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Denver Broncos beat Cincinnati Bengals in overtime, clinch AFC playoff berth

The Bengals were making Denver’s league-leading defense look like a bottom-tier unit, and the combination of quarterback AJ McCarron and receiver A.J.

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The Bengals should still not be feared as a playoff opponent, even if Andy Dalton returns for them at quarterback.


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After Mike Nugent’s 52-yard field goal tied it with 6:45 remaining, the Broncos twice drove to the Bengals 26 only to come away empty, once on Anderson’s fumble and then on McManus’ miss. (This year will be No. 7.) Yet Lewis’s Bengals have won exactly zero of those games and the team itself hasn’t won a playoff game going all the way back 25 years, when they rolled to a wild-card victory in 1990 over a team that no longer exists, winning 41-14 over the Houston Oilers.


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After the Broncos forced a punt, Denver took over on its 48.

The Denver Broncos rallied from 14-0 down to beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-17 on a fumble in overtime as they booked their ticket to the play-offs on Monday night.

Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus misses a 45-yard field goal for the win with four seconds left against the Cincinnati Bengals on December 28, 2015 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The win clinched a playoff berth for Denver (11-4) and prevented the Bengals (11-4) from securing a first-round bye.

“There’s an old saying: ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, ‘ ” Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler said.

It’s all over after this, so even though Week 17 is largely meaningless for most teams, the fact that it’s our last full Sunday of football until next September makes it special. Anderson added a 39-yard touchdown run for Denver, which can lock up the AFC West title with a win over the San Diego Chargers in the regular-season finale at home on Sunday.

The relieved Bengals called tails but the coin landed heads.

Unlike Patriots coach Bill Belichick a day earlier, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak chose to receive, and Denver drove 60 yards in 13 plays.

McManus redeemed himself with his field goal five minutes into the extra period.

The Broncos sport the league’s top defense against the run and the pass and the Bengals have allowed the fewest points in the league.

These facets plagued the Bengals’ defense in the second half, and it ultimately led to their demise. The Broncos almost finished the first half without a point. They used more than seven minutes to go 80 yards on 15 plays as McCarron was 5 of 8 for 47 yards and a 5-yard touchdown pass to Green, who caught three passes on the drive.

The Bengals are already in the playoffs and the last thing they need is for another quarterback to get injured.

Trailing by 11, the Broncos took to the air to begin the third quarter, marching 81 yards on the strength of Osweiler’s superb passing.

Denver had the ball for only 8:00 in the half after going 0-3 on 3rd-down, but opened the 2nd half by converting twice on an 81-yard drive capped by an 8-yard Brock Osweiler pass to Emmanuel Sanders to trim the deficit to 14-10. A zone play on which safety Reggie Nelson says he should have made the tackle.

That would then lead to another trip to Denver in the Divisional Round to face the No. 2 seed Broncos. “That’s why you lace them up, that’s why you show up in April and go back to work, and into training camp”.

Sure, Pittsburgh has impressive victories this season – against Denver, Arizona and Cincinnati. This was only the third time two teams have met in December with those stats.

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“We talked at halftime, ‘Hey, we’ve had some struggles in the second half”.

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports