SIMMONS CLINCHES BRONCOS’ WIN WITH HIS INTERCEPTION LATE IN FOURTH QUARTER

The other 10 players on the field for the Broncos had done their job.

The cornerbacks had jammed the Oakland wide receivers at the line of scrimmage enough to gain an incremental edge. The front seven had come screaming at EJ Manuel, the Raiders’ backup quarterback who had his team 41 yards from an improbable comefrom-behind victory.

The last job on the play, which came with less than two minutes remaining in the Broncos’ 16-10 victory Sunday, belonged to Denver safety Justin Simmons. All the second-year defensive back had to do was camp under the higharching deep ball, leap up and snatch it away from Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper.

Mission accomplished. Disaster avoided.

“It was a great rush up front and the corners did a great job of getting their hands on the receivers,” Simmons said of the play he made at the 8-yard line that saved a white-knuckle victory. “It made my job easy in the back end to just go get the football.”

As pressure mounted Sunday, swelling in the chests of 76,909 fans at Sports Authority Field, a familiar trait emerged from a defense that has learned to slow its collective heartbeat the past three seasons. The Broncos closed.

“That’s what makes you a good team or a bad team,” Broncos cornCook berback Aqib Talib said. “You have to be able to finish those games and come out with those wins. We have great confidence in ourselves. We don’t second-guess ourselves in those kind of situations.”

It was a performance with no absence of drama. A breakdown in the secondary in the second quarter led to a 64-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Johnny Holton, suddenly squeezing a game the Broncos had dominated.

“My issue with our football team is we make a lot of critical errors,” Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. “That has to stop.”

The Denver defense responded to the big-play flop by haunting Carr, limiting him to 8 yards passing on his four drives following the touchdown pass and sacking him twice. On the latter takedown, with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Carr caught an Adam Gotsis knee to the back and never returned.

Enter Manuel, who hadn’t thrown a meaningful pass in 10 months. The former first-round draft pick found his rhythm in the fourth quarter, however. The Raiders, trailing 16-7, took over at their 7-yard line with 8:30 left and Manuel started firing.

Manuel found tight end Jared for 28 yards down the left seam. Then he zipped a pass to wide receiver Seth Roberts for 22 yards. Two short passes after that had the Raiders in the red zone. The Denver defense stiffened, forcing a field goal, but Oakland had life.

“We know EJ Manuel is a veteran quarterback. We knew that if he came in, he’d be ready,” Simmons said. “We knew he’d be able to diagnose the defense. We just tried to make sure we were giving him the same looks we were giving Carr. I hope he’s doing well. It’s tough to see someone go down like that.”

After a three-and-out by the Broncos’ offense, followed by a 37-yard punt from Riley Dixon, Manuel and the Raiders got the ball back at their 42-yard line with 4:16 left. Manuel quickly completed three passes. Then, facing a second-and-15 play at the Denver 41-yard line, he took his shot.

Simmons, propped into the spotlight after the Broncos waived veteran T.J. Ward, hung in the air like Russell Westbrook. He snared the ball, held it as he dropped to the turf and then sprinted up the sideline in celebration.

“Get the ball back and finish the game. That was it,” safety Will Parks said. “That’s what happened. As simple as that.”

Not much came easily for the Broncos on Sunday. Except, that is, at closing time.