Parker Gabriel’s 7 thoughts on Broncos’ wild win over Giants, including a deep dive on Sean Payton’s Saturday special that set up winning FG

The Broncos pulled off a miracle Sunday at Empower Field scoring a franchise-record points in the fourth quarter to stun the New York Giants - Here s a look at the win as Denver moved to - after seven weeks Broncos HC Sean Payton will unfailingly try to find a way to put a little more hay in the barn Sunday against the Giants it paid off big Courtland Sutton had an inkling of what was coming when Sean Payton summoned him late in the week The veteran Broncos receiver sat down in Payton s office and the coach started talking Fast If we get into this situation in the championship I ve got a play And it s going to work Sutton recalled Payton telling him Just trust me He started showing Sutton clips of other teams succeeding in late-half and late-game scenarios He has such a unique mind when it comes to football Sutton noted The plays he was showing me wasn t the play we ran It was just the concept and an idea of what he envisioned He just sees it in such a it s like a different language If you tried to explain it to someone you d have to sit down and it would need to be like a full breakdown of what he s thinking He sees it he s like OK this is how we re going to do it and then you ve got to just trust it and follow it Trust that it s going to be there The Broncos installed the play during their Saturday walk-through They d already run others Sunday against the Giants when quarterback Bo Nix hit Marvin Mims Jr for yards it looked like Nix might have certainly been throwing the deep in-breaker to Sutton on a dagger concept to move the Broncos to the edge of field goal range amid a frantic finish Giants star Brian Burns didn t get to the defensive side of the line of scrimmage fleetly enough and got penalized for it New York took its final timeout with seconds left Turns out Denver was set up perfectly to run the play You get in those fastball situations with however much time left in the clock no timeouts Payton explained We walk-throughed it went through it and sure enough it came up The correct hash everything He sent the call in to Nix Nix relayed it to the Broncos in the huddle Sutton hardly had time to realize it was the one they d just gone over the day before But as he motioned across the formation and saw Payton s firehose of words about field position hash down and distance unfold before him he thought Dang this joint should work Sutton had started on the right side in a bunch formation with receiver Pat Bryant and tight end Nate Adkins When he motioned cornerback Andru Phillips went with him indicating man coverage Sutton settled in the left slot On the snap he started up the field and then cut behind fellow receiver Troy Franklin who was running a needle journey across the field Franklin s already been called for offensive pass interference previously this season but he did a good job of creating traffic for Phillips to work through without stopping his trail or overtly running into the Giants corner The natural paths of their routes and Sutton s positioning in the slot left him plenty of space to widen out between Phillips and the sideline Nix put a perfect back-shoulder throw on him and Sutton hauled it in Just like that a -yard field goal attempt became a -yarder for Lutz For that play to be the last play before we kicked the field goal is so crazy because I m thinking it might be in the first quarter might be in the second quarter Sutton disclosed Might be an end-of-half situation For it to be the play that puts us in position to go kick a game-winning situation is amazing It s dope to have a coach that you hear all the time the hay is never in the barn With Coach it s literally never in the barn I ve been a part of plays put in Saturday I ve been a part of plays put in Sunday morning I ve seen it all and I d say for the bulk part like of the time those plays work because he sees something There are limited things in the job Payton takes more satisfaction in than finding something late in the week that makes a difference He romanticizes late nights in the office candles incense and a stream of video clips all of them he s already seen likely countless times It doesn t just matter in the moment though It s also one of the tactics Payton ends up instilling confidence in his players Players have been telling me about that all year tight end Evan Engram a spring free agent addition informed The Post Sometimes he just starts cookin at the end of the week He ll start putting in plays on Saturday We re just like Alright Bet There constantly comes a time or a situation That was pretty cool And classic Payton I hate that term The hay is in the barn Payton mentioned It s never in the barn Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix middle scores against the New York Giants during the second half of an NFL football event in Denver Sunday Oct AP Photo Jack Dempsey Nix s -yard touchdown run that put Denver in the lead with remaining was a beauty and it completely a year later tapped back into a key part of Nix s success Nix started slowly his rookie year but quarterbacks coach Davis Webb explained The Post last year that he considered a frantic wide-open fourth-quarter chasing points in a Week loss at the Los Angeles Chargers as the moment he knew his pupil could be a difference-maker Sunday night felt like that fourth quarter except Nix and the Broncos definitely came back and won this encounter against the Giants What s enthralling though is that it was Week in New Orleans last season when the difference in offensive approach for Denver felt palpable An NFC scout described The Post after that match The challenge started and I was like What is this offense The Broncos got more speed on the field They used Nix extensively in the designed run meeting They racked up -plus rushing yards on a Thursday night and set the stage for a high-quality offensive run through the middle part of the season Fast forward to Week a year later and Payton dipped back into that match plan for a couple of ideas A big play to Evan Engram going into the two-minute warning set the Broncos up at the New York -yard line with the stoppage to consider their next move Payton dialed up a rare designed quarterback run Related Articles Broncos ILB Justin Strnad continues breakout with game-flipping pick vs Giants He s going crazy Renck When it mattered majority Broncos revealed heart providing fitting tribute to DT Super Bowl club Broncos count franchise-record fourth-quarter points storm to walk-off win vs Giants Broncos Sean Payton hoped Giants would make QB change from Russell Wilson to Jaxson Dart long after our contest Sean Payton Silly to run