Postgame Cold Snacks: This time, Broncos get the late-game stop for the win

DENVER — Under the blanket of darkness and with the temperature dropping in the fourth quarter Sunday, you could have been fooled into thinking the Broncos were 6-2, not 2-6.

With the Browns facing fourth-and-4 at the Denver 33-yard line, the home crowd rose to its feet. The stadium shook, as it had so many times before.

And in the cauldron of noise, the Browns shut down. Devontae Harris and Kareem Jackson provided just enough of a distraction to force Jarvis Landry to drop Baker Mayfield’s fourth-down pass, and the Broncos had the defensive stop that they had failed to make in close-and-late situations against the Bears, Jaguars and Colts.

For a moment, for a day, the energy was back as the Broncos defeated the Browns 24-19 to improve to 3-6.

Cleveland was culpable in its demise, of course. There’s a reason why the talented Browns, a team far less than the sum of its parts, are now 2-6 and perhaps the most disappointing team in the NFL.

One example came just two plays after the Broncos’ fourth-down stop. The Browns appeared thoroughly unprepared for the wildcat snap to Phillip Lindsay, who aligned himself in the backfield for the direct snap while first-time starting quarterback Brandon Allen lined up wide.

Lindsay took off and galloped 16 yards to the left sideline, and then wisely stayed in bounds, allowing the clock to drain to the two-minute warning. The Browns couldn’t do anything to stop the clock, because they’d frittered away their timeouts earlier in the quarter.

The Broncos were the smarter team. They were the more aggressive team.

And after two straight defeats, they were the victorious team.

SWEET FANT-ASY

It was Brandon Allen’s regular-season debut, and he provided a spark, no doubt. But it was Noah Fant’s coming-out party.

With a 75-yard touchdown catch-and-run in the second quarter providing most of the gas, Fant powered his way to the first 100-yard day of his career, a three-catch, 115-yard performance.

His touchdown pass was an example of how the Broncos played to the strengths of their players Sunday. Allen found Fant in the flat, delivering the pass despite absorbing a hit from Olivier Vernon. Fant then ran through and around two defenders and outran the Browns to the end zone for the longest play by a Broncos tight end since an 82-yard catch-and-run by Shannon Sharpe at Kansas City in 2002.

It wasn’t a perfect day, however. On a 7-yard fourth-quarter end-around to Courtland Sutton, Fant was out in front and in position to make a block to spring Sutton downfield, but missed, causing Sutton to be tackled three yards short of the line to gain.

But as a pass catcher, Fant was what the Broncos expected him to be — in part because they put him in position to do what he does best.

FOOD COLORING

Cleveland wore its dark-brown “Primary Colors” uniform, featuring brown jerseys and brown pants with orange numerals and stripes. Previously called the “Color Rush,” the Browns’ uniform choice made them the first visiting team to wear a jersey that was not white at Empower Field at Mile High since Nov. 16, 2003.

In that game, the Broncos wore white jerseys and pants while the Chargers wore navy blue jerseys and white pants. This was punishment for the Broncos bringing the wrong uniforms to San Diego for a Week 2 game that season. For that game — a 37-13 Broncos win — the Chargers intended to wear white jerseys, but the Broncos brought their white jerseys, forcing the Chargers to wear the navy-blue jerseys they typically wore at home in the middle to latter stages of the season.

With the Broncos wearing their regular orange jerseys, Sunday’s tilt became the first color-on-color game at Empower Field at Mile High. Both of the Broncos’ “Color Rush” duels in 2016 and 2017 were on the road — at San Diego in 2016 (Chargers in royal blue, Broncos in orange) and Indianapolis (Colts in royal blue, Broncos in orange).

QUICK BITES

• Garett Bolles came into Sunday having averaged two holding penalties per game in his last five home starts. Until the fourth quarter, it appeared as if Bolles would finish with a clean game. But then he followed a second-down false-start penalty with a third-down holding infraction. The false start turned second-and-6 into second-and-11; the holding was declined after Allen threw it away.
• The Broncos announced an attendance of 73,741 with 2,994 no-shows. 76,743 tickets were distributed.
• The Broncos have now won five of their last seven games with a quarterback starting his first game as a Bronco. Peyton Manning started that run by guiding the Broncos to a Week 1 win over Pittsburgh to open the 2012 season.