DENVER -- With a 17-14 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks finally in hand, Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto was still trying to wrap his head around one of the numbers that told the story of the night.
The Broncos (4-2) had survived, somehow, despite the defense facing 82 snaps Thursday night in Empower Field at Mile High, just four days after a road win at the Los Angeles Chargers.
"82 snaps? Did I feel 82 snaps? Bro, every one of them," Bonitto said with a tired smile.
The Broncos defense sacked Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold five times, hit him 17 times and intercepted him twice, including once in overtime to set up Wil Lutz's 53-yard winning field goal with 4 minutes, 53 seconds left. The Broncos won even though Denver's offense finished with 168 yards and didn't have a drive longer than five plays on its last nine possessions of regulation.
Denver, without injured Pat Surtain II and Talanoa Hufanga, still had 12 different players hit Darnold at least once, believed by the team to be the most in an NFL game since at least 2006. It was the second time this season that the Broncos defense had faced 82 plays (the Week 3 win over the Rams was the other), but this time it was on a short week.
"Defensively we were magnificent," Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "I don't know how many times we hit the quarterback, we got three takeaways. ... The takeaways were huge. ... That was the difference, field position, all of that. They were fantastic."
Said Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad: "We pride ourselves on being a dominant unit, and we felt like we were that tonight. We knew we were going to get after [Darnold]. That was part of the plan, and we did that."
The night didn't have that kind of start. The Broncos offense put together two long scoring drives in their first three possessions, a season-high 16-play, 74-yard touchdown drive followed by a nine-play, 79-yard touchdown drive that gave Denver a 14-3 lead.
But in the nine Denver possessions between the second touchdown and Lutz's overtime kick, the offense punted seven times, had a drive go for minus-5 yards to end the half and ended regulation with a possession for a 1-yard loss. The Broncos didn't run more than five plays on any of those possessions, which put the defense back on the field over and over again without much recovery time.
"We don't win that game without them," Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said of the defense.
Said Strnad: "We kind of knew it was going to be that kind of game; obviously we want the offense to get rolling a little bit and figure that out. But we're going to do absolutely anything we can to keep winning week in, week out."
The Broncos had only one game all of last season in which the defense played more than 80 snaps -- 85 against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 30 -- and had only two games in 2024 in which the defense played more than 75 snaps.
Thursday's performance left the Broncos, who have faced five playoff teams from 2025 and both teams from the NFC Championship Game over the season's first six weeks, at 4-2 despite their offensive miscues. Nix's 107 passing yards Thursday was the second-lowest total in a game of his career, and two of his three lowest single-game totals have now come in the span of four days, as he had 123 passing yards against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Broncos' longest play of the game was 16 yards.
"We're definitely capable [of better]. I don't know where the disconnect is right now to be honest with you," Nix said. "I just think we're really struggling to find those explosive plays, and that's what makes an offensive spectacular is explosive plays and right now we don't have those."
The Seahawks scored 11 fourth-quarter points as the Broncos defense began to show signs of fatigue, including on an 11-play, 67-yard touchdown drive. Seattle opened overtime with the ball and had a third-and-7 from the Broncos' 28-yard line when Ja'Quan McMillian snatched a pass intended for Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed.
Four plays later, Lutz kicked the winner.
"It was a real challenge for us, and I like the way we handled it," Bonitto said.