Truth be told, nobody in the stadium was more shocked than Brandon Allen when he threw the most ugly-beautiful touchdown pass by any quarterback in a Broncos uniform since Tim Tebow routinely turned water into wine in Denver.
“I made a terrible pass,” Allen confessed Sunday, after he led Denver to a 24-19 victory against Cleveland that re-affirmed everyone’s belief that football miracles are still possible in Broncos Country.
One of the worst throws of his life also gave Allen the first touchdown pass of his NFL career. The play that changed everything on this gray autumn day and perhaps a quarterback’s life? Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton defied gravity and climbed an invisible ladder to grab a 21-yard reception from the waiting hands of Cleveland cornerback Denzel Ward in the end zone.
“He bailed me out,” Allen admitted.
What coulda, shoulda been an interception instead gave Denver a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Broncos never looked back. And the legend of B.A. was born.
“We’re not ready to put him in Canton yet, but overall pleased with the way he played,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said.
In the first half of his first NFL start, Allen threw more touchdown passes (two) than Joe Flacco did during the month of October (one).
While cheering on his back-up from the sideline, Flacco earned $1.088 million. For leading the Broncos to their third victory of a frustrating season, Allen was paid $37,941. And the smile vice president of football operations John Elway wore in the Denver locker room? Priceless.
OK, let’s get to the important question: Who in the world is Brandon Allen?
Well, he’s the son of a coach. He went 7-18 against Southeastern Conference competition as the starting quarterback for Arkansas from 2012-15. He was a sixth-round draft choice by Jacksonville who couldn’t hold a roster spot with the Jaguars, then bounced to Los Angeles, where he stood and watched the Rams go to the Super Bowl, before being claimed off waivers by the Broncos in September.
Allen is an overnight sensation 27 long years in the making.
“I feel like when Lil Wayne found Drake,” declared Broncos linebacker Von Miller, so happy he felt like singing and dancing. “I called it at the beginning of the week. I said he was going to give us the magic.”
Not to get too carried away with a victory against the bad-news Brownies, but in a single blessed Sunday afternoon, did Allen turn Flacco into Wally Pipp and push ballyhooed draft pick Drew Lock one step closer to waiting tables at his father’s restaurant back in Missouri?
“I take everything one day at a time,” said Allen, who might throw a wrench in the plans to take a look at Lock in December if the Broncos can stay on a roll. “Whatever happens, happens.”
With the strongest game plan yet devised by rookie offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, Allen out-played Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield. Against a stout Denver defense led by safety Justin Simmons, Baker and the bad-news Brownies repeatedly stalled out in the red zone.
Hey, Mr. Heisman. You cannot be settling for field goals and expect to keep up with Allen.
“We just didn’t make the plays that were there,” said Mayfield, after the Browns went 1 for 5 in the red zone and were turned away twice on fourth down.
You. Cannot. Stop. Brandon. Allen. If even for just one day in a season every Broncomaniac would just as soon forget, the 27-year-old newbie who came off the scout team to start at quarterback was B.A.
“B” is for bad. Bad to the bone. And “A” is for amazing (or something like that). In first NFL start, Allen completed 12 of 20 passes for 193 yards.
“Everybody has their time. And it was his time,” said Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay, who stepped up in the fourth quarter and stomped out any notion of a Cleveland comeback.
Please, don’t pinch Allen. He’s dreaming.
“You get cut, traded, waived or whatever,” the Broncos’ newest folk hero said. “It’s all about perseverance.”
Marcela Allen is a football wife and the mother of two quarterbacks. But when her son got the NFL shot he has been working for all his life and was given the starting job with the Broncos, she confessed: “I won’t be able to watch the game, believe it or not. The older I get, the more nervous I get. I depend on my kids and my husband to keep me posted. After the game is over, I’ll watch a recorded version.”
Hey, Mom. You’ve got to watch this. At least 100 times.
That first NFL touchdown pass by your son?
It need never grow old.
