Commanders Stand By Last-Second Gamble Against Broncos

The Washington Commanders gave the Denver Broncos everything they could handle on Sunday night.

Deebo Samuel No. 1 of the Washington Commanders scores a touchdown in the third quarter of a game against the Detroit Lions at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., on Nov. 9, 2025. Greg Fiume/Getty Images

Denver Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto came ready to thwart the Washington Commanders’ shot at pulling off an overtime thriller on Sunday night in Landover, Maryland.

Bonitto swatted Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota’s attempted 2-point conversion pass to seal a 27–26 victory for the Broncos and a ninth consecutive victory. It sealed a game full of twists and turns, where a 3–9 Commanders team gave the 10–2 Broncos everything they could handle, and an ecstatic orange-clad Broncos team rushed the field afterward as if it had been more than a regular-season game.

“I knew he was buying time,” Bonitto told reporters after the game. “At that point, I was just trying to make it hard for him to throw the ball, and I ended up knocking it down, and we ended up winning the game.”

Denver previously took a 27–20 lead when running back RJ Harvey ran for a touchdown after tight end Evan Engram made a 41-yard reception from quarterback Bo Nix. Washington answered as Mariota found wide receiver Terry McLaurin for a 3-yard touchdown.

Instead of going for the tie and hoping to find a way to win before time expired, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn employed the plan he had favored all along. There was only 2:47 left in overtime, and the NFL has only one overtime period in its regular-season games.

“Going into the overtime spot, I thought that would be the way we would go,” Quinn told reporters afterward. “That was the strategy all along. It was a play we like. It got batted down, but against man-to-man, that’s one that we practice a lot and we liked it.”

“I hate the outcome, but there was no hesitation. I know when we started, we’re going to score and we’re going to go for two.”

Washington had things set up as desired for the 2-point try, but Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s prior adjustments made the difference in the end. Denver used zero pressure and spread its players wide on the play.

“The DC, Vance, was doing a good job mixing up zero and showing zero [blitzes] and dropping out,” Mariota told reporters. “And then on the 2-point, he brought zero—I knew I had to try to get some depth and give our guy a chance. He made a play on it, and that’s the way it goes.”

While Denver tied the New England Patriots (10–2) for the AFC lead, the Broncos have done it with a multitude of tight wins. Seven of Denver’s 10 wins have been by within one score, and the Broncos’ two losses were by three points or less.

“We didn’t escape. We won,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton told reporters post-game. “The journey of a good team’s season involves games like this. And then you believe you can do it again.”

Nix did his part, throwing for 321 yards and a touchdown against one interception. That included Nix’s touchdown pass to wide receiver Courtland Sutton with 28 seconds left in the first half, and it took some acrobatics on Nix’s part to get the ball out to Sutton on that play.

“I was honestly a little bit close to being down, but stayed up just long enough,” Nix told reporters afterward.

“[Sutton] did a great job of starting on the other side of the field and ran all the way to the other side.

“He scrambled with me and in a game like that—we literally talk about a game of inches, but it really is. It comes down to an inch or two every once in a while.”

That wasn’t the only acrobatic play in the game. Commanders wide receiver Treylon Burks made an acrobatic catch for a touchdown as he caught the ball one-handed, falling down in the end zone.

“To me, it was just making a play for the team, honestly,” Burks told reporters afterward. “I’m not the type that will sit there and scroll on the internet. I kind of stay away from that.”

The catch resembled former New York Giants star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s famed one-handed grab against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014. For Mariota, it didn’t surprise him to see Burks make that grab.

“He’s shown up in practice doing stuff like that, and [I] wanted to give our guy an opportunity, and he made an unbelievable play,” Mariota said.

Despite the effort by Washington, the game will be recorded as a seventh consecutive loss—a far cry from the team’s NFC Championship Game appearance last season. Denver, meanwhile, will continue the chase for the AFC’s top seed after beating a Commanders team many have written off with star quarterback Jayden Daniels sidelined due to injury.

“This is a game you love to be a part of—two teams absolutely going at it, throwing punches back and forth,” Quinn said.