We finally got to see this Denver Broncos team win a game in a sound manner throughout all four quarters of the game. The defense was astounding. The offense was potent.
I enjoyed the win to be sure, but
at the end of the day, I’m not so sure this win didn’t say more about how bad the Cincinnati Bengals are without Joe Burrow than it did about how good the Denver Broncos are.
Don’t get me wrong here. Wins are wins in the NFL, and the Broncos deserve credit for their efforts. They played pretty damn good football. It was a good step in the right direction for the team.
Offense
Overall, the offensive game plan looked great. We ran to great effect. We passed at a very high level. Sean Payton called a great game and had some really nice play designs that were executed perfectly.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t some nits to pick, though.
Payton called a run to the short side of the field on a 3rd and 2 that I thought was dumb as hell. First of all, you only need 2 yards, and we are sweeping the run horizontally wide instead of getting upfield. Second, you are asking Pat Bryant to block a guy way bigger than himself, which didn’t work well. Finally, if you are going to do that, run to the wide side of the field to give your runner more room to work with.
The decision to pass on a 4th and 1 at the 2 instead of just running the ball was also foolish. Payton falls into the trap of getting fancy too much, and this was one of those times. The Broncos were obliterating the Bengals’ defense on run plays throughout that whole drive. Just run the ball and get the touchdown instead of trying to get your quarterback a passing touchdown. I feel like that interception there was well deserved for both the coach and quarterback.
The play design for the Mims sweep that went to the house was superb. I honestly think that play is going to be used by Payton and other coaches in the NFL as a gold standard for how to run such a play. It was a perfectly timed, sneaky handoff with a player that has superb speed to the edge. The line and backs fooled most of the defense with how they attacked right at the snap. Finally, the block by Pat Bryant was absolutely immaculate. It reminded me of the downfield block by Ed McCaffrey in Super Bowl 32.
Quarterbacks
Aside from wanting that interception back, this was an outstanding game for Bo Nix. You got to see a quarterback who was in full command of the offense and attacked at all levels with both his legs and his arm.
I was impressed with his early touchdown run, as he recognized everything was covered and the closest linebacker wasn’t looking. If those inside guys play the middle soft and unaware like that, you have to make them pay.
The most impressive quarterback play I saw from Nix was how he led Harvey on an outlet pass to the sideline to force momentum that Harvey could use to get by the first defender and get downfield for a big gain. It wasn’t the flashiest play of the game, but where Nix placed the ball helped that be a 14-yard gain instead of only 5. Peyton Manning led his receivers like this all the time to help get those hidden yards, and to see Nix do that this early in his career speaks volumes to me.
I loved the adjustment that Nix made on 3rd and 5 late in the game at the 12-yard line. The Bengals came hot, blitzing multiple guys, including the corner on the left side of the play. Nix recognized it instantly at the snap and immediately threw the ball to Harvey behind the blitz to get the touchdown. I honestly think that was his pre-snap read skills being on point and having him prepared for when he saw what they were doing at the snap.
Line
By and large, the offensive line killed it. The Bengals had no sacks. The Broncos ran for 186 yards on 38 attempts (4.9 yards per carry). That’s a testament to the blocking up front.
The one weak spot on the line is Luke Wattenburg. He’s probably the lowest-skilled player on the line to begin with, but his penalties are absolutely mind-numbing. He got flagged at least 5 times in the game. I know Forsyth has never looked great, but I have to wonder if maybe he can at least play clean and at the same level we’re seeing from Wattenburg at this point. This offense can’t expect to put itself behind schedule 5 times per game and win against a team like the Eagles next week.
Running Backs
J.K. Dobbins looks damn good running the ball in this offense. He put up 101 yards on 16 carries for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. That’s silly, offensive production from a back. My favorite play of his many great plays was when he showed great vision and patience to cut back across his blockers and find an opening for a 9-yard gain. The play was designed to go to the right. The Bengals jammed up all of our blocking and had all gaps sealed. Dobbins waited to see if a win would happen, and started cutting back to run around the pile instead of through it.
