Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor had just sprinted 41 yards for a touchdown as the Colts took a 19-7 lead over Denver with 13:12 left in the third quarter of a game pivotal to the NFL team’s playoff chances and just about as important to the Broncos’.

But video review showed Taylor had tossed the football down just before he crossed the goal line. Given the reprieve, Denver rallied for a 31-13 victory.

After Taylor’s goal-line gaffe, the Colts lost three more turnovers. Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown, and Denver quarterback Bo Nix threw a touchdown pass after an interception by cornerback Patrick Surtain II at the Indianapolis 35-yard line.

Nix also threw a touchdown pass after a 61-yard punt return by Marvin Mims to the Colts 15-yard line.

“Second half, the defense played lights out,” Nix said. “I felt like they kept turning the ball over to us, and Marvin kept returning punts. And so when you have good field position, eventually we got to do something with it – and we could have done even more with that field position.”

The rookie QB threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Adam Trautman with 5:29 left in the first half for the Broncos’ first points of the game before connecting with tight end Nate Adkins for a 15-yard TD to put Denver ahead 17-13 with 13:51 to play and with wide receiver Courtland Sutton on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 5:48 remaining to set the final margin.

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But the former Pinson Valley High School and Auburn quarterback also threw three interceptions for the first time in his NFL career. Nix completed 20-of-33 passes for 130 yards, the fewest since the fourth game of his career. Nix also was the Broncos’ leading rusher with 23 yards on eight carries.

“It gets to where you feel like, ‘Man, every time I throw it, is it going to be picked?” Nix said. “You start having those mental thoughts. It’s challenging. It’s probably the toughest part of our position because you know what you’re capable of. You know your read, you know your footwork, you know how to go through it, and then you just got to keep from being gun-shy. …

“I’m not going to lie: It’s tough. You start getting a little bit in your head and you start questioning: Am I actually seeing it? What was that? So it’s tough. But I feel like everybody goes through it. The ones that can get out of it and finish the game and win and not let it dictate the outcome of the game, that’s usually when you find some maturity and you find some growth. I just got to continue to do that. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time I’ve thrown three in a game. Hopefully, it’s the last, but football’ll tell you it’s not going to be if you play it long enough. Just got to move on to the next play and get the next completion.”

Denver put the Colts three games down in the race for an AFC wild-card berth with three weeks remaining in the regular season. As Indianapolis dropped to 6-8, the Broncos improved to 9-5 and passed the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild-card standings. Los Angeles went to 8-6 with a 40-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Denver will play the Chargers at 7:15 p.m. CST Thursday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Prime Video will televise the game.

With their ninth victory, the Broncos guaranteed the franchise’s first winning season since 2016.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.