Denver wins close one — again. It wasn’t pretty. It was certainly stressful. Nonetheless, the Broncos did what they do best on Thursday night, they won a close ball game. Having let Thursday night slip into overtime after squandering a 14-3 lead, the Broncos prevailed thanks to stellar defense and a 53-yard game-winning kick by Wil Lutz. Aside from Lutz’ clutch kick and Denver’s defensive play for the majority of the evening, there wasn’t a whole lot that was aesthetically pleasing for the Broncos, but they improved to 3-0 at home and 4-0 in one-score games. For a Super Bowl contender, there is a lot to be desired by the Broncos, but their ability time and again to win the close ones can’t be questioned. For the first time all season, Denver had a lead entering the fourth quarter. Almost as if quarterback Bo Nix, who struggled all night, and the Broncos were uncomfortable holding a lead, they let the Seahawks back in with 11 points in the last six minutes of regulation. However, a Ja’Quan McMillian interception of Sam Darnold in overtime saved the day before Lutz won the night. For the third time since the start of the 2025 season (including playoffs), Denver won in OT — the most in the NFL during that span. It was likewise the Broncos’ seventh time over the past two seasons in which they’ve won a game decided by three or fewer points, which is also tops in the league. Denver hasn’t grasped how to win with style points, but Sean Payton’s crew sure does know how to pull out dramatic victories.
Sam’s struggles are an issue. Over six games, the Seahawks have 12 turnovers and seven are Sam Darnold interceptions. He had two on Thursday: one with 1:31 to go with a chance for a go-ahead score, and the game-killer when he threw an atrocious pass that was jumped on by Ja’Quan McMillian in overtime. The most production the Seahawks had all night was their TD drive when George Holani bulled in for a 1-yard score with 5:41 to play in regulation and Rashid Shaheed came down with the two-point conversion to bring Seattle within three points. On the latter, Darnold’s pass was tipped by defenders before Shaheed caught it and toe-tapped inside the end line. Darnold threw the ball a career-high 51 times with 278 yards and a 52.6 rating to show for it. Over the course of the game, the Seahawks’ defense clamped down on the Broncos, absolutely smothering them in the second half, but Darnold and his offense’s inability to score or keep the game out of peril was Seattle’s undoing. In five games this year, Darnold has three multi-interception outings — the same number he had all of last season. Darnold authored one helluva feel-good story last year. Viewed as a first-round bust who turned into a journeyman backup before becoming a Pro Bowler, he helped the Seahawks to a Super Bowl triumph. His 2025 accomplishments can’t shield him from the reality of this season. He’s tied for the league lead with in picks — each of them coming when the game was within one score. If Seattle wants to have any chance of duplicating its success from 2025, the offensive line must block better and Darnold must play better ball.
Nix struggles in win. Despite claiming victory to start Week 6, the Broncos have a glaring offensive issue. Denver built a 14-3 lead thanks to a pair of methodical scoring drives. First there was a 16-play, 74-yard march in which J.K. Dobbins scored from 4 yards out. Next was a nine-play, 79-yard drive in which RJ Harvey tallied a 1-yard TD run. After that … nothing. Most impressive on those drives might well have been Sean Payton’s play-calling. But the overall body of work in Payton’s second game since taking back the play-calling role from Davis Webb, offered plenty of room for improvement, most notably from Bo Nix. On the evening, Nix attempted 27 passes and totaled just 107 yards. That’s a nauseating 3.96 yards an attempt. Denver won despite being outgained, 353-168, mustering a dismal two first downs and 30 yards of offense in the second half. The popular narrative last season was the Broncos came up short of reaching the Super Bowl because Nix was injured in the Divisional Round. This year, Denver is prevailing despite poor play from its quarterback, who seems adverse to throwing the ball and uncomfortable leading the offense. Fortunately, the Broncos are two games above .500, but if they’re to fulfill their Mile High aspirations, the QB play will need to take a big step forward.
Broncos’ defense looks like dominant old self. One of the more heralded defenses in the game got its groove back on Thursday night. Mind you, the Broncos haven’t been bad defensively, but on Thursday night, they were outstanding as their offense floundered. Buoyed by a Nik Bonitto-led pass rush that racked up five sacks and 17 QB hits, Denver also had a smothering day in coverage, recording two interceptions and nine pass breakups. Foreshadowing of how this game would go came early, with Darnold and the Seahawks earning a pair of first downs on their opening drive before Darnold was sacked by Ja’Quan McMillian and Que Robinson on back-to-back plays to force a punt. And so it went. Whenever the Seahawks flirted with any inkling of offensive rhythm, the Broncos extinguished it. Seattle’s defense was outstanding, as well, but the Broncos made the bigger plays when they needed them.
JSN is inevitable. Having made it through a practice week dealing with an ankle injury, Jaxon Smith-Njigba opened Thursday night with a pair of catches for 11 yards on the Seahawks’ opening drive. Then he went missing. Those remained his statistics for the duration of the first half. Inevitably, though, JSN got his despite a stellar Denver effort. At game’s end, Njigba had 12 receptions on 16 targets for 134 yards. On an ugly day for offense all-around, JSN was easily the biggest highlight, perhaps the only one.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Seahawks-Broncos (via NFL Pro): Nik Bonitto generated seven QB pressures on 31 pass rushes (22.6%) in Week 6 against the Seahawks, matching his season-high pressure total from Week 3 against the Rams. Four of those pressures came in under 2.5 seconds, while he posted a 0.68-second pass rush get-off time, his quickest in a game this season.

NFL Research: The Broncos’ win on Thursday night ended the Seahawks’ seven-game winning streak in prime-time contests, which was the longest in the NFL.