The Broncos’ fourth-quarter comeback attempt versus the Texans hit a road block, fourth-and-short near midfield at the two-minute warning, when Denver’s offense turned to its unlikely spark plug.
Quarterback Case Keenum faked the handoff right, rolled left and quickly surveyed his wide receiver options — , and — before settling on the sure thing Sunday at Mile High: tight end .
“This team will fight,” Heuerman said. “I think you see that week in and week out.”
His three-yard reception in the flat moved the chains and kept hope alive. And, had kicker converted a 51-yard field-goal attempt as time expired, Heuerman’s heroics would be celebrated as a major turning point in a resilient victory. Instead, it simply marked an impressive personal feat during a career outing as Denver fell, 19-17.
Heuerman set single-game personal bests Sunday for catches (10) and receiving yards (83). His touchdown reception from Keenum midway through the third quarter gave Denver its first lead, 17-16, before a Houston field goal ultimately reversed the Broncos’ fate.
“It hurts seeing how hard all these guys fight and then not coming away with a ‘W’ at the end,” Heuerman said, before defending the McManus late wide-right miss. “You can’t ever say it comes down to one play — whether itap offense, defense or special teams. There are a lot of things we could have done different to win it.”
There was no questioning Heuerman’s heart against Houston. He dropped his first target from Keenum, a third-down quick slant lined up at receiver in the second quarter, before bouncing back with chunk-yardage catches of 14, 12 (TD) 11 and 10 yards. Half of Heuerman’s receptions produced first downs.
“I’m proud of Jeff,” running back said. “He came up big for us and he’s going to continue to come up big for us. He’s a big body and he’s good. We’ve got to continue to find ways to get him the ball.”
Coach Vance Joseph added: “He made a couple of great catches (on) low throws, broke some tackles and made some plays out there.”
A September ACL tear to fellow Denver tight end opened the door for Heuerman’s increased pass-catching role. His previous career high for receptions (four) arrived in Week 4 versus the Chiefs. He more than doubled it against Houston, but then again, in a losing team effort.
“Honestly,” Heuerman lamented postgame, “I don’t really want to talk about myself.”
Heuerman, a 2015 third-round Denver draft pick, has never been more prominently featured with the Broncos. He aims to carry that momentum through the bye week and into a Nov. 18 road test at the Chargers. A playoff berth, despite sitting 3-6, remains the goal.
“We’ve got to go on a run and we’ve got to win every game,” Heuerman said. “Thatap the reality of it.”
