ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Joe Buck did not hesitate.
A split-second after Marvin Mims Jr. hauled in a third-down strike from Bo Nix, the Hall of Fame broadcaster declared what the crowd at Empower Field at Mile High also knew.
"He's gone," Buck belted as the crowd roared.
Mims raced the remaining 50 yards to the end zone before leaping into the stands, and the 93-yard touchdown pushed Mims into a tie for the fourth-longest receiving touchdown in franchise history.
"Bo ended up trusting me and putting the ball in a perfect place, literally," Mims said. "It ended up being a big play for us."
Mims added a pair of short receptions to earn his second career 100-yard receiving game and his first since Week 2 of last season.
"He's thriving in every role that they've been giving him," Courtland Sutton said of Mims.
While Mims earned his 100-yard game via a game-changing play, Sutton posted one of his own with a series of key receptions.
The veteran player caught six passes for 102 yards, marking his third 100-yard game in the Broncos' last six contests. Sutton caught four passes of at least 17 yards and also drew a 19-yard defensive pass interference call.
On third down, he was particularly efficient. Nix was 4-of-5 for 51 yards and a 109.2 passer rating when targeting Sutton on third down, and Denver converted four of its five third-down tries when Nix looked Sutton's way.
Sutton has recorded 569 yards over the last six games, which is the most by a Broncos player over a six-game stretch since Demaryius Thomas in 2015.
Individually, either Mims' or Sutton's performance would be impressive. Together, it marked a feat that a pair of Broncos had not matched in nearly a decade.
Mims and Sutton became the first pair of Broncos receivers to each record 100 yards since Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders did so against the Titans in 2016.
On Monday night in Denver, their contributions played a large role in Denver securing a valuable eighth win.
NIX CONTINUES TO SET MARKS
In a back-and-forth win over the Browns, Nix made a series of critical throws to help Denver earn its eighth win.
In addition to the aforementioned passes to Mims and Sutton, Nix completed three other passes of at least 16 yards — including passes of 16 and 23 yards to Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin, respectively. Those passes to his fellow rookies set the Broncos up at the Cleveland 1 on each occasion, and Denver punched in each opportunity with a rushing touchdown.
While Nix did record his first multi-interception game since Week 2 and his first interception since Week 9, he also made big plays in big moments.
After the Broncos fell behind 32-31 with 8:57 to play, Nix led the Broncos on an 11-play, 61-yard go-ahead field-goal drive. On the possession, Nix found Sutton for a 19-yard gain and later converted a third down with another pass to Sutton. While Denver settled for a field goal, Nix said it was a "big drive" for the Broncos in determining the outcome of the game.
"We did it [with] kind of everything: We ran, we converted some third downs, we completed some passes," Nix said. "We just needed a big-boy drive, and we just put one together."
With the victory, Nix became just the sixth rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era to win his first two prime-time starts. Nix remains atop the rookie passing touchdown leaderboard, and he remains tied with Jayden Daniels for the most wins among rookie quarterbacks.
