TAMPA, Fla. — Adam Trautman had a 10-second warning about the plan.
Courtland Sutton was walking to midfield before Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers with the five other team captains for the Broncos, and even he didn’t know about the decision until the coin was about to be flipped into the air.
Sean Payton, like most head coaches in the NFL, prefers to defer when his team wins the toss. The logic is that if you can score before halftime and then get the ball back to start the third quarter, you can quickly stack points onto the scoreboard at a critical juncture in a game.
But Payton was seeking something equally important Sunday against the Buccaneers: a chance to jumpstart Denver’s sagging offense. That called for a different approach.
“Every once in a while,” Payton said, “you send a little message.”
#BroncosCountry LIVE: HC Sean Payton meets the media after #DENvsTB https://t.co/K4bEOJ2Hdu
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 22, 2024
When the Broncos called “heads,” saw the coin land face up and asked for the ball, Sutton felt a jolt of energy. Trautman nodded in approval and said, “Hell yeah!”
“I’m out there, but it still kind of caught me off-guard,” Sutton said. “I knew what the first play was. We went over the openers the night before the game, so I knew what the first play was going to be. So when (Payton) decided to take the ball, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s tryin’ to set the tempo.’”
The first play was a 22-yard completion from rookie quarterback Bo Nix to Sutton, who adjusted near the sideline against one-on-one coverage to make the back-shoulder grab. Five plays later, Nix was running into open space on the right side for a 3-yard touchdown. The Broncos threw plenty of punches in a 26-7 rout of the Buccaneers, but it was the haymaker they threw in the game’s opening moments that lingered.
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Nix, who was perfect 4-of-4 for 70 yards on the opening series, settled in for a steady performance that stood in stark contrast to his play during Denver’s 0-2 start to the season. The quick strike allowed Denver’s defense to play with a lead. The unit wore it well, sacking Baker Mayfield seven times (Denver’s most in a game since 2019), forcing two turnovers and snuffing out both of the Buccaneers’ fourth-down attempts.
“That set the tempo, set the tone for the game,” Nix said of the opening drive, which also featured a 31-yard completion to Josh Reynolds on a pass concept that left the receiver wide open up the sideline.
Nix finished the game 25-of-36 passing for 216 yards. He showed a good feel for when — and how — to leave the pocket, rushing for 47 yards and the touchdown on nine carries while avoiding any sacks. Most importantly, Nix didn’t turn the ball over after throwing a combined four interceptions in Denver’s first two games. Nix wasn’t electric — he averaged only 4.6 yards per attempt after the first drive — but he made the timely plays that allowed the Broncos to sustain drives for the first time this season.
“That’s why we were successful because we could actually get to the stuff that we had been game-planning all week,” Trautman told The Athletic in a jubilant visiting locker room after the game. “As opposed to guessing in the third quarter because we hadn’t been on the field. The game plan has been great every week, to be honest. We just haven’t been able to get there just because we haven’t been able to stay on the field. Today, we were able to stay on the field long enough get to the stuff we wanted to. That was awesome.”
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The Broncos had drives of 13 and 15 plays Sunday, both of which resulted in field goals. Both of those possessions were longer from a play-count standpoint than any possession Denver had in its first two games. As impressive as Denver’s opening salvo was against the Buccaneers, it was the drive that ate up nearly eight minutes of clock in the second half that revealed what could be a sustainable path forward for the offense and its rookie quarterback. The Broncos marched from their 6-yard line all the way to the Tampa Bay 15, picking up two third-down conversions in the process.
The drive featured an inauspicious start. Nix scrambled away from pressure in the end zone to complete a 1-yard pass to Sutton. On second down, he had to fire incomplete at the feet of tight end Nate Adkins to avoid a safety. The Broncos had a 20-7 lead, but they faced a third-and-9 at their 7-yard line, in danger of giving the ball back to the Buccaneers with premium field position. But Nix found Lil’Jordan Humphrey on a choice route near the first-down marker, and Humphrey evaded a tackler to turn the reception into a 17-yard gain.
