The Denver Broncos won the opening coin toss, but instead of deferring like Sean Payton usually does, they wanted the ball to start the game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Bo Nix and the offense go things going early on the drive, but a miscommunication or errant throw three plays into the drive resulted in an interception around midfield.
Not the fast start the Broncos were looking for.
Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense got thinks going immediately with Alex Singleton being beaten out in coverage by the backup tight end on the first play, then Javonte Williams ripped off an angry 10 yard run. Prescott then found CeeDee Lamb beating Riley Moss in coverage for a 30 yard gain to the five yard line to immediately get into a first and goal situation.
The defense stiffened from there, but an injury to Pat Surtain II knocked him out of the game on third and goal from the six yard line. Prescott went to Lamb on a quick slant with Riley Moss in coverage had the ball batted down by Brandon Jones who dove to make the touchdown-saving pass breakup to bring out the field goal unit.
Denver’s next offensive drive looked like it was going to be one of those predictable three-and-outs with a stuffed run on first down and a stuffed screen on second down. However, an offsides penalty gave them a third and two where Nix hit Troy Franklin over the middle for a 26-yard gain into Cowboys territory. He went deep to Franklin again to the end zone, but overthrew him and he was fairly well covered anyway.
Then RJ Harvey took a pitch outside who exploded through the hole for a 40 yard touchdown run to blow the game wide open after an ugly start.
On the Cowboys next drive, the crowd was thunderous. On third and give, John Franklin-Myers and the entire defensive line broke through to bring Prescott down for a huge sack to force the three-and-out. The initial pressure was led by Nik Bonitto on that play.
Nix hit Pat Bryant on the first play for a 16-yard gain to get Denver across midfield, then JK Dobbins cut back up the middle for another big gain of 21. A quick toss outside to Franklin picked up another 10 yards to get Denver into the red zone for the first time in the game.
After a holding call, Nix found Franklin wide open in the end zone for the second touchdown of the game. This one a 25 yard strike.
Suddenly down two scores, the Cowboys offense kicked it into high gear late in the first quarter and quickly found themselves ion the Broncos side of the field. After back-to-back incompletions and a holding call, the Cowboys were faced with a third and 20.