sutton had plenty of reasons to smile after hauling in the game-winning touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings on November 19. Denver Broncos via YouTube

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Back on October 22, many fans of your Denver Broncos were pissed off about the squad's victory over the Green Bay Packers. The Broncos had no chance in hell of making the playoffs, they reasoned, so all the win did was lower their chances of a great draft pick next year.

Less than a month later, everything has changed. In the wake of Denver's 21-20 squeaker over the previously hot, hot, hot Minnesota Vikings during the November 19 edition of Sunday Night Football, true believers took to social media to predict that the Broncos would actually reach the postseason in one of the greatest turnarounds the NFL has ever seen. And while an equal number scoffed at this prospect, the team's fourth consecutive triumph (following a beyond-putrid 1-5 start) gave this dream at least a mathematical possibility of coming true.

Granted, the odds aren't great: The New York Times playoff calculator gives the Men of Orange just a 21 percent chance of achieving this goal. But after besting the Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Vikes in consecutive contests, a substantial slice of Broncos Country is singing a new version of an old (and super-cheesy) tune.

Jon Keyworth's "Make Those Miracles Happen."

For most of the Denver-Minnesota match-up, such a happy ending seemed ultra-unlikely. The Vikings were the talk of the league thanks to Joshua Dobbs, the Passtronaut (he interned with NASA) who somehow engineered a pair of Ws after taking over as quarterback for Kirk Cousins, who'd suffered a torn Achilles. But Dobbs dropped the snap on the first play of the game yesterday and fumbled into the arms of Ja'Quan McMillian on the third.

Nonetheless, Minnesota rebounded, holding the Broncos to (no surprise) a field goal in their initial possession and running like mad through the Denver D on the majority of subsequent marches. The success of Vikings running backs ‎Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler, who seemed to pick up eight yards every time they got a touch, took the weight off Dobbs even as it portended an agonizing night for Broncos loyalists.

But death by a thousand line-of-scrimmage cuts was not to be Denver's fate. QB Russell Wilson managed to maneuver his fellows on two more scoring drives before halftime — the second aided by woeful clock management on the part of Minnesota coach Kevin O'Connell. Too bad the Broncos only netted field goals, leaving them a single point down to the Vikings, 10-9, prior to intermission.

Wilson and company soon went back to toying-with-disaster mode, going three-and-out after receiving the second half kickoff and then promptly letting Dobbs scramble for a touchdown to extend Minnesota's lead to 17-9. And even though the Vikings graciously coughed up the ball during their next two offensive attempts, Denver still couldn't find the end zone, settling for field goals both times. On the second of these efforts, the Broncos started on Minnesota's nine-yard line, yet notched negative-one yard over the next three downs before trotting out Will Lutz, the "hero" of the Bills game, to boot the pigskin over the crossbar for a fifth time.

When the Vikings put up a three-pointer of their own a few minutes later, an unhappy ending loomed. But Wilson moved the Broncos with alacrity as the clock was winding down, largely with quick but effective tosses to secret weapon Samaje Perine, before wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who's been enjoying a well-earned renaissance, snared a jump ball for six points — and Dobbs's bid for a last-second comeback came to a whole lot of nothing.

In an interview after the final whistle, Wilson gave the usual props to his Lord and Savior. But whether any playoff prayers will be answered quickly became a subject of fierce debate. Count down our picks for the twenty most memorable post-game takes on the Service Formerly Known as Twitter to see what we mean:

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Image: Michael Roberts
Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
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