The Broncos held on to notch a fifth straight win Sunday, edging the Panthers in Charlotte. Denver has been a historically reliable close-game operation over the past two years, having now won an NFL-record 16 straight one-score games in the regular season.
The AFC West leaders’ routine is rather well established by now; late-game execution continues to bedevil opponents, with many of those narrow wins occurring after comebacks. Denver’s typical game script, though, features inconsistent offense through two-plus quarters before a defensive shutdown takes over. An argument exists this is unsustainable, though Sean Payton’s team has done better than anyone at stringing these type of wins…