“That was huge,” Nix said. “Third-and-long, backed up, it’s not where you want to be. We ran a good call and LJ had choices on that route. He went out, made a catch and got some YAC. I thought he played really well with the ball in his hands and that jump-started the drive.”
Denver followed the Humphrey catch with five plays that netted 8 or fewer yards. But with no penalties and no sacks pulling them backward, the small gains were enough to keep the train moving. Throw in a 22-yard scramble by Nix in which he escaped a would-be sack, and the Broncos produced a drive that culminated in a 16-point lead. The Broncos ultimately failed to convert a third-and-4 play that would have kept the possibility of a touchdown alive, one of many sequences that illustrated the significant improvement that is still needed for this offense. But the drive nonetheless demonstrated a resilience that could serve as an important building block.
“Those are the drives that championship teams are able to (have),” Sutton said. “Finding ways to convert on third down. Making sure we don’t have negative plays, eliminating penalties. Being able to do that consistently is what you see these teams that make it to the playoffs consistently — teams that are going to the Super Bowl and fighting for the conference championship — those teams are able to stay on the field and put these long drives together. We got to feel that.”
There were ancillary benefits to the speedy and slogging scoring drives Sunday that were easy to identify, too. The Broncos defense showed its pass-rushing teeth while playing with a lead. The group pressured Mayfield constantly, forcing him out of the pocket and into trouble. Brandon Jones intercepted Mayfield on Tampa Bay’s second drive and returned the ball to the Buccaneers’ 9-yard line. The Broncos scored a few plays later on Jaleel McLaughlin’s ankle-breaking run on fourth-and-1, when he juked linebacker Anthony Nelson and then sped to the pylon.
Jaleel McLaughlin finds the end zone on 4th and goal for the @Broncos TD!
📺: #DENvsTB – Sunday on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/JAS3O7Xctv— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
The lead eventually ballooned to 17-0 and Denver teed off. Six different players combined for the seven sacks on Mayfield, including two by Dondrea Tillman in his NFL debut.
“After the first one, everybody is trying to hunt and get that (sack),” said Tillman, who spent the spring playing in the United Football League and was promoted to Denver’s active roster this week. “We all work together. We all feed off each other. So once someone gets one, we’re all trying to get one.”
The long possessions for the Broncos also helped wear down Tampa Bay’s defensive front. In the fourth quarter, Denver finally struck for an explosive run when Tyler Badie hit a hole on the right side and burst free for a 43-yard gain. Badie finished with 70 yards on nine carries, making a case for a larger role as the Broncos try to create a more consistent rushing attack.
“He’s been practicing well and there were a handful of ‘BAD21, BAD12’ — we abbreviate his tags BAD — a handful of plays with his name on it,” Payton said. “He’s running well and he gets some other plays. We’ll keep working that combination. I was pleased that we were able to run the ball.”
Tyler Badie showing off the wheels for 43 yards 🛞 💨
📺: #DENvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/fVtu9A8n6o— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
Payton quickly shut down the suggestion Sunday that Nix played more confidently Sunday. He said he didn’t see the rookie flinch in the wake of two rough games to start the season. What the Broncos saw from Nix on Sunday, the coach said, wasn’t anything they haven’t seen from the quarterback since he arrived as the draft’s 12th pick in April.
But Payton also likes to say that confidence comes from demonstrated ability. That’s why reaching the end zone on the game’s opening drive was such a critical moment. The offense collectively needed to see a payoff. And, yes, at some point a rookie quarterback needs to get a taste of the winning locker room, providing a reminder of the feeling that is being chased.
“You put so much into the week,” Nix said. “You put in so much time, effort and energy. That’s what those moments are about. That’s what you want to get to. You want to get to those celebrations.”
(Photo of Bo Nix celebrating a touchdown Sunday: Kevin Sabitus / Getty Images)
