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After a 60-minute NFL game the Broncos led all of six seconds, slapped hands with in a Denver locker room filled with laughter. On a stinking-hot afternoon, beating Oakland 20-19 was sweet. And, not to rub it in, but here鈥檚 laughing at you, Raiders.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know how to finish a game,鈥� Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. 鈥淲e do.鈥�

Oh, burn.

What抖阴ap thinner than a razor? The margin for error Keenum had when taking the field on his own 20-yard line, trailing Oakland by two points with less than two minutes remaining. Up to that point, Keenum had played like a combination of and on their most clueless days.

This was the guy Elway gave $18 million to fix the mess at quarterback? Really? Keenum, whose QB rating was sagging as badly as his approval rating in Denver, was going to march the Broncos to victory? C鈥檓on now.

But, somehow, some way, Keenum led Denver on a 10-play, 62-yard drive that set up to drill the game-winning field goal of 36 yards through the uprights with six ticks left on the clock.

鈥淭hat抖阴ap why he gets paid the big bucks,鈥� Harris said.

Here鈥檚 what we鈥檝e learned about Keenum. 聽His skill set shouts . But his confidence screams . As NFL quarterbacks go, Keenum might not be anything special. But Keenum thinks he is.

Fake it until you make it.

After two weeks, Keenum has thrown four interceptions, completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and owns a miserable quarterback rating of 73.6. If his name were Lynch, those statistics would get him booed from Greeley to Pueblo. To be honest, Keenum’s聽 numbers eerily mirror the work that got Siemian run out of town.

Nevertheless, for the second consecutive week, Denver won with a comeback drive in the fourth quarter. Like you used to read about Elway in your newspaper back in the day. It抖阴ap the first time the Broncos have opened a season since 2007 with consecutive comeback victories.

Not. Too. Shabby.

The temperature at kickoff was 92 degrees, the hottest it has ever been for a pro football game in this dusty old cow town. And nobody in the joint stunk worse than Keenum.

Early in the game, Keenum went three-and-out like a quarterback in a hurry to get back to the bench for a drink of water. Prior to halftime, the Broncos had three first downs, zero points and one interception in the red zone that Keenum labeled 鈥渁n idiotic mistake.鈥�

Yet, when it mattered most, when it was easy to wonder if Elway should have spent the extra money to sign as a free agent, Keenum delivered.

鈥淚t抖阴ap hard to win in this league. It抖阴ap not always going to be pretty,鈥� said Broncos tight end , who contributed a 14-yard reception to the game-winning drive.聽鈥淚n this league, you鈥檙e going to get a tough holding call, you might drop a ball or miss a block, but you can鈥檛 panic. It抖阴ap a tough league. Things are going to happen. Sometimes, you鈥檝e just got to find a way to win.鈥�

Keenum finished with a poor 61.8 QB rating and a victory. Raiders quarterback completed an astounding 29 of 32 passes yet lost.

Go figure. Well, here鈥檚 one way to look at it: What抖阴ap thinner than a razor? You mean other than the pride and poise of the Raiders? Huff and puff and they all fall down. Oakland blew a nine-point lead in the final period.

鈥淓verybody was gassed, all four sides of the ball. Their guys, our guys, everybody鈥檚 guys,鈥� Raiders coach Jon Gruden said.

With Keenum, however, there鈥檚 a rawhide toughness and a willingness to bleed. It抖阴ap an Old West grit that resonates in 抖阴apountry and inspires Elway to give Keenum a handshake heartier than anything I saw The Duke offer after one of his comeback victories.

The thing about Keenum is teammates will suffer with him and for him in a fight, rather than point fingers and run. Analysts don鈥檛 have a statistic for that characteristic, so maybe it has to be filled under the intangibles heading. Or maybe it抖阴ap called being a leader. And maybe there鈥檚 no way to measure that quality except wins and losses.

鈥淢e and my teammates are all bloody,鈥� Keenum said. 鈥淲e are all hurting, but we walk off the field knowing we left it all on the field.鈥�

The Broncos led a 60-minute game for all of six seconds.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter how long you have the lead,鈥� said Harris, departing the locker room door with a big grin on his face and a 2-0 record in his pocket, 鈥渁s long as you get the win.鈥