The Denver Broncos set a team record in their 30-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Bo Nix had the longest run in team history for a quarterback, going 62 yards, virtually untouched, for a touchdown. Prior to that, no quarterback in team history had ever had a run go more than 40 yards, and that was done twice, once by Tim Tebow in 2010 and once by Jake Plummer in 2003.
Sometimes, watching the game in replay reveals some terrific moments in the game within the game. It turns out that Broncos tight end Adam Trautman made a terrific play himself to help usher his quarterback to the end zone without being anywhere near him.
Check this out:
Adam Trautman’s high IQ move helped Bo Nix secure this 62-yard touchdown run 👀⬇️ pic.twitter.com/80ldc3HWUG
— NFL+ (@NFLPlus) October 26, 2026
Rather than run towards Nix in an effort to block for him, which would have attracted more defenders, Trautman instead makes a move in the other direction, acting like he's trying to get open for a pass on a scramble play, even putting his hands up as though he's going to catch the ball. This act further confused an already confused defense as Nix raced to the end zone.
This was a tremendous, intelligent play by the Broncos' tight end and for those fans wondering how he keeps making the team despite not putting up huge numbers, these are the kinds of plays that are going to be pointed out to the entire team by coach Sean Payton during film study.
But Trautman wasn't the only one. Here, you can see Jonah Coleman and Troy Franklin both finishing their routes to keep their defenders occupied despite Nix being well down the field. This is absolutely what led to this turning into a touchdown:
There were so many details on the Bo Nix long TD run that made it special. Trautman and Coleman finishing their routes even after Nix is running to occupy the eyes of their defenders, Troy Franklin finishing blocks 60 yards downfield, and Bo showing the willingness to take off. pic.twitter.com/V6vp62XLYP
— Frankie Abbott (@FrankiesFilm) October 26, 2026
This wasn't mentioned during commentary and without something like this, it would have gone totally unnoticed, at least by fans. These are the kinds of team players that you want to have around and though Nix will always be recognized in the record books for the longest run by a quarterback in team history, Trautman and some others deserve an assist for a job well done.
“My read took me down because it was man-to-man," said Nix on what he saw during the run. "Then when my eyes got down, I had a nice crease in the pocket and once you start running, you sort of turn into a running back at that point and you're worried about explosive play and maximizing the plays. At that point, we had a great opportunity to run a long way so it was just a covered man-to-man route that just took my eyes down to a run.”
Nix will likely hold this team record for quite some time.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Adam Trautman was an unsung hero on Bo Nix’s touchdown run (watch this angle)
