In a game of wild, mind-boggling mistakes and several game-turning moments, this play flew under the radar Sunday in Denver’s 31-13 win over Indianapolis.
This was not Jonathan Taylor dropping the ball at the goal line for a game-turning fumble. Or Nik Bonitto snatching a lateral thrown by a rookie wide receiver and rumbling 50 yards for a touchdown. Or any of the three interceptions thrown by Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix — none of which his receivers had even a chance of catching — or two tossed by Indianapolis quarterback Anthony Richardson.
Make no mistake, though, this was a heck of a play by Denver rookie cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine just before halftime.
The Colts led 10-7 and had the ball third-and-15 at the Denver 32 with 17 seconds on the clock. Already in field goal range, they figured to be aggressive.
Abrams-Draine was in man coverage against Indianapolis speedster Alec Pierce, who entered the game with just 29 catches but averaging 22.5 yards per grab.
Pierce ran a stutter-go up the left sideline and Abrams-Draine calmly turned and ran with him. Anthony Richardson slightly under-threw the ball into the end zone.
Abrams-Draine got called for defensive pass interference on a very similar play — and on what looked like a ticky-tack penalty — in Week 13 against Cleveland late in the game. This time, he got his head around, played the ball and knocked it away for an incomplete pass.
The Colts could have led 17-7 with a score or could have had a chance first-and-goal from the 1-yard line if he’d been flagged.
But he made a play.
The fifth-round rookie has done quite a bit of that in his first two NFL games.
“You’re proud of him because of the work he’s put in,” secondary coach Jim Leonhard told The Post before Sunday’s game. “He’s a confident guy. It was really awesome to see him hit the field. When you tell him you’re going in, he says, ‘Alright.’ Zero emotion. I’m ready for this. That’s the first thing you want to see.
“Then for him to go in there and do well, hopefully, that just continues to grow his confidence for the future.”
With second-year corner Riley Moss (MCL) out once again Sunday, the Broncos decided to bench veteran Levi Wallace and rotate Abrams-Draine and Damarri Mathis. Mathis (20 snaps) played outside in Denver’s base defense and Abrams-Draine (58 snaps) played in sub.
Both of them held up well against the Colts.
“Going in we wanted to focus with Damarri in the base down-and-distances because we were able to kind of identify — or have a better clue of who was playing what receiver,” head coach Sean Payton said Monday. “Then the sub packages, Kris got more of that work and those guys handled that well.
According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Abrams-Draine was targeted seven times in 38 coverage snaps Sunday and gave up one catch for 11 yards. Mathis was targeted once and didn’t allow a catch in eight coverage reps.
“Two things took place yesterday. We felt somewhat positive about (Mathis) out of Pitt a few years ago and it was good to see him getting back in and competing because he did a good job. Relative to (Abrams-Draine), we felt somewhat positive when we looked at him coming out in this year’s draft. The last two weeks, he showed some moxie, stayed with his guys, didn’t panic when the ball was in the air.
“There’s something about him. So in both cases, I was really encouraged.”
Abrams-Draine is the sixth of Denver’s seven drafted rookies this year to see the field and he’s quickly found himself in a prominent role. The Broncos will still be excited to get Riley Moss back from an MCL injury at some point and the club indicated Monday that Pat Surtain II had avoided any serious injury to his ankle, but depth at cornerback is a luxury any team will happily take.
One small thing I liked: Another slightly under-the-radar play: P.J. Locke’s forced fumble. He covered a ton of ground to close on a wide-open Michael Pittman and knock the ball loose.
Not only was it one of the five turnovers the Broncos forced, but it came on the first play after Nix’s third interception and snuffed whatever momentum the Colts had gained.
“Just full-force, ran into him as he kind of torqued his body and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, ball’s coming out,’” Locke said after the game.
Fellow safety Brandon Jones wasn’t in the game at the time, but saw it all unfold.
“(Locke) literally looked like a missile,” he said. “Did not stop, didn’t hesitate, full speed, knocked the ball out. I almost got a penalty because I ran on the field. Thankfully they didn’t see that. Hell of a play by him.”
One small thing I didn’t like: Before the Broncos ran Audric Estime once and had Nix drop to a knee twice to end the game, the rookie quarterback dropped back 37 times on 58 snaps. That’s 63.8%, or the second-highest single-game drop-back rate for the team over the past eight games.
Denver’s right in the middle of the NFL — tied for No. 14 overall — at 57% pass. Payton’s offense had trended more in that neighborhood after a torrid pass rate to start the season. But it ticked back up against the Colts despite Payton saying all week — and reminding his team at halftime — that running the ball and having balance would be key.
One trend to watch: The Broncos gave up just one touchdown Sunday against the Colts, though it should have been two had Taylor not fumbled the ball out of the end zone with nobody around him.
Still, Denver’s been difficult to get the ball into the end zone against overall this year. The Broncos enter Week 16 tied with Philadelphia with a league-low 24 touchdowns allowed on the season.
Sunday was the seventh time this season Denver’s allowed zero (New York Jets) or one (six instances) offensive touchdowns in a game this season.
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