Missed Opportunities Hurt Denver Broncos Again In Latest Defeat

The recent history of the Denver Broncos was summed up in a graphic that CBS showcased during Sunday's game with the San Francisco 49ers.

Since the beginning of the 2025 season, the Broncos had:

• 14 comeback wins

• 11 wins when trailing in the second half

• Seven wins when trailing in the fourth quarter

• Three wins when trailing by 14 or more points

Yes, Denver was up to its old tricks against San Francisco, starting the game slowly then hoping to fashion a late-game comeback that would result in another improbable victory. It is a trend that head coach Sean Payton is frankly getting a little tired of. It is also one that the Broncos were not able to replicate on Sunday as they dropped a 24-14 decision to the 4-0 49ers to fall to 2-2 on the season.

After the game, the finger of blame was pointed firmly in the direction of the offense again.

"I think we've got plays to be made," said quarterback Bo Nix, as reported by Aric DiLalla of denverbroncos.com. "As a team, we would all look ourselves in the mirror and say there's plays out there for us to make....Our defense played really well throughout the game, and we just made it be a four-quarter game for too long. We didn't help them out. Overall, we'll go back and watch the film, see what needs to be improved on."

The irony in this game is that the Broncos were actually the first team to score. That came courtesy of an efficient 13-play, 55-yard drive in which Nix mixed effective short passes to R.J. Harvey, Marvin Mims Jr. and Pay Bryant with chain-moving runs from Tyler Badie to set up Will Lutz's 52-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 1:43 left in the first quarter.

After that promising start, the offensive frustration returned. Denver's second possession of the second quarter saw them advance into San Francisco territory, but two incompletions sandwiched around a short Nix pass to J.K. Dobbins ended the drive with a punt.

Then, after the 49ers had evened the score 3-3, the Broncos lined up at their own 38 with a minute left in the half and a chance for a late go-ahead score, but Nix misfired on three straight passes and the contest went to halftime tied.

The Broncos approached midfield on their first drive of the third quarter, but Nix's third-and-five scramble came up two yards short and Payton elected to punt from his own 45.

The game turned on the following 49ers' possession when Mims fumbled a punt that set up the 49ers at the Denver 28, from where they cashed in a touchdown on Brock Purdy's one-yard scoring toss to Deebo Samuel for a 10-3 with 4;22 left in the third.

The Broncos tried to respond, but a 10-play drive petered out at the San Francisco 22, with the Broncos settling for Lutz's 40-yard field goal that made it 10-6 with 14:12 to play.

Denver was in scramble mode after that with Christian McCaffrey's 1-yard scoring run giving the 49ers a 17-6 lead with 8:52 left. The Broncos answered that tally with Jaylen Waddle's 13-yard TD catch with Badie completing a two-point conversion run that narrowed the deficit to 17-14.

Any chances of another miracle finish, however, became much bleaker when 49ers' tight end George Kittle sliced through the tiring Denver defense for a 56-yard TD to make it 24-14 with 2:25 to play. There was one last glimmer of hope as Nix moved the Broncos to the 49ers' 40 with 1:18 to play, but Lutz's 58-yard field-goal attempt that would've made it a one-score game sailed wide right, which allowed Purdy to kneel twice as the clock expired.

"Obviously, not the result that we wanted," Payton summarized in DiLalla's report. "We knew it was going to be a tight game. I thought we played hard. The margins become very slim. There's a couple of plays always, when there's a game like that, that can go either direction. Those guys made 'em. We didn't. It's a tough loss, and then we go from here."

Where the Broncos specifically go now is SoFi Stadium on Sunday to face the winless Los Angeles Chargers (2:05 p.m. MT) still hoping that they can finally play that elusive complete game.