Broncos analysis: ‘Leverage’ serves as final dagger, but Sean Payton’s team set itself up for failure several times

INDIANAPOLIS Before leverage marred the Broncos Sunday in the Heartland they literally uncovered themselves sitting quite pretty For much of the second half Sean Payton s band positioned itself to escape Lucas Oil Stadium with a win despite an uncharacteristically poor defensive outing To head back to Denver with a pair of wins pocketed before opening division play next weekend To learn tough lessons and slug through ugly film sessions from the left side of the ledger a spoon full of sugar to take the edge off dozens of sure-to-be-bitter clips across all three phases Three times in the final minutes in fact the Broncos had prime chances to extend their lead to two scores Three times they failed Three times they left the door cracked open Eventually accident busted through The -yard penalty on Dondrea Tillman that turned a -yard Spencer Shrader missed field goal and Broncos win into a -yarder sailing through the uprights served as the final crowbar s worth of leverage but Denver lost Sunday s event several times over before the scoreboard proved - Colts at the final whistle We did a lot of things late in that competition to keep us from winning Payton declared after his squad dropped needlessly to - It will be painful to watch that film We had a number of opportunities to not be in that position late and unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot too a multitude of times Right tackle Mike McGlinchey didn t need to see the tape to know exactly what he thought Related Articles Broncos document card Sean Payton s play-calling shines but Vance Joseph s defense struggles in loss to Colts What is leverage Referee explains call on Dondrea Tillman that handed Broncos Week loss at Colts PHOTOS Denver Broncos fall to Indianapolis Colts - in NFL Week Broncos four downs Shane Steichen goes full Nathaniel Hackett but Denver loses anyway Broncos corner Pat Surtain II says ankle injury is nothing crazy but is something he requirements to monitor There s no way we should have lost that match he reported We had presumably six or seven opportunities in the second half to end it and we didn t Trouble started at the minute mark of the third quarter and the Broncos leading - after the defense notched one of its four red zone stops of the contest Quarterback Bo Nix opened up one way and rookie running back RJ Harvey went the other a similar miscue happened with veteran running back J K Dobbins last week leaving Nix in scramble mode He got three yards but an incompletion on third-and- stalled the drive at Indy s -yard line Payton tried to tell Nix something on the sideline but Nix kept moving past him only to be called back by the head coach for an animated discussion A -yard punt to pin the Colts deep turned out to be the best outcome of the Broncos final three drives An aggressive decision to decline a penalty paid off for Payton when the defense turned the Colts over on downs at midfield and set the offense up in great position with remaining They fast moved into scoring range but Nix made one of only a minimal bad throws of his day at exactly the wrong time sailing a ball for Courtland Sutton too high and into safety Cam Bynum s arms Payton stated the ball was tipped It felt like we lost a little bit of our momentum Nix commented We missed a chance at three points at least there when you re already in the red zone if not a touchdown if I just hit that pass The second-year quarterback had to that point authored an impressive response to a shaky Week outing he threw first-half touchdowns to Marvin Mims Jr Troy Franklin and Adam Trautman acted decisively on an -yard third-down scramble to move the chains and overall operated promptly and efficiently both in the pocket and on the move When the offense got the ball for the final time with to go the lead had been trimmed to - thanks to a -yard Taylor burst and subsequent field goal Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix gets taken down by Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and teammate Samson Ebukam in the fourth quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Indiana on Sunday Sept Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post One final time a spate of self-inflicted damage kept the Colts on the doorstep First J K Dobbins followed a powerful -yard run by spiking the ball and drawing a delay of competition penalty I didn t know I couldn t Dobbins explained The Post I ve invariably done it Then Trautman got his hands in a facemask and pushed the Broncos back yards You get behind the chains that severely and the percentages of making a first down just bottom out McGlinchey disclosed Still the Broncos had a chance to push the lead to five until kicker Wil Lutz doinked a -yard field goal off the right upright Lutz had been of on field goal attempts of less than yards since joining the Broncos Look the association deserved to win this competition declared Lutz who added he knew he hit a bad ball as soon as it left his foot My number was called on fourth down and the ball didn t go in Gotta be better Denver Broncos place kicker Wil Lutz and Denver Broncos punter Jeremy Crawshaw walk off the field after Lutz missed a field goal in the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Indiana on Sunday Sept Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post The Broncos were in position to win the battle That s not the same as deserving to win The defense played well overall in the red zone but was far too leaky early in the contest They busted coverages and bounced tackles and let Daniel Jones tear them apart for first-half points The offense started fast but finished with a thud It slipped away from us got away Nix reported We made errors at the end that cost us Add in eight total penalties for yards and the Broncos left themselves exposed They left themselves exposed not only to one too multiple mental errors but to a chance to stake an early claim To start - for the first time since To pull two games clear of nine-time defending AFC West champ Kansas City To show that this group knows how to win close games rather than cough them up Instead the opposite It s not a crippler by any means but it stings now and the cost may well multiply in the months to come Coach reported it best after the competition you ve got to learn to win McGlinchey revealed In order to do that you ve got to stop losing We gave that challenge away the present day A year ago Taylor s inexplicable goal line fumble flipped a championship between these two teams and ultimately served as essentially the difference between the Broncos going to the playoffs instead of the Colts Denver s got plenty of road ahead but now must work to ensure that leverage doesn t return the favor in Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis