LANDOVER, Md. — Do the Broncos ever do anything the easy way?

Every victory smile is covered in a Maalox mustache.

Oh, this heartburn hurts so good. 

It took the Broncos overtime and the big, bad hand of linebacker Nik Bonitto to thwart a two-point conversion for them to beat Washington 27-26 Sunday.

“We don’t escape,” said Denver coach Sean Payton, who firmly believes his team is more good than lucky. “We won.”

But it required an effort worthy of the NFL’s defensive player of this year to pull this W out of the L column for the Broncos.

When Washington matched a Denver touchdown in overtime, the Commanders boldly decided to go for the gusto with a two-point conversion rather than a tie. Quarterback Marcus Mariota dropped back and spied running back Jeremy McNichols breaking wide open at the goal line.

As Mariota released his pass, however, Bonitto leapt and took a mighty swipe at the ball with his right hand with the determination that would do NBA rim-protector extraordinaire Victor Wembanyama proud.

“I was just really hoping the ball would hit the ground at that moment,” Denver quarterback Bo Nix said. “And, sure enough, it did.”

As the Broncos exhaled with relief and mobbed Bonitto with joy, the clock struck midnight on the East Coast, flipping the calendar from November to the nitty-gritty month of the NFL season. In their year of living dangerously, these Broncos have now won nine in a row, with seven of the victories by a grand total of 17 points.

They flew back to Denver as the current No. 1 seed in the AFC and with legit championship aspirations.

But there’s also a nagging question:

Can the Broncos make a Super Bowl run without a running game?

Although he did score what proved to be the winning touchdown with a five-yard dash in the extra period, rookie RJ Harvey isn’t cutting it.

“It was one of those frustrating nights running the ball,” Payton said.

In the two games since being anointed the team’s No. 1 running back by default, Harvey has toted the rock 24 times for a paltry 65 yards.

Against the Commanders, Denver had to lean heavily on the arm of Nix. Unable to move the football on the ground, Nix was required to throw 45 times.

Newsflash: A 2-1 pass-to-run ratio is a dicey formula for success.

While a teeth-rattling defense is this team’s calling card and Nix has come up big in the clutch, it would be wrong to call anybody other than J.K. Dobbins the MVP of Denver’s offense through the opening 10 games of this season, when the Broncos emerged as the championship contender that Payton promised us they were ready to be.

Dobbins ran for 772 yards, averaging a smash-mouth five yards per carry, and was on pace to become the first Broncos back to finish among the NFL’s top five players in rushing since Clinton Portis did it way back in 2003.

Then the feel-good story took a wicked turn for the worse when Dobbins wrenched his left foot against the Raiders, suffering a Lisfranc ligament tear. He will happily bowl you over, but sadly, he has never been able to outrun his bad luck with injuries, which is why the Chargers let Dobbins go as a free agent.

And now the burden of Denver’s running game has fallen on the shoulders of Harvey.

It appears to be a task for Harvey that’s too big of an ask.

While it would be unfairly premature to call Harvey a bust, selecting him with the 60th overall pick in the NFL draft was a mistake. While he’s a useful gadget, Harvey is more of a whatchamacallit than a real weapon. He moves well laterally, but rarely plants his foot and puts the pedal to the metal, with only two rushes of more than 25 yards.

General manager George Paton has done yeoman’s work reshaping the Denver roster, but grabbing Harvey in the second round was a reach.

Yes, hindsight is 20/20. But I wasn’t the only knucklehead howling before the draft for the Broncos to trade back their slot at No. 20 in the opening round to get Ohio State star TreVeyon Henderson, who has emerged as a compelling reason why the New England Patriots have become the league’s most pleasant surprise.

When Denver reached for Harvey, the team’s glaring need for a tight end could’ve instead been filled with Harold Fannin Jr., who has made 51 receptions as a rookie despite being stuck with the clueless Cleveland Browns.

Through 10 games, Dobbins allowed Denver to play football that’s complementary to a championship-caliber defense. Despite Payton’s persistent urge to throw the rock around the yard and annoying habit of trick plays too smart for their own good, the Broncos’ ground game averaged 4.8 yards per rush when Dobbins was healthy, giving them a viable four-minute offense to run out the clock when nursing a tenuous lead late in the fourth quarter.

Denver no longer has that hammer in its toolbox.

Can the Broncos make a Super Bowl run without a running game?

A pillow fight is no way to win in the NFL playoffs.