The Denver Broncos defeated the Washington Commanders 26-27 in overtime on Sunday to clinch first place in the Western Division of the American Football Conference after Week 13 of the NFL season.
Denver leads its zone with 10 wins and only 2 losses. Washington remains in third place in the National Conference East with a balance of 3-9, far from the playoff spots.
Broncos impose their defensive dominance
For the third consecutive game, the Commanders were without Jayden Daniels, their senior quarterback.
Daniels dislocated his elbow in the week nine loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
At the controls was Marcus Mariota, who could not avoid the seventh loss in a row for the team from the U.S. capital.
The Broncos dominated the first half, driven by the good work of their defense, which did not allow any points.
Denver opened the scoring with a 33-yard field goal converted by Wil Lutz.
Exchange of blows
On the opening kickoff of the second quarter, Dre Greenlaw intercepted Marcus Mariota and prevented a touchdown.
His team capitalized with another three-point kick by Lutz to go ahead 0-6.
The Commanders woke up with two minutes left in the first half on a 71-yard touchdown run by Chris Rodriguez to take a 7-6 lead.
The Broncos’ response came via a diagonal catch by Courtland Sutton that put them up 7-13 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the advantages continued to be exchanged.
Washington struck first thanks to a spectacular one-handed touchdown reception by Treylon Burks that put them ahead 14-13.
Denver Broncos regained the lead 14-20 on a carry by RJ Harvey.
Heart-stopping finish
At the start of the final period, an interception by Bobby Wagner, coach Dan Quinn’s team, put the offense inside the red zone, from which they kicked a field goal to cut the score to 17-20.
A Jake Moody field goal tied the game 20-20 in the final second of regular time.
On their opening series of the half, Broncos scored on RJ Harvey’s second touchdown run of the game.
Washington answered with a touchdown throw to Terry McLaurin, but failed on the two-point conversion to give Denver the 26-27 win.
Week 13 will conclude this Monday, when the New England Patriots host the New York Giants.
With information from EFE
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