Demaryius Thomas, the Denver Broncos, and the Legend of 33
The Denver Broncos scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to come back and beat the New York Giants 33-32.
"3 is a magic number. Yes it is. It's a magic number" - De La Soul
If 3 is a magic number, than 33 must be double magic.
And 33 connects Demaryius Thomas, the Denver Broncos, and today's 33-32 win over the Giants.
Demaryius Thomas, the Denver Broncos, and the Legend of 33
What is the Legend of 33?
On Sunday, the Broncos scored 33 points in the fourth quarter. When they got the ball the final time, Bo Nix and the offense took the field with 33 seconds left on the clock.
And when he died of a seizure—far too young—Denver Broncos legend Demaryius Thomas was only 33 years old.
The Broncos honored DT today at new Mile High Stadium in front of a sold out crowd. Thomas' parents were in attendance and got to take in his new bust that stands outside the stadium as part of the Ring of Fame Plaza.
"I'm wanting to touch his face again," his mother Katina Smith said as she reached out to caress the cheeks on his bronze image. "This right here, it's like he's still here with us today and in our hearts. So, he lives on through all of us and through all the community and his fans."
Demaryius Thomas is officially a member of the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame. 💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/XYaH7HmAuA
— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) October 19, 2025
The way the Broncos won on Sunday, whether you're a believer in the supernatural or the afterlife—or even nothing at all—it seemed Demaryius was there, helping his team to an incredible, insane, improbable victory.
Denver Sprang to Life Late
Through three (3!) quarters, the Broncos offense was nowhere to be found.
It's the same old song and dance we've heard and seen all year long. The Broncos start slowly. In fact, they've trailed at some point in the first half in every single game this year.
Today was a little different than most games, though.
The Giants weren't really moving the ball all that great, punting on their first two drives. But then they drove for a long touchdown, and put another touchdown on the board in the second quarter. Despite a missed extra point, they led 13-0.
Denver had a mere 101 yards in the first half, while the G-Men had double that (203), most of which coming through the air.
New York also ended the third quarter with a touchdown, but failed on their 2-point attempt to lead 19-0.
Denver was done.
The defense played valiantly and fought stalwartly. But the offense was a non-starter.
They had six drives end with a punt, one a turnover on downs, and one stopped at the end of the half to that point.
Then the Broncos sprang to life.
Sean Payton's head-scratching play calling for the rest of the game finally got conventional and worked. Bo Nix led his team 78 yards to a score, and hit on a 2-point conversion.
Great, but too little, too late.
Especially when the Giants marched for a score of their own, highlighted by an insane tipped ball touchdown.
Nothing was going Denver's way. The Giants had the momentum and the luck, and led by 17 with 10:14 to play.
Nix and Co. scored again, though. This time, with the QB running it in himself, and they hit on another 2-point conversion.
Down 10 with 4:56 to play, Payton called his second timeout. With the television camera pointed on his face, he shook his head in anger. You could read his lips that said "too much."
As in, the 10-point deficit was too much to overcome with that little time remaining.
Then, the incredible happened.
Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart threw a pick to Justin Strnad and the Broncos were alive!
The Broncos scored quickly and were suddenly down 26-23 with 3:51 to go.
Denver's defense, which looked completely gassed earlier in the quarter, earned a 3-and-out to set the offense up.
The offense moved with a purpose we may have not seen all season long, going 68 yards in only 51 seconds and Nix ran the ball in again to lead 30-26.
But there was too much time on the clock.
Dart and the G-Men drove, with the help of a pass interference penalty, to score the go-ahead touchdown.
But New York scored too quickly, too.
After the kickoff, the Broncos got the ball with 33 seconds left. They needed 37 yards and somehow got Wil Lutz into range, spiked the ball, and he kicked them to victory. 33-32, Broncos win over the Giants.
“I don't even know how we scored 33 points in a quarter,” Bo Nix admitted. “That's kind of insane.”
Then and there, the Legend of 33 was born.
Broncos Comeback was Inconceivable
The entire comeback was inconceivable because the Broncos offense was going through a really rough stretch.
