Winning in the NFL is hard, but the Broncos keep defying what traditional victories look like. Denver’s offense was nonexistent in the second half of Thursday’s win over the Seahawks, but a tremendous defensive effort — led by a backup secondary — was enough to defeat the reigning Super Bowl champions 17-14.

Here’s The Denver Post’s stock report on the win.

Stock up

Kris Abrams-Draine, Jahdae Barron: Down three starters, the Broncos’ secondary proved its belief that it has the deepest unit in football. Barron and Abrams-Draine were fantastic for the second game in a row, consistently making Sam Darnold hold the ball one too many times. Abrams-Draine played perfect trail technique on his interception, staying on Tory Horton’s hip before undercutting the crossing route and intercepting Darnold’s pass.

Even on completed passes — like a bobbling catch by Jaxon Smith-Njigba on third down or Rashid Shaheed’s two-point conversion — Barron was in great position. Riley Moss barely played, meaning Denver had to rely on two unproven players to stop one of the most productive receivers in football. Task accomplished.

Ja’Quan McMillian: Thursday was a vintage McMillian game. The nickelback covered Smith-Njigba, recorded a sack on a blitz and sealed the game with a clutch interception. He tackled well after the catch, a point of emphasis for Denver’s defense against “JSN.”

Everyone inside the Broncos’ locker room seems to believe McMillian is the team’s “big-play guy.” After Thursday’s interception, along with his play in last season’s AFC divisional win over the Buffalo Bills, the pending free agent is making a strong pitch to George Paton and company to keep him in Denver.

The pass rush: Singling out one player along the Broncos’ defensive line would do the unit a disservice after Thursday. Twelve different players hit Sam Darnold, the most by the Broncos since 2006. Led by All-Pros Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto, the front pushed around the reigning Super Bowl champions’ offensive line. Que Robinson is rounding into form as the team’s best pass rusher behind Bonitto, and Malcolm Roach is developing good chemistry with Allen along the interior.

Vance Joseph: On McMillian’s interception, Joseph did what he does best: disguise coverages, make the quarterback think one thing and capitalize when he makes a mistake. Joseph showed a Cover 1 look before the snap, then rotated into a Cover 2 defense once Darnold got the ball. The Seahawks quarterback tried to fit a ball over the cornerback and in front of the safety, but McMillian — essentially playing the safety on the play — easily stepped in front of the pass. That was one of several great play calls by Joseph, whose defense has helped the Broncos avoid back-to-back losses.

Here are 11 clips of the different things the Broncos defense did to try to limit JSN:
*Press trail man + safety over the top
*Safety away robbing
*Safety to his side robbing
*C2 to his side

JSN had 2 catches for 11 yards in the 1st half but still had 12 for 134 on the day pic.twitter.com/69dxvxp61y

— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) October 16, 2026

Winning ways: The Broncos continue to defy football norms. They win close games despite an inept offense. They play tremendous defense without their All-Pro cornerback and safety. They even made several fourth-quarter mistakes Thursday. Yet Denver is 4-2, with wins over three Super Bowl contenders. Not a bad start.

Stock down

Bo Nix

Nix’s statistics have gone from bad to worse over the last few weeks. Here’s a stat from CBS Sports’ Doug Clawson that captures just how bad Nix is: Among 701 qualified QB seasons through six games in the past 20 years, Nix ranks dead last in average pass length (4.9 air yards per attempt). On Thursday, his average pass in the second half was thrown behind the line of scrimmage.

Seattle’s defense is designed to take away those chunk plays, but the NFL is a copycat league. Teams will keep sitting back until Nix forces them out of it.

Broncos’ receivers: Is Nix not playing well? Of course. But the Broncos’ wideouts aren’t consistently getting open, either. The Seahawks played more man-to-man coverage in the second half, and Denver’s wide receivers struggled to separate. Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton are struggling to make an impact, and the combination of Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., and Lil’Jordan Humphrey hasn’t replaced Pat Bryant’s production. The Broncos’ receivers should be one of the team’s strengths. Instead, they’re barely getting the ball.

Play-calling hopes: If you had visions of Sean Payton standing on the sideline as a white knight, the savior of the Broncos’ offense, those hopes are probably fading. The group has the same issues it had under offensive coordinator Davis Webb. While there have been brief flashes of improvement — the two drives in the first half and better play in the red zone — the offense is also performing worse on third down, Nix is regressing and the Broncos haven’t hit a big play in ages.

Tight ends: Evan Engram had a great game last week but caught only two passes Thursday. Adam Trautman is a blocking-only tight end at this point in his career, and Nate Adkins’ snap count is dwindling. Denver’s tight ends have been better than last year, but Thursday was a step backward.

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