I’m encouraged by what we saw in this game from RJ Harvey. He put in a solid 58 yards on 14 carries with a solid 4.1 yards per carry clip. This is good progress for the rookie as he’d not shown the kind of consistent productivity you need from your backs. These carries are precious for him as all of them help him get used to the speed of the NFL. I think we’re seeing him acclimate nicely, and hopefully, his production is going to keep getting better as the season wears on. It was good to see him involved in the passing game as well as he’s obviously got the ability to make teams pay that don’t cover him well.
I love to see a nice fullback run, so let’s give some love to Adam Prentice, who got a legit carry for 4 yards and a first down. Fullbacks are a dying breed, and fullback handoffs are a great rarity in this league.
Receivers
What Courtland Sutton does best is use his physicality in jump ball situations to make great catches. We saw that on the touchdown at the end of the first half, as he used his position and elevation to get 6 on the board for the Broncos. He also showcased in this game a superb capability of making guys miss in the open field (though honestly, the defender used the poorest of techniques on one of his catches and took himself out of the play).
Marvin Mimms led the team in receptions, catching all 6 of his 6 targets for 69 yards. I loved how they utilized Mims in the offense to get him matchups that were favorable to him. He constantly created space for offensive wins.
The Troy Franklin of last season showed up this week. He had not one, but two terrible drops that hit his hands in the game. Both were long passes, and one of them would have gone for a touchdown. He had a few really nice catches, but we need receivers with more focus who are going to be reliable at reeling those balls in and making plays.
The ball seemed to get forced to Evan Engram quite a bit in this game, with only one catch of 11 yards to write home about. He was only 4 of 7 targets for 29 yards. I honestly thought Adam Trautman looked like a far more capable receiving option at the tight end position. Needs to work on sideline awareness. Both of them need work on sideline catches, though, as they each lost catches by not keeping their foot in bounds when they came down at the sideline.
Pat Bryant looked completely lost on the fade pass in the end zone. While it could have been thrown a bit shallower, Bryant didn’t look like he knew where to position himself, when to look, or how to reel in that pass. He also got a penalty for lining up in the neutral position, which shows a lack of focus on his part. That part of the game is simple. This rookie has a lot of work to do from the looks of things.
Defense
I love good defense. That’s what we saw this week at every level. Vance Joseph killed it in this game. They started out slow, but quickly adjusted to what the Bengals were doing, and once they had them on the ground, they kept them there for the rest of the game relentlessly.
Front 7
Jonathon Cooper brought pressure off the edge on 3rd down to force an incomplete pass at the end of the 1st half. He shared a sack with Bonitto on 3rd and 9. He had 2 quarterback hits to his credit and a pass defense on the day. That’s a damn fine job off the edge in this defense.
Alex Singleton gets a nice hit on the quarterback, rushing a throw that gets tipped by Cooper. He led the team in tackles with 11 and didn’t get picked on in coverage since the Bengals were mainly throwing to the sideline this game.
Nik Bonitto has jets for legs. His sack on 1st and 20 was all speed off the edge. He had a tackle for loss and 2 quarterback hits credited to him in a game where the Bengals were doing their best to get the ball out as fast as possible to minimize the pass rush.
John Franklin-Myers was again good for a sack this week. He also chipped in a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit on only 24 snaps.
Secondary
Ja’Quan McMillian put in some great work this week. He had a nice tackle in the open field for a loss early. His coverage was excellent out of the nickel throughout the game.
Brandon Jones’ superb coverage on a deep pass to the boundary broke up the pass. It was textbook coverage for a safety covering a deep zone. He read the quarterback and broke across the receiver with a better jump to defend the pass.
There was some guffawing about Riley Moss giving up one of the bigger passes downfield by the Bengals in this game, but I saw a perfect pass thrown to a guy who has a huge height and size advantage over Moss. Moss was right there on the play, and there’s nothing he could have done better to make a play short of interfering with the pass. After that happened, we didn’t see Moss on Higgins as much, which was a smart adjustment. What I love most about Moss is that even when he gives up a pass, he’s on his guy’s hip the vast majority of the time.
Special Teams
That draft pick used on Jeremy Crawshaw is looking smarter and smarter by the week. His ball placement and hang time are excellent. He got another punt inside the 20 this week and had a long of 62.
Final Thoughts
It was refreshing to see this team beat a team they should beat in a sound manner. I’m looking forward to seeing how well this team plays against arguably the best team in the league, the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles, next week. Win or lose, we’re going to learn a lot about where this team stacks up.
