That was a phenomenal performance from this Denver Broncos team in the biggest game of the year, matched with the red-hot Green Bay Packers. Doubters everywhere picked the Packers with the Broncos coming
into this game as underdogs.
It is now time, NFL. People keep wanting to downplay the Broncos, Bo Nix, and this defense. The 2025 Denver Broncos are inevitable and undeniable.
This team showed resiliency, tenacity, and fearlessness on the way to their 12th victory of the season. They now have a one-game lead over the New England Patriots for the #1 seed in the AFC. They control their own destiny in every way and just keep building on their winning ways week after week.
Offense
It is really hard to look back at a game like this versus a great opponent like the Packers and have too much to say negatively about the offense. They posted 34 points on the day, passed all over the Packer defense, and ran the ball efficiently all game long.
The only play call/execution piece I didn’t enjoy was on an early 3rd and 5, they threw a weak screen to the outside. Courtland Sutton looked to be singled u,p and I think that play had a much better chance of converting if you fake the screen, then try to hit him in stride.
I really thought Payton made a heck of a gutsy call to go for it on 4th and 3. It was an even gutsier decision to dial up a deep throw down the sideline to Sutton, but it worked to perfection as designed. Nix threw a dime to Sutton, who ran a great route to buy the separation needed in order to move the chains.
This offense, in its 2nd year with Bo Nix at the helm, has been a work in progress every week of the season. It appears to me that they are hitting their stride and are really confident in their playcalling and execution. That’s going to be the big thing that makes this team dangerous. You have a young quarterback who has been building the callouses needed to make big plays. The whole team sees it, believes it, and is buying in. The sky is the limit for this offense, and don’t get me started on how scary they are going to be next season.
Quarterbacks
Let’s get the bad out of the way: there were two throws that I think Bo Nix needs to throw differently. Both were almost picked off, and both had too much air underneath them. The solution in both cases is to either put more heat on them and lower the angle a bit, or throw further away from the defender to give a better run angle for your receiver. The best example of this was the deep throw to Mims. It looked to me that Nix didn’t throw off a great platform for it either, which hindered the throw.
Now let’s wax poetic about what a badass game Nix had against the Packers. He had this offense looking absolutely unstoppable. Timing throws, deep, short, intermediate, touch, scrambles, and a kitchen sink were all a part of Nix’s game this week. This quarterback can do everything you need on the football field and has to be Sean Payton’s dream come true.
Just go take a look at the great ball placement on his throw to Humphrey in the end zone, understanding that his only way to score was to throw the ball low and away.
Multiple times in the game when the blocking broke down, he scrambled perfectly to buy time and just kept making plays and moving the chains without taking the big sack.
This team was supposed to be struggling as a one-dimensional offense with the loss of J.K. Dobbins. Nix has kept teams on their toes in every way and just refuses to let the offense take a step back.
Line
What is not to love about this Denver Broncos offensive line? Micah Parsons is a nightmare assignment, and this front had a plan no matter where he lined up. They kept Nix clean all game long (though a few plays were dicey and required scrambles, which is expected against a great pass rusher).
In short yardage, they had two quarterback sneaks for a first down. The latter one had the Packers jam the middle to stop it, and the offensive line still won. This line sets the tone for the offense and has been masterful all season long. They have no weaknesses, and I’m impressed at how poorly our backs run with some of the holes the line opens up for them.
Running Backs
R.J. Harvey made a bad fumble on 3rd down early in the game. I don’t know how a player gets to the NFL level, and one-handed carries the ball in a short-yardage situation. Harvey will need to clean that up if he wants a shot at being a long-term starter. Needs to get better at seeing the holes open up and making his cutbacks quicker. He’s leaving a lot of yards on the field because he’s waiting too long to make a decision. Tough running, offense stuck with the run as the game wore on. Great touchdown run late.
Receivers
Courtland Sutton was such a big-time player in this football game. He churned out 113 yards and a touchdown on the day. What impressed me most was his play on 3rd downs. He helped move the chains multiple times on contested catches and made it look easy. He showed off a double move to get an explosive play down the sideline. He hauled in a fade route to the corner of the end zone that was a tougher catch than it looked, as he had to time his jump to comfortably get stretched out for it.
Lil’Jordan Humphrey got signed just four short weeks ago and has been killing it as a depth receiver on this offense. He made another first down conversion in the middle of the field on a 3rd down play. His touchdown catch was so impressive, with Nix zipping the pass low for him, and he had the concentration to snag the ball going to the ground for the score.
Let’s give a big shout-out to Michael Bandy, who got his first NFL touchdown on a crosser in the red zone. The play design set him up to break free, and he had the jets to help the Broncos score easily. All Nix had to do was roll out to buy some time.
