Devon Key's Goal-Line Pick and Nik Bonitto's Strip-Sack Lift the Broncos Past the Panthers 26-21

Somewhere upstairs at Bank of America Stadium, Broncos director of game management Evan Rothstein saw something the officials had missed, got word to Sean Payton, and Payton threw his red flag just before the next snap. That flag turned a Carolina touchdown drive into a Denver interception, and it might be the most valuable throw any Bronco made all afternoon.

The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 26-21 in Charlotte on Sunday, as safety Devon Key's overturned end zone pick swung a game Carolina was poised to grab. Bo Nix threw two touchdown passes, Jonah Coleman scored the go-ahead touchdown, and Nik Bonitto's strip-sack with 1:24 left ended it. Denver is 7-2 with five straight wins, and it now owns an NFL-record 16 consecutive regular-season wins in one-score games. Carolina falls to 3-5 and has lost three in a row.

A Fast Start, a Carolina Comeback, Then the Flag

Denver started fast. Wil Lutz hit a 26-yard field goal on the opening drive, the third straight week the Broncos scored on their first series, and Nix found Courtland Sutton for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:23 left in the first quarter. The 10-0 lead was Denver's best opening quarter of the season.

Carolina spent the rest of the half clawing back. Corey Thornton intercepted Nix, Ryan Fitzgerald missed a 43-yard field goal, and Bryce Young eventually connected with tight end Tommy Tremble on a 10-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the half. Then Fitzgerald sent the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, Denver took over with good field position, and Lutz drilled a 48-yarder with eight seconds left for a 13-7 halftime lead.

Young kept coming. He hit Darren Waller for a 15-yard touchdown with 11:30 left in the third quarter, putting Carolina in front 14-13, its first lead of the day. Late in the quarter the Panthers had first-and-goal at the Denver 1, and that is where the afternoon flipped.

The Challenge That Saved the Day

Young's first-down throw toward the corner of the end zone was ruled incomplete. Carolina ran its second-down play, and the Broncos stuffed Chuba Hubbard short of the goal line. Only then did the officials announce that Payton's challenge flag had landed before the snap. Replay showed that the first-down pass had deflected off Tremble's hand and that Key caught it before it hit the turf. Interception, touchback, Broncos ball at the 20.

Instead of trailing by four or eight, Denver trailed by one, and Nix took it from there. The Broncos marched 80 yards in 14 plays, and Coleman scored from 9 yards out with 10:17 to play. The two-point pass failed, but Denver led 19-14. Malcolm Roach and Jonathon Cooper later split a third-down sack of Young, and Nix found Pat Bryant wide open down the seam for a 26-yard touchdown with 5:41 left. It was 26-14.

Young did not go quietly. He capped the next drive with a 4-yard touchdown to Tetairoa McMillan with 3:05 to go, and when a misplayed pitch from Nix to Coleman cost Denver 18 yards, the Broncos had to punt with two minutes left. Carolina never got going. Bonitto beat left tackle Rasheed Walker, knocked the ball out of Young's hands and fell on it near midfield. One Denver first down later, the game was over.

"That was the first that I could ever recall like that," Payton said of the challenge, adding, "I gave Evan a game ball." Key, making his first career interception, kept it simple. "I felt confident in it," he said, before lamenting, "I wish I could've gotten some return yards." Pat Surtain II summed it up best: "That was a heads-up play by him." Nix called the turnover a "great momentum shifter for us."

Who Showed Up

Nix finished 25 of 37 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and the interception, and he was at his best on the 14-play drive that put Denver ahead. Coleman ran 17 times for 57 yards and has scored in two straight games. Bryant, back from injured reserve, led Denver's receivers with four catches for 56 yards. The Broncos did all of that without wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and cornerback Riley Moss, who both left in the first half with concussions, and with safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones already sidelined.

Young was terrific in a loss, going 28 of 39 for 276 yards with three touchdowns and the interception. Waller caught eight passes for 90 yards and a score, McMillan added four catches for 56 yards and a touchdown, and Hubbard ran 16 times for 79 yards. Carolina outgained Denver 353 to 312. It still lost, because the Panthers kept handing over yardage, field position and, in the end, the football.

The Numbers Behind It

• 16 straight one-score regular-season wins for Denver, an NFL record.
• 80 yards on 14 plays for the go-ahead drive that followed Key's interception.
• 3 sacks of Young, down from the six he took against Green Bay a week earlier.
• 5 pass interference flags on a Carolina defense playing without its top four cornerbacks.
• 1:24 left on the clock when Bonitto's strip-sack ended Carolina's final drive.

What It Means

Denver heads into its bye at 7-2 with five straight wins, including three in a row on the road. Payton knows the margins have been thin, and he insists the close calls are earned. "When those things keep falling your way that's not by accident," Payton said. The Broncos host Las Vegas on Nov. 22.

For Carolina, this one stings. The Panthers were coming off a loss to Green Bay in which Young was sacked six times, and this time the protection mostly held until the final drive. Dave Canales praised the line but said the team has "gotta be able to finish together." Todd Wash ran the defense for the first time as interim coordinator after replacing Ejiro Evero, and the unit played without top outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips. Carolina visits New Orleans on Nov. 15.

A Game Ball for the Guy Upstairs

Most game balls go to the players who make the plays. This one went to the guy upstairs who saw it first. Rothstein, Denver's director of game management, spotted what the officials on the field missed, and the league confirmed the flag was out before the snap. "Evan is an unbelievable football mind," tackle Mike McGlinchey said. In a season of one-score finishes, sometimes the margin is a staffer with a good eye and a coach with a quick arm.

Stats from the official box score via theScore and ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by DenverBroncos.com, DenverSports.com and Panthers Wire, with additional reporting from the Associated Press.