The Denver Broncos had a statement win against the visiting Atlanta Falcons. Here are my No Bull thoughts, opinions, and analysis on one of the most important games of the Broncos’ season.
I said last week that this Atlanta Falcons game was going to be significant for the Denver Broncos. Win and your playoff chances are looking pretty darn good. Lose and you are one of the teams on the outside looking in and hoping for some luck along the way.
The Broncos were ready for the moment and laid a good old-fashioned ass-whooping on the Falcons.
The offense clicked. The defense was phenomenal. The special teams was dialed in.
What a fun game to watch for Broncos Country.
Offense
There have been many times this season that the play-calling has been questionable. The most common was how little depth there was to the passing game early in the season. But let’s give credit where it is due. Sean Payton called an excellent game this past week.
Having a quarterback who is looking finally comfortable and very confident goes a long way to helping an offense get its groove going. It also really helps to face a team whose injury report is as long as my arm with many of their missing players being key pieces of their defense.
The plan to me looked to be that the Broncos were going to pick on the secondary of the Falcons early and often and use the run just enough to keep things honest or in situations where they wanted to run the clock. It was a smart formula, honestly.
Quarterbacks
Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images
Bo Nix just flat-out belongs in the Rookie of the Year conversation. You can easily make the argument that for this team he belongs in the Most Valuable Player conversation (rookie label be damned). This team is looking great and Nix’s growth as a quarterback has everything to do with their success on offense.
Nix threw for 4 TDs in the game with no interceptions. He was dynamic, accurate, and oozed moxie from start to finish. The Falcons lacked pass rush as well as defensive back talent in the game and Nix made them pay for it.
Line
The line again blocked superbly for Nix and kept him largely clean in the pocket. The running game constantly created gaps, though the Falcons played the run well and our backs had trouble making the first guy miss. The line still has some penalty issues to clean up, but largely killed it in my opinion.
Running Backs
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
Javonte Williams is back trying to cement his place as the starting back for the Broncos. His play as a receiver out of the backfield was excellent in this game. He also had a touchdown run where he kept pushing and moving forward until his teammates could help shove/carry him to the end zone. He ended the game with just 9 runs for 59 yards and a TD with 4 catches for 28 yards.
Receivers
Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post
Devaughn Vele runs really smooth routes and Nix definitely worked their connection early. He’s getting great separation (rare for this wide receiver group honestly). He had 4 catches for 66 yards on the game with three of them being in the longest 10 plays of the game for the Broncos offense.
Marvin Mims, Jr. got a 37-yard catch on a beautifully designed pass to hit him in stride looping around the formation early. His play of the game was a touchdown catch behind the line of scrimmage on a screen play on 3rd and goal (14 yards) at the end of the first half. He was used a bunch of times as a runner but I feel like it wasn’t very productive overall.
Troy Franklin is both fast and quick. He showed his quickness on a short pass behind the line of scrimmage and made two Falcons miss before gaining 8 yards. In the 2nd half, he took a short pass to the house behind some fantastic blocking. He may not be connecting with Nix on the deep passes, but he’s starting to get some nice opportunities in space that utilize his speed.
Lil’Jordan Humphrey had an awful drop on 4th and 3. He made up for it in the 4th quarter with a crossing route he took to the house making it look easy.
Courtland Sutton has always been superb at out-leaping his defenders for contested catches. In the 3rd quarter, he showed off his skill on a very accurate pass from Bo Nix. Sutton led the team with 7 catches for 78 yards and almost all of his catches were the gritty ones that keep the chains moving.
Defense
The Broncos defense held the Falcons to just 6 points. That’s pretty frigging fantastic in today’s age of high-flying offenses and big scores.
Vance Joseph had the Broncos ready to play and absolutely dominated the Falcon’s rushing game which is pretty impressive given how lively the Falcons run game has been this season.
They also shut down Kirk Cousins who didn’t even pass for 200 yards and had an interception. Kirk Cousins is the 3rd best QB in the league by a few measures, but the Broncos made him look pedestrian.
Front 7
Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
Nik Bonitto gets a free sack on a busted play where Cousins fumbled and couldn’t recover to throw it away. Later in the game he fully earned a sack on 3rd and 10 around the edge showing his superb lean and speed.
Malcolm Roach fought through a double-team to get a sack in the 2nd quarter which largely shut down that particular drive by the Falcons.
Josh Barton got to play spy in the middle of the field and Kirk Cousins didn’t notice. Barton read Cousins’ eyes and broke hard underneath the intended route for an excellent interception. We’ve been looking for improvement from our inside linebackers and I really like what I’m seeing from both Barton and Strnad.
John Franklin-Meyers single-handedly wrecked a run play for a loss of 8 late in the game. On the very next play, he almost got a sack and forced a throw-away.
Secondary
Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post
At the end of the first half, Riley Moss made a key play for the game making sure to tackle his guy in bounds to force the play clock to keep ticking and not allowing the Falcons to have a chance at a field goal. Momentum is a thing in the NFL and he made sure the Falcons would have none going into halftime. Moss had 2 passes defended and had the third most tackles on the team with 6.
Ja’Quan McMillan had a very poor game giving up many catches including a 4th and 1 20+ yard pass. He’s oftentimes close to making a play, but just a half second too late to stop it. He picked it up in the second half but needs to dial back in as he’s a great slot corner who usually is one of the surer tacklers on the team.
Special Teams
I loved seeing Mims have some success in the return game even if he has a return each game where he runs darn near 50 yards to get a 5-yard gain. He’s a dangerous returner and I love seeing him break a 37-yard return to make all the work he puts into returns pay off.
The Broncos didn’t waste time in fixing the Alex Forsyth issue. They kicked him out wider in the formation and he held it down well in 6 kicks we got to see in the game.
Final Thoughts
Around the 3rd quarter of the game, I shared with our writing team and my family that I’ve seen enough. Bo Nix has it. He’s by far not a finished product. There’s a lot to his game that he can improve and that needs work (and likely won’t be addressed until next season at the earliest). But if you watch enough football, you know when you see a good quarterback.
And let me be clear that it isn’t the 4 TDs. It isn’t the running ability or that he’s such an exquisite passer. It is the constant improvement I’m seeing week to week along with his leadership that has me excited for the future of the Broncos with Bo Nix.
For the first time since 2015, I’m cheering for meaningful games at the season with a realistic hope that this team can make the playoffs. It is in their hands now. If they can keep winning, they control their destiny to the postseason. And at that point, anything can happen. We have a defense that can play with anyone and a young offense rounding into form as the season wears on. I can tell you for certain that absolutely no NFL team in the AFC looks forward to facing this Broncos team in the playoffs.