Broncos beat the Seahawks 17-14 in
OT on Ja'Quan McMillian's pick, Wil Lutz's 53-yarder
[October 16, 2026]
By ARNIE STAPLETON
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Broncos are atrocious on offense, depleted
on defense and shaky on special teams. All they do is find ways to
win.
Ja’Quan McMillian intercepted Sam Darnold’s pass in overtime
Thursday night and Wil Lutz kicked a 53-yard field goal that gave
the Broncos a 17-14 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
The Broncos emerged from a tough six-week season-opening stretch
with a 4-2 record despite an injury-riddled roster and a shaky
quarterback, and the Seahawks (3-3) lost for the second time in five
days. They also matched their loss total from last season, when they
won their second Super Bowl title.
The Broncos won despite Bo Nix throwing for just 107 yards, J.K.
Dobbins leading the rushing attack with a mere 41 yards and managing
a meager three first downs and 168 yards of total offense — less
than half the 353 yards piled up by the Seahawks.
“I don't know why we can't really push the ball vertically right
now,” Nix said. “But defenses are just sitting back and hanging out.
... Hopefully we find a way to get more out of it.”
Nix was as honest as he's been to date in his postgame comments
about Denver's scuffling offense.
“We’re definitely capable, we’ve shown it," he said. "And, you know
I don’t know where the disconnect is right now, to be honest with
you. ... I just think we’re really, for some reason, struggling to
find those explosive plays, and that’s what makes an offense really
spectacular: Is finding explosive plays. And right now, we don’t
have those.”
Denver's depleted defense came to the rescue yet again, hitting
Darnold 17 times and collecting five sacks.
“The quarterback's getting hit way too much,” Seahawks coach Mike
Macdonald said. “Everybody sees that.”
“You’ve got to give credit to those guys," Darnold said. “They’ve
got a really tough defense, really good defense coordinator in Vance
(Joseph).”
On Seattle's opening drive in overtime, McMillian intercepted a pass
intended for Rashid Shaheed at the Denver 43, the second pick of the
night by Darnold, who completed 27 of 51 passes for 278 yards
without a touchdown.
Those stats were better than Nix's. He barely topped 100 yards on
17-of-27 passing after throwing for 123 last week in a tight win
over the Chargers.
Jason Myers' 34-yard field goal tied it at 14-all with 3 seconds
left in regulation and capped an 11-0 Seattle run over the final 5
1/2 minutes. The Seahawks started their game-tying drive at midfield
after a 31-yard punt return by Shaheed.
“No moral victories in the league,” Macdonald said. “It’s a
bottom-line business, production business. But I’m proud of our
effort. I’m proud of the resolve of the team. I’m proud of our
connectedness of our team.
[to top of second column] |
Denver Broncos place-kicker Wil Lutz (3) reacts with punter Jeremy
Crawshaw (16) after making a field goal to win the game in overtime
against the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL football game in Denver,
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)
“However, there’s things that we need to get better
at quickly, and we know those things; they’re within our control,
and that’s what we do. We find solutions, and we get things figured
out, we move forward, and we evolve.”
That's essentially what Sean Payton was saying in the winning locker
room.
“Defensively, we were magnificent,” said Payton, who acknowledged,
“I’m a little bit of a realist to know that 4-2 could easily be
2-4.”Denver appeared to have victory in hand when Kris Abrams-Draine
intercepted Darnold's pass at the Denver 30 with 1:25 left in
regulation, but the Broncos burned just 15 seconds of clock before
punting.
After scoring just three points on their first eight drives, the
Seahawks put together an 11-play, 67-yard masterpiece that ended
with running back George Holani scoring from a yard out. Darnold’s
2-point pass to Shaheed pulled Seattle within 14-11 with 5:41 left.
Dobbins had a 4-yard touchdown run and fellow running back R.J.
Harvey took a direct snap and scored from a yard out on Denver’s
next drive for a 14-3 halftime lead.
The Seahawks’ most promising first-half drive ended at the Denver 34
when Nik Bonitto punched the ball from Shaheed’s grasp and inside
linebacker Justin Strnad recovered.
True to form
The Seahawks franchise fell to 19-30-1 in overtime and the Broncos
improved to 33-23-2. That's second-best in the NFL.
“It was a good win,” Payton said, “but we've got a lot of work to
do.”
Injuries
Seahawks TE Elijah Arroyo left late in the first half with an
apparent right shoulder injury sustained while diving for a fumbled
ball.
The Broncos were without star CB Patrick Surtain II and starting
safety Talanoa Hufanga, both out with ankle injuries. RB Tyler Badie
injured a thumb in the second quarter.
Up next
Seahawks: Host the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 25.
Broncos: Host the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 25.
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