DENVER — In the second quarter of Denver's Week 11 game vs. the Falcons, running back Javonte Williams needed a push.
Williams found himself just a few yards short of the goal line when he ran into several Atlanta defenders, but it soon became a two-way battle as several Broncos showed up to help push him into the end zone.
The result was a 14-yard touchdown that extended the Broncos' lead to double digits, and for rookie quarterback Bo Nix, it offered proof that Denver came ready to respond.
"I think that play is kind of the epitome of this week," Nix said after Sunday's win. "I think we have been wanting to get over a hurdle. He stopped there for a minute, and everybody just kind of pushes around him and gets him in the end zone. Those are the plays you love to see from an offense and a team. It almost looks like one united team that is going for one goal. Nobody who was pushing or blocking cared who got the touchdown. And Javonte was glad they were pushing him from behind. I think it was just a great team effort, and that [is a picture of] what this week has been for us, just finding ways to [get] effort and intensity and maximize the opportunity that we have."
The Broncos entered this week ready to respond in a big way after suffering two tough losses to AFC opponents on the road. After falling to the Ravens in Week 9, Denver looked set to bounce back and hand the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of the season, but a last-second blocked field-goal attempt instead sent the Broncos home at 5-5.
Rather than dwell on the loss, though, defensive end Zach Allen said the Broncos came to practice Wednesday ready to put the loss behind them and turn their focus to the next opponent.
"I've been on teams where it kind of broke your season," Allen said, "Really, when I say Wednesday it was all on to Atlanta, it was like it never happened. It was flushed really [quickly], so that's a really good sign."
This next-game mentality propelled Denver to a dominating 38-6 win that marked the team's largest margin of victory this season. The Broncos set the tone early, scoring on their first offensive possession of the day via a 12-yard touchdown pass from Nix to tight end Nate Adkins. The team later strung together touchdown drives on three consecutive offensive possessions to help put the game out of reach.
And while the commanding response may have come as a surprise to some, for Head Coach Sean Payton, it was a testament to the identity of a team that has already demonstrated its ability to bounce back on several occasions this season.
"I think it started early in the week," Payton said of Denver's response in Week 11. "It still gets back to the players and the make-up. It gets back to the things we keep talking about — the grit, the toughness. This is a team that — different from a year ago — kind of has that. Their response was really good."
The win saw several breakout performances across the board, highlighted by Nix posting the most productive outing of his career. The rookie quarterback finished the game 28-of-33 for 307 yards, adding four touchdowns and posting a 145.0 passer rating.
The Broncos found a rhythm offensively, as wide receivers Marvin Mims Jr. and Lil'Jordan Humphrey both recorded their first touchdowns of the season, rookie Devaughn Vele contributed 66 receiving yards and running backs Javonte Williams, Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime all got involved in the run game.
Defensively, Nik Bonitto recorded his first game this season with multiple sacks, while rookie Jonah Elliss took down quarterback Kirk Cousins to record the third sack of his young career.
Denver's special teams unit also saw success, as Mims recorded a 37-yard punt return that eventually led to rookie wide receiver Troy Franklin's second touchdown this season.
"I think kind of throughout the whole year, we've all been echoing if we just do it the right way, we can beat anybody in this league," Allen said of finding success in all three phases of the game on Sunday. "Today was a perfect example of that. Hopefully, we can build off this and just keep on doing it."
And while wide receiver Courtland Sutton said he never doubted his team would be able to respond the way it did on Sunday, seeing it all come together was a sign of even better things to come this season.
"There was no waver in the faith and confidence in this team after last week," Sutton said. "It was devastating. It was a very heart-wrenching loss that we had to go through. But, I knew this team was going to come in this week and watch the film Monday and put it to bed and come in the rest of the week ready to go. And that's exactly what guys did. We had a really good week of preparation leading up to this weekend, and guys knew that we couldn't dwell on it too much or it was going to beat us twice. We had really good vibes, really good feelings, really good energy coming out of the week going into this game, and it was nice to be able to see it all come together today."
