Broncos beat the Seahawks 17-14 in OT on Ja'Quan McMillian's pick, Wil Lutz's 53-yarder

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Broncos are atrocious on offense, depleted on defense and shaky on special teams. All they do is find ways to win.

Ja’Quan McMillian intercepted Sam Darnold’s pass in overtime Thursday night and Wil Lutz kicked a 53-yard field goal that gave the Broncos a 17-14 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

The Broncos emerged from a tough six-week season-opening stretch with a 4-2 record despite an injury-riddled roster and a shaky quarterback, and the Seahawks (3-3) lost for the second time in five days. They also matched their loss total from last season, when they won their second Super Bowl title.

The Broncos won despite Bo Nix throwing for just 107 yards, J.K. Dobbins leading the rushing attack with a mere 41 yards and managing a meager three first downs and 168 yards of total offense — less than half the 353 yards piled up by the Seahawks.

“I don't know why we can't really push the ball vertically right now,” Nix said. “But defenses are just sitting back and hanging out. ... Hopefully we find a way to get more out of it.”

Nix was as honest as he's been to date in his postgame comments about Denver's scuffling offense.

“We’re definitely capable, we’ve shown it," he said. "And, you know I don’t know where the disconnect is right now, to be honest with you. ... I just think we’re really, for some reason, struggling to find those explosive plays, and that’s what makes an offense really spectacular: Is finding explosive plays. And right now, we don’t have those.”

Denver's depleted defense came to the rescue yet again, hitting Darnold 17 times and collecting five sacks.

“The quarterback's getting hit way too much,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “Everybody sees that.”

“You’ve got to give credit to those guys," Darnold said. “They’ve got a really tough defense, really good defense coordinator in Vance (Joseph).”

On Seattle's opening drive in overtime, McMillian intercepted a pass intended for Rashid Shaheed at the Denver 43, the second pick of the night by Darnold, who completed 27 of 51 passes for 278 yards without a touchdown.

Those stats were better than Nix's. He barely topped 100 yards on 17-of-27 passing after throwing for 123 last week in a tight win over the Chargers.

Jason Myers' 34-yard field goal tied it at 14-all with 3 seconds left in regulation and capped an 11-0 Seattle run over the final 5 1/2 minutes. The Seahawks started their game-tying drive at midfield after a 31-yard punt return by Shaheed.

“No moral victories in the league,” Macdonald said. “It’s a bottom-line business, production business. But I’m proud of our effort. I’m proud of the resolve of the team. I’m proud of our connectedness of our team.

“However, there’s things that we need to get better at quickly, and we know those things; they’re within our control, and that’s what we do. We find solutions, and we get things figured out, we move forward, and we evolve.”

That's essentially what Sean Payton was saying in the winning locker room.

“Defensively, we were magnificent,” said Payton, who acknowledged, “I’m a little bit of a realist to know that 4-2 could easily be 2-4.”

Denver appeared to have victory in hand when Kris Abrams-Draine intercepted Darnold's pass at the Denver 30 with 1:25 left in regulation, but the Broncos burned just 15 seconds of clock before punting.

After scoring just three points on their first eight drives, the Seahawks put together an 11-play, 67-yard masterpiece that ended with running back George Holani scoring from a yard out. Darnold’s 2-point pass to Shaheed pulled Seattle within 14-11 with 5:41 left.

Dobbins had a 4-yard touchdown run and fellow running back R.J. Harvey took a direct snap and scored from a yard out on Denver’s next drive for a 14-3 halftime lead.

The Seahawks’ most promising first-half drive ended at the Denver 34 when Nik Bonitto punched the ball from Shaheed’s grasp and inside linebacker Justin Strnad recovered.

The Seahawks franchise fell to 19-30-1 in overtime and the Broncos improved to 33-23-2. That's second-best in the NFL.

“It was a good win,” Payton said, “but we've got a lot of work to do.”

Seahawks TE Elijah Arroyo left late in the first half with an apparent right shoulder injury sustained while diving for a fumbled ball.

The Broncos were without star CB Patrick Surtain II and starting safety Talanoa Hufanga, both out with ankle injuries. RB Tyler Badie injured a thumb in the second quarter.

