Millen Gives Patriots Hope, Takes It Away : AFC: He runs out the clock for the Broncos, who win on Treadwell’s three field goals, 9-6.

Hugh Millen drove the New England Patriots into position for a field goal that would tie the score, then ran them out of the game.

Millen’s last-play scramble ended six yards short of the end zone Sunday, allowing the Denver Broncos to escape with a 9-6 victory.

“It was my fault,” Millen said. “I didn’t react as well as I should have. I don’t know what to say. I made a mistake.”

After Denver’s David Treadwell kicked a 34-yard field goal with 1:56 left to break a 6-6 tie, Millen drove the Patriots (3-5) to the Denver 15-yard line with 14 seconds left by completing six of nine passes for 69 yards.

New England called its last timeout and Coach Dick MacPherson told Millen to take one shot at a touchdown. If it failed, the Patriots would call on Jason Staurovsky to kick a field goal that would send the game into overtime.

“If there’s nothing there, throw it out of bounds,” MacPherson told Millen.

Instead, Millen took off running when his receivers were covered and was tackled by linebacker Michael Brooks with five seconds left.

“I felt I had a pretty good hole that opened up at that point,” Millen said. “I went too far and then I just wanted to go as far as I could. If I didn’t do it, we’d (still) be playing now.”

With no timeouts left, the Patriots could only watch time run out.

“That comes from experience,” Denver quarterback John Elway said of the last play. “He learned a lesson today. It’ll never happen again.”

Millen was making his eighth start in six NFL seasons.

“You have to give them credit on that last drive,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “They worked it right down the field and had it in field-goal range. I think Millen will be thinking about that for a long time.”

“Any time we win one on the road, you have to be excited,” Reeves said. “It was a very tough game.”

When Denver (6-2) got the ball with 6:44 left and the score tied, Elway had completed 10 of 20 passes for 114 yards. But he completed five of seven passes for 39 yards to get the Broncos into position for Treadwell’s third field goal of the game.

Treadwell has made 17 of his last 19 field-goal attempts. Denver beat Kansas City, 19-16, a week earlier on his 27-yarder with 2:37 left.

On the same day, Staurovsky’s 42-yarder with no time left in overtime gave New England (3-5) a 26-23 victory over Minnesota.

MacPherson didn’t second-guess his strategy to go for the touchdown and fall back on Staurovsky if necessary.

“We just didn’t get it done,” he said. “It’s very, very sad. It’s a flustered and upset locker room--and it should be.”

Staurovsky missed a chance to give New England a 9-6 lead when Dennis Smith blocked his 25-yard field-goal attempt with 10:53 left.

On the previous possession, Staurovsky kicked a 17-yarder after Leonard Russell gained only one foot on third down, leaving the Patriots inches short of the goal line.

On the ensuing kickoff, Alton Montgomery fumbled, and Tim Gordon recovered for New England at the Denver 30-yard line. But on third-and-one at the Denver eight-yard-line, John Stephens was stopped for no gain, setting up Staurovsky’s field goal that was blocked by Smith.

Treadwell missed a 47-yard attempt with 5:28 left in the third quarter and Denver ahead, 6-3.

A clock mix-up led to Treadwell’s 18-yard field goal that gave Denver a 6-3 lead seven seconds before halftime.

Elway’s 38-yard completion to Derek Russell put the ball at the New England three-yard line. With a second down at the one, Robert Perryman was stopped for no gain.

Denver had no timeouts left, but the officials stopped the clock with 13 seconds left as the players unpiled. On third down, Elway threw the ball into the ground, and Denver’s field-goal team came on. But the officials ruled the clock shouldn’t have started and Elway’s throw didn’t count.

The Broncos didn’t realize it was still third down until it was too late, and Treadwell kicked his 18-yarder.

Treadwell gave Denver a 3-0 lead on a 35-yarder with 1:04 left in the first quarter. Staurovsky’s 20-yard field goal tied the score with 8:29 left in the half.