on field to criticize agents during Broncos-Giants Entering Sunday Nix had carries on the season Of those had been scrambles quarterback sneaks or kneel downs Nix can and has created good outcomes when scrambling on designed pass plays but designed quarterback runs or plays that feature a Nix run as a foreseen option have been meager and far between for the Broncos so far this season Not this time Payton put four eligibles on the right side of the formation three receivers plus running back Tyler Badie Sutton aligned tight on the left At the snap he crack-blocked defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux while left tackle Garett Bolles looped outside as a lead blocker for Nix The quarterback took the snap out of the gun and darted to the left Bolles got his hands on Phillips on the edge Nobody else had a chance We got man Payton mentioned and we had kind of saved that little crack series we ran a little bit in New Orleans a year ago So he has good enough legs and if you watch the film everyone on defense is on the right side of the field You have your left tackle and the quarterback It was one of several good pulls of the play sheet by Payton late in the encounter It could be even better if the Broncos keep going back to it more in the coming weeks Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos celebrates after scoring a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter of a tournament against the New York Giants at Empower Field At Mile High on Oct in Denver Photo by Matthew Stockman Getty Images Payton insisted after the match I don t want to hear about tempo referring to a common refrain this week that perhaps Denver should play faster and more frequently in no-huddle Funny enough though the Broncos ascertained success late in the meeting not just by playing fast they had to in this scenario because they were trailing by three scores but also by going back to particular concepts and styles that worked last year as Payton tailored his offensive plan to what Nix did well as a rookie Last year Nix got off to a rocky start and really started to come into his own when Denver was forced to play fast and then committed more heavily to specific of the RPO tournament and concepts that the young quarterback prefers Now the same thing is happening in Year We just started clicking Nix reported Started playing fast started clicking Who cares what you call it if your quarterback likes it and it works It was a remarkably quiet week on the Russell Wilson front and Sean Payton still managed to get a dig in at his former quarterback Say this for Payton He never misses a chance to throw shade at former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson The Giants of unit benched Wilson after an - start and turned to rookie Jaxson Dart They d won two straight games and should really have won a third straight Sunday at Empower Field Given everything going on this week the Broncos returning from London the celebration of the Super Bowl squad and Demaryius Thomas and the surprising run of bulletin board material supplied by the standout pass-rushers from both teams Wilson wasn t even an afterthought He came out for early warmups with his headphones on went through his normal routine and then determined several Giants fans near the visiting tunnel and signed autographs a couple of hours before the competition That was it He stood mostly by himself and watched the tournament from the sideline Payton s got history with the Giants organization though He spent four seasons coaching for the company in the s and stated after the event that he s close with John Mara the association s owner They detected a little spark with that quarterback Payton announced I was talking to John Mara not too long ago and I reported We were hoping that change would ve happened long after our match Translation Payton hoped Denver would face Wilson rather than the rookie Sunday did mark a pretty telling day for Wilson though He s now watched his three the greater part fresh games at Empower Field over three seasons and for three different teams from the sideline First came the final weeks of the season after Payton benched Wilson in favor of Jarrett Stidham Then came a Week visit from Pittsburgh last year when Wilson was dealing with a calf injury and didn t play Now this year Wilson signed a one-year deal with the Giants for million this offseason and made it three games before coach Brian Daboll with his job on the line had seen enough It s demanding to see where the road goes from here for the third-round draft pick He played straight years in Seattle to start his career but now has seen his tenures in Denver Pittsburgh and New York end far sooner than he planned The contract deadline is coming up in a little more than two weeks Will a crew want him as an insurance procedures Or will he be left backing up Dart and then hitting free agency again in Dre Greenlaw s impact was felt early just not often in Denver s win If he stays healthy he s going to be fun to watch Once inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw was activated from injured reserve Saturday and his debut with the Broncos came clearly into view one source close to him had a prediction I veritably feel sorry for the Giants the source commented Greenlaw has been champing at the bit to get on the field Broncos coaches talked about needing to tackle how much work they gave him in camp after a spring quad injury Then setback after setback The final landed him on injured reserve from Weeks - When he conclusively hit the field though he made his presence felt briskly Greenlaw racked up four assisted tackles in his first six snaps and finished his debut with six tackles plus a crushing hit on Dart Denver took a unique approach with the long-time San Francisco playmaker Let him play early in the event until he hit a max of snaps then get him out Greenlaw watched greater part of the stretch run from the sideline without his helmet Just seeing the work he put in and the disappointment in his face when he almost got there and then something happened defensive lineman Malcolm Roach recounted The Post Just knowing how much of a dog he is he goes hard He gave us a good spark We done seen him at practice so we knew what we got We just had to get the world to see it and boy when they take him off that play limit it s going to be crazy He s downhill When we re running to that ball I ve got to watch out for him because he s trying to beat me to it Marvin Mims Jr of the Denver Broncos returns a punt during the first quarter against the New York Giants at Empower Field At Mile High on Oct in Denver Photo by Justin Edmonds Getty Images Every time Marvin Mims Jr is involved good things seem to happen for the Denver offense