Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton wants his team to get out of the habit of dramatic comebacks.
The Broncos offense looked listless in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams and went into halftime down 16–0. But quarterback Bo Nix flipped the switch in the second half, and the Broncos surged to a 30–26 victory.
Payton was proud of the way the team fought back, but said after the game that their way of winning is not sustainable, and they need to get better in the first half.
“Obviously a gutsy win,” Payton said. “Really a tale of two halves, and [a] ton of respect for [the Rams]. We beat a good team tonight and like I said, I think the halves couldn’t have been more different.”
In the first quarter, the Rams drove down the field and scored a touchdown. On the next possession, the Broncos were able to make it into field goal range, but kicker Wil Lutz banged a 43-yarder off the upright.
The defense held the Rams to three field goals, but the offense could not get out of the mud and finished the half with just 72 total yards.
In the second half, the two teams traded punts to start. But after that, the offense got rolling with a 42-yard touchdown drive and a toe-tapping two-point conversion catch by Jaylen Waddle. They scored on their next possession and once again converted a two-pointer to tie the game at 16.
Late in the fourth quarter, down 19–16, safety Talanoa Hufanga intercepted a pass from Rams QB Matthew Stafford and ran it back 66 yards for a touchdown. Stafford responded by throwing a 48-yard TD pass to Konata Mumpfield.
The Broncos drove down the field and Nix dove in for the go-ahead score with 47 seconds left; the Rams made it into striking distance, but Hufanga picked off Stafford’s final pass attempt to seal the game.
Payton said the second-half turnaround was powered by the running game keeping the offense on schedule, and some penalties at opportune moments that kept drives alive—in particular a pass interference call on Rams cornerback Josh Wallace on the go-ahead touchdown drive. He said the offense needed to keep the ball for longer so the defense could rest.
Payton praised Nix, saying that “the moments aren’t too big” for him, but then said the team needs to do better to keep him out of those moments.
“We have to find a way to play better earlier,” he said. “I always think that starts with me, or it starts with a group of us before it ever gets to Bo. … I’m pleased with how we responded, but…that’ll cost us in bigger games. I just believe that against teams that are playing better later in the season. … Whoever it is, it’ll be something we’ll be frustrated about later if we can’t clean it up.”
The comebacks are a pattern going back to last season. In Week 4 of 2025, against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Broncos mounted an 18-point fourth-quarter comeback to win 21–17.
In Week 7, Nix almost single-handedly engineered a historic 33-point fourth quarter to overcome the New York Giants 33–32 at home.
In Week 9, the Broncos were down 15–7 to the Houston Texans, but Nix led a touchdown drive and a two-pointer in the fourth, then drove into field goal range as time expired to win 18–15.
In Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers, the Broncos were down 23–14 in the third quarter, but scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and one at the end of the game to win 34–26.
Payton was asked whether he was comfortable with comebacks being the team’s identity.
“I’m comfortable with the grit of a team that can play well in the fourth quarter,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable with how we’ve played at the start of games … because our game is— you’re going to be in tight games, but as the head coach, you can’t possibly be comfortable with the way the first half unfolded.”
