‘Disappointed’ Broncos fall, see playoff hopes dim

DENVER — In a race to stay in the chase for an AFC Wild Card spot, the Denver Broncos lost the most consistent player in their offense, lost a game in the final seconds and most likely lost their chance at the postseason in one exceedingly disappointing Christmas Eve.

Wide receiver Courtland Sutton left Sunday night’s game against the New England Patriots in the first quarter with a concussion and the rest of the evening simply didn’t get any better.

Patriots rookie kicker Chad Ryland powered a 56-yard field through the frigid night air with two seconds remaining and New England left with a 26-23 win in Empower Field at Mile High.

“It’s disappointing, it’s a disappointing loss,” Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper said. “Everybody’s feeling it, I know I’m feeling it, it sucks, man, it sucks. We’ve got everything to play for right there and we didn’t get the job done, simple as that … It’s going to be hard to enjoy Christmas … plain and simple, it wasn’t good enough.”

The loss likely extinguishes the Broncos’ (7-8) playoff chances without wholesale collapse around them in the AFC. Denver is now 4-6 in AFC games with Sunday’s loss with games remaining against the Chargers and Raiders over the season’s final two weeks.

“I haven’t done the math, I’m feeling this loss right now,” said quarterback Russell Wilson. “We probably should have won this game, probably the best thing we can do is get up (Monday), be with our families and get back to work.”

A dismal first quarter, which included Sutton’s departure from the game, was the tipping point for a Broncos’ offense as it struggled mightily without Sutton in it. The Broncos’ first three possessions of the game started at the New England 6-, 46- and 25-yard lines and Denver came away with seven points.

The Broncos followed that up with minus-7 net yards in the third quarter as Wilson was sacked five times and the Broncos had one play in the game longer than 21 yards.

“Frustrating game in that we had a lot of opportunities, especially in the first half, offensively we struggled,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton. ” … Our margin for error right now isn’t what it needs to be and we end up on the losing end of a game.”

Sutton came into the game third in the league in touchdowns with 10 and until a fourth-quarter rejuvenation, the Broncos didn’t have anyone to close the deal in the red zone as Sutton has done throughout the year. In the opening half the Broncos had one reception by a wide receiver — a 9-yard catch by Marvin Mims Jr.

Add all of that to a 20-point third quarter by the Patriots that included Mims fumble on a kickoff New England returned for a touchdown — their third of the quarter — and the recipe was in place for the Broncos to also fumble away their playoff hopes.

“I felt like, personally, I blew it,” Mims said. “That’s a 14-point swing. It cost us at the end. I got to be better, I know that. At the end of the day, I mean things happen, but I just know I got to be better.”

Payton said after the game Sutton was officially in the concussion protocol, which means he will have to clear several stages, including exams by an independent neurologist before he can practice fully or play in a game. The Broncos will face the Chargers Sunday, in Denver.

Payton said he would give the players Christmas off as well as Tuesday before returning to the practice field Wednesday.

The Broncos’ offense did put together two long touchdown drives – 83 and 78 yards, respectively, to tie the game at 23-23 with 2:53 to play. After the two teams traded punts the Patriots took over at their own 19-yard line with 58 seconds to play.

New England drove to the Broncos’ 38-yard line in six plays, including two timeouts called by Payton to stop the clock, before Ryland made the game-winner.

The loss likely extends the Broncos’ playoff drought to eight seasons. The team’s last playoff game was their Super Bowl 50 win over the Carolina Panthers to close out the 2015 season.

“Just disappointed, chance to win a big game at home, I don’t know what all the playoff stuff looks like, but I know we needed to win,” said Broncos safety Justin Simmons, the only player on the team for all eight of those years. ” … You want to play in games like this … we didn’t play nearly well enough I order for us to win the game. I am proud of the team and the way that we fought (back from a 1-5 start) to get to this point, but extremely disappointed with our lack of execution.”