ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos have the most fourth-quarter comebacks in the NFL since the quarterback entered the league in 2024.
That's proof of his late-game moxie — he can work his way out of any jam — and, in part, a product of his early-game malaise. The Broncos have been outscored 40-10 in the first half this season.
But after halftime, Nix flips the script. He has 10 career final-quarter rallies on his resume, including last weekend when he led the Broncos back from a 16-0 halftime deficit for a 30-26 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Coming from behind week after week, though, is not exactly a reliable game plan. That's why the Broncos (2-1) are trying to buck their slow-start trend.
“I think it's just all about execution right now,” said Nix, whose team plays at San Francisco (3-0) on Sunday. “We have to sustain drives. We have to get the first first down. Typically, once we do that, we have good success. I think we just have to stay on the field longer. It’s just early-down success right now, execution.”
To Nix's point: The Broncos have had the ball 15 times in the first half this season and failed to pick up even one first down on seven of those drives. In the second half, they've had at least one first down on 11 of 16 drives.
“Obviously, we want to be able to start faster and be able to put together four quality quarters of football,” receiver Courtland Sutton said. “We are working on trying to be better in that aspect.
“We are a really strong finishing team, but if we can pair together a fast start plus finishing strong, that is where I think the magic is going to come from.”
The solution may lie with something as simple as revamping the ground game. The team has 243 yards rushing this season, which is second worst in the NFL behind the Green Bay Packers (146). The backfield has been banged up with J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey dealing with ailments and Jonah Coleman currently on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
Coach Sean Payton equated lackluster starts with an erratic rushing attack. This season, he handed the play-calling duties over to offensive coordinator Davis Webb, who said the team needs to “run with a little bit more conviction.”
“We've got to come out the gate obviously a lot faster,” Webb added. “But man, you can’t argue the resiliency and what’s been basically the tradition here, in regards to coming out of halftime like their hair is on fire. So hopefully we wake up with that intensity in San Francisco.”
It may be tricky given that the 49ers have yet to allow any points in the first quarter. However, they've surrendered 24 in the fourth.
“We don’t panic,” said Nix, who's 26-11 in the regular season as the starter. “Nobody really has to say much, but we’re all just motivating each other and encouraging each other.
“Once you do it a few times, you just know you can do it. We all just get in the huddle like, ‘This is our time, guys. This is what we’ve built and what we’ve managed to become.’ ... It’s just doing it over and over and knowing I have the guys to go out there and go on a game-winning drive because we’ve done it against many, many good teams.”
The Broncos are 10-3 in October under Payton, including 4-0 last season. Not that he puts too much stock in past numbers.
“I think the coach in you says, ‘Man, why isn’t it better in September?’” Payton cracked. “So hopefully we can continue that.”
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Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix talks to reporters following an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, left, steps out of bound while trying to score a touchdown as Los Angeles Rams linebacker Byron Young pushes him out of bounds during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix reacts after a play against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts pulled up at the International Space Station on Thursday after launching on an eight-hour express that set a U.S. speed record.
The fresh arrivals include a Canadian whose wife will give birth while he’s away.
SpaceX launched commander Jessica Watkins and her crew for NASA after a three-week delay to fix their Dragon capsule’s leaking fuel system. Thick clouds threatened all morning to halt the countdown but in the end, the skies cleared enough to allow for a safe liftoff.
Although their stay at the International Space Station will last a long six months, the flight there was the quickest yet not only for Elon Musk’s company, but any American entity, including NASA. The space station's convenient location when the astronauts launched enabled the fast transit.
With the late morning liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. A geologist who worked with NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity a decade ago, Watkins is making her second trip to the space station following a lengthy stay in 2022.
“Thanks for an amazing ride,” Watkins radioed following liftoff.
The others are newcomers to space: NASA’s Luke Delaney, a retired Marine; Canada’s Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner. They will replace four astronauts who have been living at the orbiting laboratory since February.
This was the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for NASA, not counting 2020s test flight. All four embrace their Crew-13 designation that pays homage in their mission patch to Apollo 13. The harrowing 1970 moonshot ended with the astronauts’ safe return.
References to the number 13 abounded Thursday. Watkins and her crew rode to the launch pad in black Teslas bearing plates that read “Lucky 13.” What's more, they carried up a small crocheted golden dragon named Lucky with a four-leaf clover around its neck.
“We figured it wouldn't hurt to bring a little of our own luck just in case, but clearly we don't need it,” Watkins said from orbit, noting they were “four of the luckiest humans on or off planet Earth.”
Kutryk will become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth. Wife Heather is due to give birth to their third child in late November. The Canadian Space Agency promises plenty of support for the entire family when the big day comes.
“A lot of life-changing things can happen over six months,” NASA manager Dana Weigel said on the eve of liftoff, noting that the space agency will do its best to keep Kutryk looped in to his family.
In 2004, NASA provided a radio link between space station astronaut Mike Fincke and his wife’s delivery room during the birth of their daughter. Five years later, Randy Bresnik, commander of next year’s Artemis III mission, dialed in to his wife’s hospital from orbit.
The happy news traveled more slowly for Austrian astronaut Franz Viehbock. His daughter was born a few hours after he launched to the Soviet Union’s Mir space station in 1991. He was not informed until the next day.
SpaceX, meanwhile, is on a roll. Three hours after Crew-13 blasted off, SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket from California with more than 100 mini satellites. Another Falcon was set to soar late Thursday night from Florida, with a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. All this comes the same week that the company's massive Starship reached orbit for the first time.
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Astronaut Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The booster from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to pad 40 after launching the crew capsule at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia, greets family and friends as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Pilot Luke Delaney, left, and commander Jessica Watkins leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Commander Jessica Watkins greets family and friends as she leaves the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Astronauts, from left, Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, pilot Luke Delaney, commander Jessica Watkins and Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Astronauts, from left, Joshua Kutryk, of Canada, pilot Luke Delaney, commander Jessica Watkins and Cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, of Russia leave the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a crew of four launches from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