In the early going for the Broncos on Sunday the only time they did anything positive was when they got the ball in Marvin Mims Jr s hands At one point Mims had yards on two touches and the rest of the offense combined for yards on plays Mims made big plays down the stretch too He hauled in a contested catch for a -yard gain to convert a third-and- just before the two-minute warning on Denver s go-ahead touchdown drive Then he got more on the final drive of the contest to jump-start the Broncos blast into field goal range in the waning seconds In all Mims finished with six catches seven targets and yards plus rushing yards The six catches ties for second-most in a encounter for Mims in his career He did it earlier this season in a - win against Cincinnati as well What s more both of Mims big plays Sunday came with him playing from traditional receiver positions For much of the early part of the season Mims has been used as a gadget athlete occasionally lining up in the backfield and being a focal point of Denver s screen contest We re inevitably looking for techniques to get him involved Get him in space offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi stated Thursday There s stuff in the plan every week Sometimes you get to it and they cover it Sometimes you don t But moving him around can stress a defense Obviously we ve had certain big plays over the past couple of years with him coming out of the backfield or in motion It s been good Seemingly won t do it anymore Lombardi might have been joking with that last part but it will be captivating to see if Denver continues to use Mims in a more traditional receiver role in addition to his other work His playing time entering Sunday is up from last year and outings like this one are a good reminder of what he can do outside the screen championship Before the Broncos torrid offensive fourth quarter began they d been in a game-plus drought Not just struggling to move the ball or put points on the board Struggling really to function in any manner Denver went offensive possessions from the start of the second quarter against the New York Jets in London last week through the third quarter of Sunday s eventual win against the Giants and basically netted one point They got a field goal down the stretch against the Jets but also gave up a safety in that competition Then they started Sunday with six punts a turnover on downs and a failed drive before the end of the first half The tally overall in that span punts a turnover on downs the end-of-half failure a safety and a field goal All of that turned into a big ugly footnote when Denver finished Sunday with points in five possessions four touchdowns two two-point conversions and a field goal b The Broncos have played seven games this season and three of them have come down to walk-off field goal attempts On the third try Sean Payton s club ended up on the winning side That s thanks to kicker Wil Lutz who calmly put a -yarder through the uprights as time expired his first true game-winner in two-plus seasons with the Broncos Lutz knew a game-winning attempt was coming as soon as the band crossed midfield on a -yard completion from Bo Nix to Marvin Mims Jr That would have been a -yard attempt had Denver not moved the ball any farther Lutz though stated the distance in that moment didn t really matter In that situation my line doesn t matter he commented of his range We re kicking it no matter where it is For this situation specifically there was no line We were going to give it a chance wherever the ball was when the clock called for a field goal c The Broncos yet again owe a big thank you to the opposing coach There is just no reason to chase points when you re winning and in control of a match and yet there was Brian Daboll following an early missed extra point by going for two The Giants failed there so two points Then Jude McAtamney missed another extra point with seconds to go Now he s only on the roster because of an injury to Graham Gano but the two extra points and missed two-point conversion cost the Giants three points It s not just the difference between two and three at the end of the contest either If McAtamney makes the early extra point or Daboll opts for one and gets it on the third touchdown it s a -point lead That s categorically a three-touchdown lead At the Broncos had more pathways back into the challenge unlikely as they were Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton gestures during the first half of an NFL football meeting against the New York Giants in Denver Sunday Oct AP Photo Jack Dempsey After one of the majority unpredictable games you ll see here s an easy call to start Week Sean Payton is not going to be particularly pleasant to be around the next limited days He more or less noted as much after the championship Canvassing the locker room afterward players and gang executives agreed To be honest it doesn t feel sweet running back J K Dobbins declared afterward It s great to get the win but we can t have that That naturally is Denver s putrid first three quarters offensively That is also John Franklin-Myers getting called for roughing the passer and Riley Moss getting tagged for pass interference on New York s go-ahead drive late Payton himself falls into that camp with what he referred to as a silly flag for berating the administrators after Moss penalty That is more penalties and more yards That is losing Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger twice for massive gains That is a whole lot of stuff that didn t hurt in the immediate aftermath but is going to sting during Monday film reviews I keep getting my hair cut and it gets greyer Payton announced There s relief but as a coach there s like oftentimes when you lose there are a ton of good things that took place that you can build on Then it s not extraordinary when you win that there are a ton of things that need cleaning up We re going to enjoy in current times but on the morrow is not going to be as pleasant It can t be or we re just fooling ourselves There s no fooling this part The Broncos are alone in first place in the AFC West for the first time since Week of the season They ve won four straight games marking the third straight season under Payton with a streak of at least that long They re already favored to run it to five next week against Dallas The following week when you steal a win is a challenging week Payton reported So we ve got to be prepared to bury this and get ready The coach wasn t beaming in the locker room until his defensive competitor of the year candidate chimed in with a request Nik Bonitto informed me to smile Payton revealed I revealed All right I ll smile I just think there 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