Give Vance Joseph his flowers. Make them orange and blue.
Or black and gold.
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With plenty of seats available on the Bo Nix rollercoaster and Sean Payton’s offense driving nowhere fast, the Broncos defensive coordinator called a masterpiece and saved Thursday Night Football at Empower Field.
His message to the Broncos defense prior to a 17-14 overtime win over the Seahawks: We got this.
“VJ was in his bag,” cornerback Riley Moss said in the winning locker room.
Denver Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine (31) celebrates with Denver Broncos cornerback Ja’quan McMillian (29) after intercepting a Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) pass during the second half Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)
The Broncos retrieved victory from the jaws of defeat on a Wil Lutz 53-yard field with 4:53 left in OT. Two Broncos interceptions allowed “Rocky Mountain High” to blare from the loudspeakers as the walk-out song.
VJ won this.
No Patrick Surtain. No Talanoa Hufanga. Moss played only in a base defense, nursing sore ribs. In their stead, a fifth-round pick (Kris Abrams-Draine), special teams ace (Devon Key) and potential draft bust (Jahdae Barron) — against a Seahawks team averaging 30 points over its previous four games.
How? His players said it was VJ.
Joseph also is a proud CU-Boulder graduate who lived the glory years in the Buffs backfield from 1990-94. If CU can spend $10 million per losing season on Coach Prime, it can afford one of its own.
Joseph’s defense stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the reigning Super Bowl champs and allowed only three points over 3.5 quarters.
The offense made it harder than it should have been.
Seattle had a chance to tie or win the game when it regained possession with 3:24 left in regulation and a 14-11 deficit. Abrams-Draine then picked off Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold deep in Broncos territory. Abrams-Draine wears No. 31, worn for a decade by safety Justin Simmons, who watched from Section 314.
After the Seahawks forced overtime, Ja’Quan McMillian picked off Darnold to set up the game-winning field goal from Lutz. His long boot sailed through the uprights with no problem. Ballgame.
McMillian explained the game-winning interception this way: the Broncos’ defensive line pressured Darnold, “Then VJ made a great call.”
Denver Broncos outside linebacker Que Robinson (51) celebrates with linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) and defensive tackle Malcolm Roach (97) after sacking Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold during the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Even an average NFL offense would have put away the game long before long before any of that. If this is not the worst Broncos offense in a decade, it’s down there.
Payton understandably found solace in a 4-2 record after a gauntlet of Super Bowl-caliber opponents. He was right to.
“I’m a little bit of a realist to know that 4-2 could easily be 2-4,” Payton said.
The Broncos offense in the second half had six punts vs. two first downs. It was booed again and again. Nix won’t play at Mile High again until November. It’s for the best.
“I don’t really understand why we can’t push the ball vertically right now,” Nix said.
While the Payton-Nix-Davis Webb melodrama consumes Denver airwaves and the minds of Broncos fans, VJ plugs along doing his thing as well as any coordinator in the NFL. Ho, hum.
Thanks to VJ, this Broncos win was nothing less than extraordinary.
Vance’s defense forced three turnovers, including the two interceptions near the end of regulation and in overtime.
“I never actually see the interception,” pass-rusher Nik Bonitto said. “All I hear is the crowd. So I know we did something right.”
His defense sacked Darnold five times and hit the quarterback at least 16 times.
“That makes (the secondary’s) job so much easier,” Moss said.
VJ’s defense was utterly clutch.
To be clear, this is not his best defense in Denver. It is not on pace for 63 sacks (like it had in 2024, No. 2 in team history) or 68 sacks (like 2025, No. 1 in team history). It was missing half its secondary against Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year.
And at halftime, Surtain tweeted: “Vance dialing that (expletive) up!”
VJ was in his bag.
“He was excited to call this one,” Moss said.
Once the Coach Prime show has run its course, CU should offer VJ the bag.