Wow, what a wild finish to the season for the Denver Broncos, who handed the Oakland Raiders a loss in their last game before heading to Las Vegas. Though other results sealed the Raiders’ playoff fate, the Broncos ending the season with a win over their bitter rivals starts the offseason off on the right foot.
With the win, the Broncos finish the year 7-9, which isn’t bad after an 0-4 start. There is a lot for Broncos fans to be excited about heading into the offseason.
Here are four takeaways from Sunday’s season finale.
1. Phillip Lindsay makes history… barely
With 53 yards rushing on the day, Lindsay becomes the first undrafted player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. But it didn’t come easily.
He needed 42 yards entering the game, meaning he finished at 1,011 yards on the season. He was sitting at 1,002 late in the fourth quarter and was tackled for a one-yard loss while the Broncos were trying to run out the clock.
Luckily, he was able to finish above 1,000 yards on the season. He becomes the first Broncos running back to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons since Clinton Portis back in 2002-03.
2. Denver dodged some terrible decisions at the end of the game
With 1:41 remaining on the clock and holding a 7-point lead, the Broncos faced a fourth down from Oakland’s 39-yard line. The Raiders were out of timeouts.
Vic Fangio could have brought in Colby Wadman to punt it and try to pin the Raiders deep in their own territory, but he instead brought out Brandon McManus for a 57-yard field goal attempt. He missed.
Now, the Raiders had excellent field position and plenty of time to go down the field and get a touchdown. They did.
That score was helped by unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Garett Bolles and Isaac Yiadom, which almost cost them the game.