Dating back to the 13-11 win over the Jets in London last week, Denver had 17 straight drives end without a touchdown. 12 were punts, two were ends of halves, one safety, one ended on downs, and one field goal. Woof.
It wasn't just inconceivable because the Broncos struggled mightily on Sunday, but last week, too. And really, all season outside the Bengals game.
After 17 straight drives without a touchdown, they scored four straight touchdowns. And one field goal to win the game.
That's insane.
Like the comeback victory over the Eagles, this win was incredible because everything had to go right.
That win was the biggest victory by the franchise since Super Bowl 50.
Rich Kurtzman
This one was the greatest comeback...maybe in the history of the franchise? No offense to John Elway, the comeback king, or Peyton Manning who had a 24-point comeback over the Chargers in 2012.
In this victory, they not only had to score four straight touchdowns, but that included two straight 2-point conversions. And on top of it all, this offense moved the ball 56 yards in only 33 seconds, flawlessly, to set up the game-winning field goal.
This offense ain't the Chiefs during their heyday with the 13-second drive to beat the Bills. Or any other high-flying offense that can execute quickly with no timeouts.
And yet, Nix and his O got it done.
Impossible.
“I was proud we fought to get back in it,” Sean Payton said. “It's like we had to find a way to clean up our mess.”
A lot of that mess was Payton's poor play calling. Hopefully the coach can do some self reflection and find a way to set his team up for success better the rest of this season.
The Legend of DT
There are too many great stories about Demaryius Thomas to speak of all of them here.
One that I found great was Courtland Sutton—the team's current leader in the wide receiver room, just like DT was—telling a story of when he was a rookie. Thomas told Sutton to go to a local doughnut shop and get sweet treats for the receivers when Sutton was only a rookie.
Sutton did it, and continued the tradition through to today.
That was back in 2018, Thomas' last with the Broncos before he was traded to Houston and ended his career with the Jets in 2019. He passed, sadly, in December, 2021.
Rewind all the way back January of 2012, and DT had his own late-game heroics.
The Broncos that year were led by Tim Tebow. They started the year 2-5 and went on a crazy run to end 8-8 and win the AFC West.
Denver hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round, and despite leading all day long, the Steelers roared back to tie the game and take it to overtime.
Thomas needed only one play to end the game in a walk-off, 80-yard touchdown.
The NFL named it one of the top 100 plays in NFL history.
Among his many accolades Demaryius Thomas was:
- An integral member of the best offense in NFL history to this day, the 2013 Broncos. He was the team's leading receiver (1,430 yards, 14 touchdowns)
- The leading receiver on the Super Bowl 50 team
- A 1,000-yard receiver five straight years, from 2012-2016
- 2nd all-time in Broncos history in receiving yards (9,055) and touchdowns (60) and he passed the great Shannon Sharpe in nearly 50 fewer games (125-172)
- A Denver Broncos Ring of Famer
- A fantastic teammate and human being
Today, when all his teammates from the Super Bowl 50 team were in attendance, along with his family, Thomas infectious smile and warmth seemed to shine on the Broncos. Especially in the fourth.
By the Numbers
- Per ESPN: The Broncos' 33 fourth-quarter points were the most in NFL history by any team that was shut out for the first three quarters.
- Again, from ESPN: The Broncos' comeback snapped a streak in which NFL teams had won 1,602 consecutive games when leading by 18 points in the final 6 minutes of a game.
- When the Broncos (5-2) trailed 26-8 with 6:38 remaining in the game and were facing fourth-and-3, their win probability was less than 1%, according to Next Gen Stats.
- Quarterback Bo Nix became the first player ever to run for two scores and throw for two touchdowns in a fourth quarter.
- Denver's 33 points in the fourth quarter were the second-most points ever in a 4th quarter behind 34 by the Detroit Lions in 2007.
- The 19-point comeback was the third-biggest of franchise history. There were 3 24-point comebacks and 3 21-point comebacks, as well as one other 19-point comeback in Broncos history. That other 19-point comeback was orchestrated by John Elway.
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