PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sean Payton had a game ball in hand and stories to tell after he passed his mentor and friend Bill Parcells on the NFL career wins list. The pair of Super Bowl champion coaches caught up recently and shot the breeze, talking about playing tough road games against NFC East teams.
The Denver Broncos provided Payton quite a new tale Sunday.
Bo Nix led the Broncos on three scoring drives on three possessions in the fourth quarter, J.K. Dobbins rushed for a 2-yard score in the period and the Broncos wiped out a 14-point deficit to hand the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season, 21-17.
“You're not going to forget,” Payton said, “just these moments. Ultimately, that's what you do it for. Making memories.”
The Broncos batted down Jalen Hurts' last-gasp pass on the final play of the game to send the Super Bowl champions to just their second loss in their last 22 games.
“We just kind of had this sense that we just needed one drive. Let’s go down the field, one play at a time, let’s put a drive together,” Nix said.
Nix had a few of them in his fourth-quarter rally that helped Payton earn his 173rd win to pass Parcells. Nix completed 9 of 10 passes for 126 yards and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram in the fourth to stun an Eagles team that totally collapsed over the final 15 minutes.
“This is a team that just won the Super Bowl,” Payton said. “So that’s a good win.”
Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner gave Payton the game ball for the coaching milestone.
The Broncos (3-2) caught a huge break in their rally when the Eagles had a late fourth-down conversion called back on an illegal shift penalty whistled against running back Saquon Barkley. The Eagles (4-1) were instead forced to punt.
Hurts' final heave on second-and-10 from the 29 was knocked down as time expired to send the jubilant Broncos into the locker room with an improbable win. Nix waved his arms in celebration toward dozens of Broncos fans in orange that stood near the visitors tunnel.
Nix threw for 242 yards — a week after he threw for a career-high 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Bengals — and Denver’s formula of run-first offense and a dominant defense came to life in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos totaled just 199 yards and trailed 17-3 at the end of the third before Nix got the offense rolling. Dobbins, who followed his 101 yards rushing against Cincinnati with 79 yards on Sunday, punched in a 2-yard TD run in the fourth to make it 17-10.
The Broncos got the ball back and Nix hit Courtland Sutton for 34 yards on the decisive drive. Nix connected over the middle with Engram for the 11-yard TD.
Payton gambled for the 2-point conversion and the Broncos got it when Nix hit Tony Franklin for an 18-17 lead with 7:36 left in the game.
The play stunned and silenced the Philly crowd — a familiar gut punch to the fan base after the Phillies wasted a three-run lead a night earlier in a playoff loss to the Dodgers.
Yet, these are the Eagles and they weren't going to just easily surrender their 10-game winning streak.
At fourth-and-4 from the Eagles 49, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith on a long reception for what should have been a first down, only for the flag on Barkley to wipe it off the board. Smith had eight catches and 114 yards receiving.
“We've got to get on the same page, and continue to be on the same page,” Smith said.
Hurts threw for 280 yards. He had a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert and a 47-yard TD pass to Barkley in the third quarter for the 17-10 lead.
That was it for the Eagles. Wil Lutz tacked on a 36-yard field goal with 1:11 left for a 21-17 lead.
“You don’t get a chance to play these games that have a ton of upside,” Payton said. “Now don’t get me wrong, there’s downside, but there’s a ton of upside relative to defining what you become. And this is one of them. I think they were confident coming in. I asked them afterwards, ‘Who are you afraid of?'”
It sure wasn't the Eagles.
Injuries
Broncos: RB Tyler Badie left with a shoulder injury late in the fourth.
Eagles: G Landon Dickerson suffered an ankle injury and TE Grant Calcaterra suffered an oblique injury.
Up next
Broncos: Are on the road Sunday in London against the Jets.
Eagles: Have a short trip on a short week Thursday night at the Giants.
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