Seahawks: Host the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 25.

Broncos: Host the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 25.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Denver Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach (97) and inside linebacker Justin Strnad, right, celebrate Strnad's fumble recovery against Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed during the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Seattle Seahawks place-kicker Jason Myers reacts after missing a field goal against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos defensive end Zach Allen (99) sacks Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold with Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Broncos place-kicker Wil Lutz (3) reacts with punter Jeremy Crawshaw (16) after making a field goal to win the game in overtime against the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix throws against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Denver Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine, right, celebrates with safety Devon Key (26) and safety JL Skinner (34) after making an interception against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws against the Denver Broncos during overtime in an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is tackled by Denver Broncos cornerback Jahdae Barron (23) during overtime in an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'Quan McMillian celebrates an interception against the Seattle Seahawks during overtime in an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Geneva Heffernan)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Back atop the batting order, Shohei Ohtani responded with a three-run homer that helped the Los Angeles Dodgers build their early lead in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

But it wasn't enough to keep the Milwaukee Brewers from advancing to their first World Series in 44 years on Thursday.

The Dodgers lost 6-4 and got swept in four games, the same thing they did to the Brewers last year on the way to winning a second straight World Series title.

Ohtani went 1 for 4 with three strikeouts — including a big one in the seventh inning with the potential tying run at third base and one out. He hit .192 in the playoffs (5 for 26) with three RBIs, four walks and 10 strikeouts.

Last season, Ohtani was the NLCS MVP after hitting three home runs and striking out 10 batters over six-plus shutout innings of two-hit ball during a dominant two-way performance in the clinching Game 4.

“Ohtani is arguably the best player in the world, and he’s proven that to us,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “He had the greatest game I’ve ever seen played by an individual player last year against us.”

With the Dodgers facing elimination this time, Ohtani's 428-foot drive to right-center off former teammate Dustin May left his bat at 113.1 mph and gave Los Angeles a 4-0 lead in the second inning. It was the Dodgers' first homer of the series and his first since Aug. 18 at Colorado — a span of 116 plate appearances.

“I thought we woke up a giant. I’m like, ‘Oh, God, here we go,’” Murphy said. “But we had a little JoJo Romero for them and Aaron Ashby for them later on. That did the trick.”

The typically placid Ohtani reacted in a most un-Ohtani way: raising his arms and yelling toward the Dodgers' dugout before beginning his trot around the bases.

“I think it was a lot of pent-up anger, frustration. It was the best ball he hit in probably two, three months, and it was a big hit,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “For him to look at the dugout, show that emotion, it just shows how much he cares. He’s still human. He still cares and wants to help his team win a baseball game.”

With two outs, Ohtani unleashed the smooth and powerful swing that had mostly deserted him over the last few months while he dealt with knee and arm issues.

The four-time MVP struck out swinging so hard in the first that his helmet came off.

“I think he’s the best player on the planet, and he’s not completely healthy,” Roberts said. “But I just give him a lot of respect for not running from it, still wanting to participate, still wanting to play when he’s not 100%.”

Roberts restored Ohtani to his familiar leadoff spot for Game 4.

Ohtani batted sixth in a 6-2 loss on Wednesday, the lowest he's hit since joining the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season. He was 1 for 2 with a walk and a hit by pitch.

“Just seeing the work the last couple days, I like where his head is at,” Roberts said before the game. “I liked the at-bats yesterday. Obviously we haven’t performed the way that we’re capable of, so to kind of shake it up a little bit, but something that’s of somewhat normalcy that our guys are used to.”

Ohtani typically leads off but was dropped lower while struggling with injuries to his left knee and right biceps over the last few months that have prevented the two-way star from pitching since early July. Roberts didn't tell Ohtani about the change before posting the Game 4 lineup.

“It's not one player that didn’t come through. It was all of us,” Roberts said. “But I’m really impressed with what Shohei did. I'll always trust Shohei."

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani watches from the dugout during the ninth inning of Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates his three run home run during the second inning of Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani follows through on a three run home run during the second inning of Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates his three run home run during the second inning of Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates his three run home during the second inning of Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani connects for a three run home during the second inning of Game 4 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)