Bo Nix, Broncos offense take flight in blowout victory over Falcons

The Denver Broncos throttled the Atlanta Falcons and came away with a decisive 38-6 victory. Here are some instant reactions from today’s big win.

The Denver Broncos started off hot and kept it going through the entire game. It was an impressive effort and easily the best their offense has looked all season long.

The end result? A decisive 38-6 blowout victory against the Atlanta Falcons. That’s exactly what Broncos Country was hoping for after last week’s heartbreaking loss against Kansas City.

There are a lot of great things to talk about, but here are some of my instant reactions from today’s game.

Bo Nix and Broncos’ offense ignite for best performance of the season

The Broncos’ offense performance today was one of the best we have seen in a long time. Everybody was getting involved and making plays against the Falcons.

The Broncos only had four offensive drives in the first half but made the most of their opportunities. Outside of a three-and-out on the second drive of the game, Denver embarked on three incredible scoring drives and got 21 points after 30 minutes of play. I’m not quite sure how long it’s been since that has happened, but it seems like forever.

Bo Nix was absolutely stellar. Nix was 17-of-19 for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He was straight-up dealing on the Falcons’ secondary on all three levels of their defense. Eight different players had receptions in the first half for the second game in a row. The Broncos’ offense had 220 yards and 13 first downs on 31 plays. Their 7.1 yards per play average was their highest mark of the season through two quarters.

The offense stayed hot to start the second half and got a score with a Troy Franklin catch-and-run to put the Broncos up 28-6. They were able to notch another three points on a Wil Lutz field goal in the fourth quarter to go up 31-6. But they weren’t done yet! Nix hit Lil’ Jordan Humphrey for a 41-yard score on the ensuing drive.

It was total domination for the Broncos offense that broke the 400-yard mark. Nix finished the game going 28-of-33 for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns. Today’s performance was the best of his rookie campaign and young career.

Football fans across the planet shouldn’t be sleeping on Nix as a legitimate Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. He has outperformed Jayden Daniels the past several weeks and is playing very well. If he keeps this up and the Broncos make the playoffs, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he ends up earning the honors. Regardless, it finally looks like the team has a franchise quarterback.

Sean Payton had a fantastic offensive gameplan

The Falcons’ defense had a lot of players out due to injury, but at the end of the day the Broncos still needed to execute in order to secure victory in a must-win game. And that’s precisely what they did, but I think some kudos are in order for Head Coach Sean Payton.

I felt that today’s game was one of the best he has called all season long. The offense was absolutely cooking and featured a wide variety of personnel groupings and had a lot of different players involved. The Broncos ran the ball effectively, when necessary, but their bread and butter today was attacking a weakened Falcons’ secondary.

One thing I loved was the utilization of Marvin Mims Jr. in the backfield in pro sets. That was a great wrinkle to the Broncos’ offense. Mims was able to make several big plays in the first half in that role and scored a touchdown at the end of the first half on a well-executed screen play. This is what a lot of fans were hoping to see for a long time.

Speaking of screen plays, the Broncos did a great job with those today. It was undoubtedly their best execution in that regard all season long. The Falcons’ defense had no answer for those plays and the amount of pre-snap motion the Broncos were utilizing on offense.

I’m really excited about what we saw on offense today. It’s a young team filled with talented players who are carving themselves nice roles and it’s only going to get better as they get more reps and experience together. Don’t forget the franchise will have over $50 million in cap space and a full slate of draft selections to get even better on that side of the ball this offseason. The future is really bright!

Vance Joseph’s defense straps down the Falcons’ offense

With the No Fly Zone in attendance, you just had a feeling the Broncos’ defense was going to show out. That’s precisely what they did this afternoon. They put together one heck of a game.

One of my keys to victory was ensuring Bijan Robinson didn’t have a big game to jumpstart the Falcons offense. Vance Joseph’s defensive players answered the call and shut him down completely. He had absolutely no impact in the game and had his worst performance of the season.

On top of that, the Falcons’ passing offense didn’t do much either. Kirk Cousins was sacked three times and threw an interception. He only had 173 yards on 18 completions before being benched in the fourth quarter to give rookie Michael Penix some playing time being down 38-6.

All in all, complete dominance by the defense for the entire game!