Broncos Beat the Colts 34-30 in Preseason Opener

The Broncos beat the Colts 34-30 below is the recap and postgame interviews:

The first preseason game of 2024 saw the Broncos start on defense and they quickly forced a 3-and-out for Anthony Richardson and the Colts offense.

Jarrett Stidham got the start today and with two quick completions to Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick gave the offense two first downs however, a taunting penalty from Patrick and pair of false starts doomed the drive to stall at midfield, leading to a Riley Dixon punt inside the 10 yard line.

The Colts offense came back out onto the field and quickly got a 19 yard gain on a pass to Mo Allie Cox. The drive would stall a couple plays later as Granson couldn't quite make the line to gain and the Colts would punt it back to Denver.

Stidham and the first team offense took the field again and were quickly to midfield after a 7 yard run from Javonte Williams that drew a facemask. Once again, a costly penalty hurt the drive as Garett Bolles was called for holding. On the next play, Jarrett Stidham threw to a wide open Samaje Perine who bobbled the ball into the hands of Kenny Moore for an interception.

Joe Flacco took over at the Broncos 43 yard line with a great opportunity to get the first points of the game. Flacco quickly hit rookie WR Addonai Mitchell and the Colts were instantly in field goal range. Fortunately, the defense helped stall the Colts offense and they settled for a 35 yard field goal. Colts lead 3-0 with 3:11 remaining in the 1st quarter.

Bo Nix made his debut for the Broncos on the 3rd offensive drive and Sean Payton immediately went to the run game with a pair of runs by Jaleel McLaughlin for a first down. After two incompletions, Bo Nix scrambled and was able to hit Courtland Sutton for a 22 yard gain to move the chains. Josh Reynolds caught the next pass from Nix for 11 yards and the Broncos offense was now in field goal range. A botched snap and two incompletions eventually lead to a 41 yard field goal from Wil Lutz to tie the game 3-3 early in the 2nd quarter.

Sam Ehlinger now in the game for the Colts offense and he quickly got a 15 yard hookup with Juwann Winfree. RB Tyler Goodson had a couple of nice runs that got the Colts into Denver territory but a 3rd down run was stopped by Alex Singleton and Matt Gay would attempt another FG to give the Colts the lead...it would miss and the Broncos offense was setup in good shape for Bo Nix next drive.

Nix expertly moved the Broncos offense down the field with a balance of run and pass. His best plays came on a 3rd down scramble for 6 yards to get the 1st down and a couple plays later had an 11 yard scramble. Jaleel McLaughlin had a tough run down to the 1 yard line that would set up a touchdown pass from Bo Nix to Marvin Mims to give the Broncos their first lead of the game 10-3.

The Colts responded with their own touchdown drive going 67 yards on 8 plays and eventually punching it in from 2 yards out with Evan Hull to tie the game at 10 with 1:45 remaining in the 1st half.

Bo Nix with an opportunity to run the two minute drill seemed to lose out on the opportunity as Lucas Krull fumbled the first pass of the drive HOWEVER, Keidon Smith intercepted Ehlinger's first pass and the Broncos offense got the ball right back. Nix went right back to Krull and the offense quickly moved down the field. They were aided by Devaughn Vele DPI call (his 2nd of the game) and eventually chipped in a 27 yard FG to regain the lead 13-10 before halftime.

Jalen Virgil had a 40 yard kickoff return to start the 3rd quarter giving the Broncos excellent field position to start their first drive of the 2nd half. Bo Nix still in and he immediately went to work with a great wheel route pass to Jaleel McLaughlin for 22 yards. A few plays later, rookie running back Audric Estime punched in a 2 yard touchdown run to extend the Broncos lead 20-10.

The Colts quickly went three and out and now we got to see Zach Wilson in at QB. Didn't get to see much of Wilson on his first drive as Audric Estime fumbled the ball running off the right side and it was returned for a touchdown by Micah Abraham, Colts close the gap 20-17.

Zach Wilson and the Broncos offense went back to work and he helped execute a 9-play, 69 yard touchdown drive that included a 16 yard hookup with Marvin Mims on 3rd down. Tyler Badie punched it in from 11 yards out and Denver extended their lead 27-17.

Kedon Slovis and the Colts offense went back to work and, after a 9 play, 72 yard drive, Tyler Goodson punched it in from 1 yard out to cut the lead to 3, 27-24 with 13:38 remaining in the 4th quarter.

The Broncos next offensive possession had a nice play from Wilson to Brandon Johnson to convert a 3rd and long but otherwise struggled especially with an Alex Forsyth holding penalty. Broncos punted the ball back to Indianapolis with 9:59 remaining in the game.

Jason Bean now in at QB, the FIFTH Colts QB of the day, and they went straight to the ground game with QB keepers. They went to the well one too many times as on the 4th time Bean tried scrambling he fumbled the ball and Matt Henningson came up with it at the Colts 19 yard line with 7:51 remaining in the game. A few plays later, rookie RB Blake Watson punched it in from 6 yards out to extend the Broncos lead 34-24 with 5:55 remaining in the game.

The Colts offense went back to work and this time Jason Bean was a bit more accurate in the passing game as they moved quickly down the field trailing by two scores. From 16 yards out, Bean connects with Laquon Treadwell for a touchdown but Kris Abrams-Draine intercepts the 2 point conversion so Denver's lead cut into 34-30 with 4:11 remaining.

Wilson and the offense took the field with the intention of working the clock and a really nice play by Blake Watson who took a pass into the flat for 33 yards. The Broncos offense would do their job and finish the drive with the ball, beating the Colts 34-30.

The next broadcast is on Sunday, August 18th as the Denver Broncos host the Green Bay Packers. Coverage on KOA begins at 3pm MTN.

Below are postgame interviews with Sean Payton, Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Tim Patrick