Troy Franklin showed superb awareness, knowing he wasn’t down and should have had a touchdown on his catch inside the 10. The refs really robbed him of a score with their blind ineptitude. Franklin got a sick touchdown on a motion play where he split the safeties in the end zone with Nix zipping it in the small window that was there for the score. Franklin was consistent, reliable, and caught everything thrown his way. The story in this game was Nix having the best game of his career, but I’d argue Franklin’s day was just as impressive. His game was honestly perfect. He caught all 6 of his targets and was a reliable playmaker for the Broncos.
Defense
Hats off to Matt Lafluer’s Packers. They really gave our defense some fits early. They got some of our coverage players twisted, which broke open big plays. The Bronocs’ defense thankfully won the red zone battles, which forced multiple field goals. The refs honestly pitched in to help the Pack get that first touchdown drive of the 2nd half, as that pass interference call on Riley Moss was complete bullshit. I know all of us in Broncos’ Country are tired of seeing Moss get flagged for playing great defense.
But the Packers’ success couldn’t hold up against Vance Joseph’s defense. They adjusted soundly as the game wore on, utilizing more zone and zone match looks to take away the easy throws from Love. The pass rush eventually wore down the Packers’ line and got home.
This defense doesn’t quit. They are a force of reckoning. You may win a battle against them, but you will not win the war. Until you melt them down in a slag furnace, they just keep reforming and attacking.
Front 7
Alex Singleton’s poor coverage in the flat against a WR gives up 13 yards. I don’t think that’s the matchup this defense is looking for, and hopefully that’s an item to clean up this week. He had a nice blitz in the 3rd quarter, stunting around the edge to seal the sack. It was the first stop of a Packers drive without a score on the day. This really helped start swinging the momentum to the Broncos in the second half.
Dre Greenlaw gave up a touchdown in the end zone, but I can’t fault him one iota for it. He had a perfect position and played the ball properly. That was just a perfect throw and catch by Jacobs.
Jonathan Cooper and Zach Allen destroyed the Packers’ line on 4th and 10 to get the turnover on downs late in the game for ½ a sack each. It seemed that sacks were a little tough to come by, but it is worth mentioning that Allen had 6 quarterback hits on the day.
Solo sacks on the day came from Jonah Ellis and Dondrea Tillman. It is a credit to the team that the depth players that come in on rotation can be so impactful when some of the starters are out. I honestly feel like both of these players could start on other teams.
Secondary
The Packers really wanted to pick on Riley Moss in this game. It did not work well for them at the end of the day. He did give up a deep throw early, being a step behind a well-timed throw. Later on the same drive, he gets his hips flipped upfield and gets cooked on an in-breaking route. He had three pass defenses in the game, though, including a superb pass breakup at the goalline by timing his leap to swipe the ball away and force a field goal. Moss showed some excellent awareness and hands as he snagged a tipped pass for a late-game interception.
Pat Surtain absolutely wowed me with a beautiful job covering in the end zone, smoothly running with his guy, and batting the ball away after being taken for a loop-de-loop on the route.
Love decided he liked the one-on-one matchup with Surtain, which ended with an interception. Yes, Love, you had Surtain in a one-on-one matchup, but no, your guy was not open in any universe where Surtain exists.
Talanoa Hufanga had a rough day this week. On 4th down, he crashed inside with the play fake too hard and couldn’t stop Love’s run to the outside, giving up a first down. He also fell in coverage, giving up a 25-yard pass. His most impressive play was on a 3rd and 1, where he leveled the blocker and the runner to stop the play for a loss of 3.
Brandon Jones went out with an injury early, which led to P.J. Locke getting about half of the snaps in the game. Locke held it down and defended a pass with a swat late in the game.
Special Teams
It was a ho-hum day for our Special Teams units. Jeremy Crawshaw punted twice with both downed inside the 20. Will Lutz didn’t need to kick anything other than field goals, as our offense was dead set on scoring only touchdowns.
Final Thoughts
One thing I know for certain: No NFL team wants to play the Denver Broncos right now. And no team is going to be excited to play them in the postseason.
The best thing about all of this is that under coach Sean Payton, they all have their wits about them and know exactly where their focus needs to be: next week’s game.
I remember a punchy team under Mike Shanahan in ’97 ending a season on fire like this, but it felt very different. That team really felt itself and got punched in the mouth in the first round of the playoffs by a plucky Jacksonville Jaguars team.
This team is set up for big success in a big way this year. Two wins guarantee this team the #1 seed in the playoffs and home-field advantage. One step at a time is how this team has been doing it every week, every quarter, and every drive. They have the right mindset, the right culture, and all the tools they need to make a very deep run in this postseason.
