The Broncos have now won four straight games by a field goal or less, an improbable sentence that still lands remarkably low on the list of improbable outcomes they\u2019ve racked up in a 10-2 start.<\/p>\n
Here is The Denver Post\u2019s stock report from the Broncos\u2019 27-26 win over the Commanders<\/a> in overtime Sunday night.<\/p>\n Stock up<\/p>\n Evan Engram, north-south threat: In the locker room Sunday night, Engram nodded his head vigorously when asked how good it felt to finally break one. And kept nodding. The nods spoke for themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cFeels great,\u201d Engram said, with a soft smile. \u201cFeels great just to make a big play like that, for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty wrapped in that statement. Engram\u2019s role through much of the year in Denver simply can\u2019t have been what he envisioned when he signed in free agency, any \u201cJoker\u201d label long shredded.<\/p>\n But in his most active game of the season \u2014 the Broncos only carrying two tight ends as Nate Adkins still works back from a knee injury \u2014 Engram broke through with some vertical burst on Denver\u2019s touchdown drive in overtime. Isolated against the Commanders\u2019 Bobby Wagner from the slot, Engram ran a nasty \u201cjerk\u201d route and turned up the seam for a 41-yard catch-and-run.<\/p>\n His longest play of the year entering Week 13? 20 yards. Engram\u2019s been mostly limited to short crossers and out routes. But Sunday put his top-end speed on full display, the explosiveness that Denver signed him for in free agency. He led the Broncos with six catches for 79 yards on nine targets against Washington, and could be in for a big stretch run.<\/p>\n Bo Nix, arm talent:\u00a0In the red zone with the Broncos motoring on a two-minute drill to end the first half Sunday, Nix stepped up in a collapsing pocket and got dragged down by the Commanders\u2019 Preston Smith.<\/p>\n Except as Nix\u2019s legs toppled, he somehow contorted the shin of his back leg long enough and got enough front-foot drive to lace a rocket to Courtland Sutton in the end zone. Upon several replays, it defies most logical explanation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bo Nix somehow keeps the play alive to Courtland Sutton!<\/p>\n DENvsWAS on NBC \u2014 NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n It was easily Nix\u2019s best play of the year, and one of the more athletic plays any quarterback in the NFL has put on tape in 2025. He\u2019s not just a checkdown artist, folks. Take away an instant-regret pick thrown to Wagner in the fourth quarter, and these past two weeks have been the strongest back-to-back performances of Nix\u2019s 2025 season.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just getting better and better,\u201d Payton said postgame.<\/p>\n RJ Harvey as a complete back: The pieces have never quite fit together all at the same time in his rookie season, but second-round pick RJ Harvey showed major flashes Sunday of becoming a legitimate three-down running back.\u00a0It\u2019s a welcome development for the Broncos in J.K. Dobbins\u2019 injury absence.<\/p>\n One of Harvey\u2019s major knocks in his introduction to Denver was his lack of pass-protection experience; he stepped up against multiple blitzes and took out rushers against the Commanders on Sunday.<\/p>\n It\u2019s well-established what he can do as a receiver, too, and Harvey caught three more passes for 27 yards against Washington. And the rookie added two goal-line touchdowns Sunday, flashing all the tools of a future stud. That\u2019s eight touchdowns in 12 games now for Harvey, by the way.<\/p>\n Dondrea Tillman:\u00a0The reserve outside linebacker just continues to make plays whenever his number\u2019s called. Tillman already has two massive picks this season, and came up huge with a second-down shoestring sack of Marcus Mariota in the fourth quarter. That single play transformed a 2nd-and-9 into a 3rd-and-21 situation for the Commanders, one of many defensive reps that added up for the Broncos down the stretch of Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n Tillman recorded two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss for good measure, too. He\u2019s impacted the Broncos\u2019 last few wins in a major way.<\/p>\n Stock down<\/p>\n Riley Moss\u2019s pure luck:\u00a0Man. First, the pass-interference penalties and ticky-tack grabbing got so bad that Moss resorted to wearing boxing gloves on reps in practice. Then, on Sunday, Moss played picture-perfect coverage in the end zone on the Commanders\u2019 Treylon Burks \u2014 only for Burks to reach up Statue-of-Liberty-style and make one of the most unbelievable catches anyone in attendance had ever seen<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been that kind of year for Moss, who has done plenty of things right and even great in 2025. He was brilliant for most of the game, too, with a couple of passes defended against Washington and several great coverage reps on Sunday. But he got burned on a late 38-yard hit in overtime to Deebo Samuel, and that\u2019ll be the play that sticks in memory.<\/p>\n Moss continues to have a hard time winning in the public eye.<\/p>\n WR1 Troy Franklin:\u00a0As the Broncos frequently went to heavier doses of heavier personnel against Washington on Sunday, Franklin often felt like the odd man out. After a first-quarter grab for 17 yards, the second-year receiver had little impact, finishing with two catches for 21 yards on three targets.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear Payton trusts rookie Pat Bryant more as a run-blocker, and recent signee Lil\u2019Jordan Humphrey even seemed to cut into Franklin\u2019s reps at times against the Commanders. Franklin was targeted a whopping 45 times in five previous games, and more balance for the Broncos\u2019 passing game is likely a good thing for the offense.<\/p>\n Keep an eye on his usage in the coming couple of games.<\/p>\n RJ Harvey as a pure runner: Here\u2019s the flip side of Harvey\u2019s \u201cstock up\u201d \u2014 Denver\u2019s running game simply hasn\u2019t operated at the same level of efficiency with Harvey as the lead back instead of Dobbins. The rookie ran for 2.7 yards a carry in each of his last two games. Even factoring in increased short-yardage work, Harvey visibly missed one clear inside cut on a second-half run against the Commanders.<\/p>\n Payton emphasized postgame Sunday that the Broncos\u2019 lack of run-game success against Washington was \u201cnothing to do\u201d with Harvey, but Denver needs to figure this out quickly to better close games.<\/p>\n
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