The game film hardly will be preserved by the Library of Congress, but the Broncos are, at least, 1-0 for the first time since 2021.

The Broncos opened with an ugly 20-12 win Sunday over the lowly Tennessee Titans at Empower Field. They committed four turnovers but were bailed out by a defense that made life miserable to rookie quarterback Cam Ward, sacking him six times.

“Four turnovers is egregious and that has to stop,’’ said Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey. “But I think it’s a good quality to have to be able to win ugly when the chips are stacked against us a lot.”

The Broncos had lost their opener in each of the past three seasons and had gotten off to starts of 1-5 in 2023 and 0-2 in 2024 under head coach Sean Payton.

Last week, Payton said the key to a fast start this season was “to win the first game.”

Then again, Sunday’s effort wasn’t fully what he had in mind.

Quarterback Bo Nix, whom Payton has projected to be an NFL top-five quarterback within the next two years, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. And All-Pro returner Marvin Mims Jr. lost a fumble on a botched fair catch of a punt

“I probably shouldn’t have thrown both of them,” said Nix, picked off late in the first quarter by Roger McCreary and early in the third quarter by Xavier Woods. “But you live and you learn and sometimes you can be a little too aggressive — and I was too aggressive. And I ultimately have to be smarter and take care of the football, especially with our defense, as well as they’re going to play this year. Can’t put them in a bad spot.”

Nix completed 25 of 40 passes for 176 yards and did have a 22-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton in the final minute of the first half for a 10-6 Denver lead. He lost his fumble in the second quarter, when he said he committed “a cardinal sin as quarterback when you take two hands off the ball in the pocket.”

But Denver’s defense sure stepped up.

The Broncos had six sacks by six different players, including one by outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who last Thursday signed a four-year, $106 million contract extension.

And the Titans lost two fumbles.

“I thought our defense was outstanding,’’ Payton said.

Ward completed just 12 of 28 passes for 128 yards. The Broncos allowed just 133 total yards, including just 30 in the second half.

“It’s what as a defense we need to do every week,” said outside linebacker Jonah Elliss, who had a sack of Ward for a loss of 16 yards. “We play an attack defense, getting off the ball and really challenging quarterbacks in the pocket.”

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The Broncos had 317 yards of total offense, including 196 in the second half. That’s when they finally got their run game going.

The Broncos, who led 10-9 at halftime, had just 25 yards rushing in the first half on nine attempts while Nix threw 22 times. But, in the second half, they ran 21 times for 126 yards.

RJ Harvey had six carries for 70 yards, including a 50-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter. That set up a 19-yard touchdown run by J.K. Dobbins with 7:37 left in the game for a 20-12 lead. Dobbins had 16 carries for 63 yards.

Some very strange coaching decisions by Tennessee’s Brian Callahan also helped the Broncos. Leading 6-3 with 47 seconds left in the first half and facing first-and-10 at their 7, the Titans could have run the clock out since Denver had just two timeouts.

But Ward threw three straight incompletions, leading to Nix’s touchdown pass to Sutton. At least the Titans got a 71-yard kickoff return by Chimere Dike after that, leading to a 42-yard field-goal by Joey Slye that cut the halftime deficit to one.

With 10:16 left in the game and the Broncos up 13-12, the Titans had third-and-24 at the Broncos 38 and were within range of Slye, who kicked a 64-yarder in pre-game warmups and had four field goals Sunday, kicking another to take the lead. But rather than Tennessee having a conservative play call, Ward dropped back and was sacked for an 11-yard loss by Zach Allen, leading to a punt.

“I was trying to be aggressive to see if I could get the ball moved out from underneath there,” Callahan, whose Titans also hurt themselves with 13 penalties for 131 yards, said of his thinking late in the first half. “(We were) trying to take advantage of some momentum potentially and it didn’t really work out in our favor.”

Payton also made a curious coaching decision.

With the Broncos up 20-12 and facing fourth-and-8 at the Titans 36 and 1:05 left in the game, Payton did not elect to punt or have Wil Lutz attempt a 54-yard field goal. Instead, Nix threw deep on an incompletion to Mims.

“I felt strongly I had a play,” said Payton, who said he didn’t want to risk a “scoop-and-score” by the Titans.

At least Ward then threw three incompletions and lost a fumble on fourth down when he was sacked by Ja’Quan McMillian and the recovery made by rookie Jahdae Barron.

“That’s what we’re supposed to do,” outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper of the Broncos’ dominant defense.

But the Broncos’ offense hardly looked like it was supposed to.

“There will be a lot for us to correct and work on looking at the film (Monday),” Payton said.

There, indeed, will be plenty of ugly moments when the tape rolls.