DENVER (Ticker) -- Without Clinton Portis, the Denver Broncos were not at their sharpest, but they still had enough to defeat the Detroit Lions.
Jake Plummer threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns as the Broncos edged the Lions, 20-16, to remain undefeated.
The Lions (1-3) trailed, 17-10, before Joey Harrington tossed a 43-yard touchdown pass to Scotty Anderson with 13:36 remaining in the fourth quarter. But after a bad snap, Jason Hanson missed the extra point.
"Now I know how Jon Gruden feels," Lions coach Steve Mariucci said, alluding to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, who saw his team lose in regulation to Carolina in Week Two after having the go-ahead extra point blocked on the final play of regulation. "You can't take those things for granted."
Jason Elam's 41-yard field goal with 3:13 left provided the final margin.
Harrington threw an incomplete pass to rookie Charles Rogers on a 4th-and-10 pass with 1:27 to play at the Detroit 32 and the Broncos ran out the clock.
"I was pleased with our guys the way they reacted in the fourth quarter. That's what good teams do," Shanahan said. "You have to find a way to win in the fourth quarter. You might not play your "A" game, but you have to find a way to get it done, and that's what I thought we did today."
"We competed right down to the wire," Mariucci said. "I think we grew up a little bit today. We have more growing up to do, obviously, but I think we learned something today, we learned that if we can play as well as we can, efficiently and smart, that we can beat some teams."
Ashley Lelie had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown and tight end Shannon Sharpe seven for 74 yards and a score for the Broncos (4-0), who looked flat six days after beating AFC West rival Oakland and one week before meeting unbeaten division foe Kansas City.
Star running back Portis did not dress due to a bruised sternum. Plummer led the Broncos in rushing yards with 40 on six carries. Mike Anderson, Portis' replacement, had just 21 on seven rushes.
"I really don't know (if Portis will play against the Chiefs), we'll have to evaluate him next week," Shanahan said. "I thought he was going to be healthy two weeks ago and be able to last a whole game, and once he got hit during the Monday night game (it seemed like two weeks ago) in the sternum, he didn't last the whole game. So we can't say he's going to be ready because I really don't know."
Harrington completed 15-of-33 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions, who lost their 18th straight road game and third in a row overall.
"You know, we feel like we're close. Just a few plays here and there," Harrington said. "But (we) can't hang our heads now, just get back to work and get ready for next week."
Olandis Gary, who spent his first four seasons with the Broncos, gained 42 yards on seven carries. Shawn Bryson had 13 rushes for 73 yards.
"It was fun to come back," Gary said. "But just to be so close and not get the victory is tough."
Denver fell behind for the first time this season when Harrington opened the scoring with a 33-yard strike to Rogers midway through the first quarter. Plummer evened the score with a 29-yard TD toss to Lelie with 1:56 left in the period, and his one-yard touchdown pass to Sharpe 4 1/2 minutes into the second quarter gave Denver the lead for good, 14-7.
Hanson nailed a 53-yard field goal - the 23rd of his career of at least 50 yards - with six minutes left in the quarter to make it 14-10.
With just over a minute remaining in the half, Plummer lost the ball diving for a first down at the Detroit 14, but the Lions could not muster any more points before the break.
"It kept us from scoring at least three points, maybe more," Plummer said. "At the time I was trying to dive for the first down, and I thought I maybe could have slid and got it, but I didn't think so at the moment with those guys charging me, so I was just trying to get the ball across there. The ball bounced out, so I just have to take better care of the ball."
After missing on his first pass attempt, Plummer completed his final 16 of the half.
"I think you need challenges like this sometimes, we knew Detroit was going to come in ready to play," Plummer said. "Regardless of what every one thinks we did not take them lightly, we came out ready to play and get after them. And now we are 4-0 getting ready to head to Kansas City."
