Broncos ‘lost hope,’ but then found it — with one play ‘turning the tide’

DENVER — Even at least one Broncos player thought Sunday’s game had slipped away.

“I lost hope, I ain’t going to lie,” cornerback Pat Surtain II said.

So, if you’re one of those people who wants to say, “I told you so,” in the wake of the most unfathomable fourth quarter in Denver Broncos history, a mad scramble through the final six minutes of regulation that culminated in Wil Lutz’s walk-off field goal for a 33-32 win, kindly cram it.

Because you can’t.

Almost no adult with a functioning brain stem and a firm grip on reality looked at where the Broncos stood halfway through the fourth quarter and thought, “They’ve got this.”

With 7:12 left in the game, the Broncos trailed, 26-8 and had third-and-12 at their 47-yard line. At that juncture, ESPN’s Win Probability metric gave the Broncos a 1-in-500 chance — 0.2 percent — of victory.

More than a handful of fans at Empower Field at Mile High had already scurried for the exits to beat the traffic home, the touchdown on the Giants’ previous drive having sent some Broncos supporters to the exits.

And given the nature of that connection — a tip-drill deflection that landed in the hands of Theo Johnson, who turned upfield for the 41-yard score, it was understandable if one shrugged and said, “This isn’t the Broncos’ day.”

Even after the Broncos got out of third-and-12 near midfield on the subsequent drive, it still took a Giants mistake to keep the series alive, a pass-interference call on fourth-and-3 that moved the football to the New York 40-yard line.

Five plays and one minute, 25 seconds later, the Broncos were in the end zone. Of course, the Broncos weren’t particularly urgent at that moment; they huddled after four plays in that stretch — including two of them with the clock continuing to run.

Only on Nix’s 7-yard touchdown scramble — which followed a clock-stopping incomplete pass — did they go no-huddle.

It capped a 13-play, 74-yard match. During the series, the clock ran between plays eight times. On five of them, the Broncos huddled. The drive ended up consuming just over five minutes. They weren’t in any particular hurry; it didn’t seem like they were in comeback mode.

Which is part of what made the rally so astounding; they didn’t function with urgency.

Turned out, they didn’t have to.

STRNAD “TURNED THE TIDE” FOR BRONCOS

Three plays later, the Broncos defense did what it been angling to do — turn pressure into a takeaway at a crucial time.

No defense in the NFL generates more consistent havoc on opposing quarterbacks than Denver’s, and the Broncos hit Giants rookie passer Jaxson Dart 10 times, including four sacks — a typical day at the office.

But they hadn’t forced a turnover since Week 3.

There was no better time to change that than with the Giants facing third-and-5 at their 35-yard line with 4:56 remaining. Dart climbed the pocket out of pressure, saw Johnson crossing to the left side with a step on Pat Surtain II.

In between was Justin Strnad.

Dart didn’t put enough on it. The ball went straight to the sixth-year linebacker.

“Just reading the quarterback’s eyes … obviously there was something behind me that he was throwing to,” Strnad said. “That’s a play that we kind of practice a lot, and it applies pressure to the quarterback and forces him to make a decision.

“I thought he was going to take off and run and then he tried to throw something behind me and it worked out.”

Finally, the Broncos had their takeaway.

“Defensively, it took us forever today,” linebacker Alex Singleton said. “Just, stuff wasn’t clicking — until Justin got that pick.”

That was when the notion of a comeback win turned from wild fantasy — likely requiring a successful on-side kick or some other stroke of good fortune — to realistic notion.

“When he got that pick, it turned the tide for us on the sideline,” Singleton said. “It turned the tide for us just in the huddle. It was huge, and it definitely sparked our side of the ball.”

Denver had the ball at the Giants 19-yard line, 4:57 on the clock and all three timeouts.

“it’s like a double whammy. You get the ball and then you get it there,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

“That probably was the difference in winning and losing the game.”

FOR EVERY GREAT COMEBACK, THERE IS AN EQUAL COLLAPSE

The Broncos have reason to celebrate; they were in position to capitalize when the Giants wobbled.

But just as Rocktober in 2007 was aided by the San Diego Padres closing 4-7 and the New York Mets dropping six of their final seven games, so too were the Giants active participants in their demise.

Kicker Jude McAtamney missed two extra points — or as many as Lutz has missed in three seasons as a Bronco.

Giants coach Brian Daboll chased points when ahead 19-0, going for two after Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s 31-yard touchdown. (Of course, given McAtamney’s poor form on prior and subsequent PATs, maybe Daboll knew something.)

Midway through the third quarter, Dart took a sack when rolling out, absorbing an 8-yard loss to the Denver 42-yard line that knocked the Giants out of field-goal range. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but it cost the Giants three potential points — although, again, with MaAtamney’s accuracy issues, who knows.

And Dart’s decision to throw instead of running — or even taking the sack — was as “rookie mistake” as it gets. Strnad was prepared for it, but a quarterback like, say, Dallas’ Dak Prescott next week isn’t going to make that miscue.

If Dart even absorbs a sack, the Broncos use their final timeout before a field-flipping punt, likely forcing the Broncos to drive at least 65 yards to a touchdown and consume valuable time.

Chances are, getting the two scores required to tie or win the game would require the afore-mentioned on-side kickoff — which had a 7-percent success rate last year.

Instead, Nix had the Broncos in the Giants’ end zone within four plays and 56 seconds. No on-side kickoff was required for another possession.

The Broncos will have plenty to disseminate. Their Monday debriefing will still have some rough moments; their first three quarters represented some of their worst collective work of the season.

But as they did against the Jets and Eagles and Titans, it was just enough.

Even it meant doing the impossible.

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