The Denver Broncos were six minutes away from falling to 4-3 on the season. Since that moment in the fourth quarter against the New York Giants, the Broncos’ offense has piled up 77 points in five quarters to not only comeback to beat the Giants, but also to dominate the Dallas Cowboys the following week. Bo Nix and the offense have lit up the scoreboard since.
At 6-2, they are currently the number three seed in the AFC behind both the Indianapolis Colts (leverage!) and the surprising New England Patriots. Everything seems to be stacking up for a mega-clash in Week 11 against the Kansas City Chiefs. All Denver needs to do is take care of business against the Houston Texans and Las Vegas Raiders over the next two weeks. If they keep playing offense like they have over the last five quarters, then that should happen.
Here are Mile High Report’s game balls for the Broncos’ 44-24 victory over the Cowboys!
Another stellar performance from the second year QB. It was touted as the game of the week and Bo showed up big. He had command of the offense, limited the mistakes, and took advantage of a bad Cowboys defense. With 247 yards passing and 4 touchdowns, Nix led the Broncos to a dominant victory. Nix was patient when he needed to be, but made the most of his big play opportunities. Dallas made the decision to take Courtland Sutton away, so Nix found success with other receivers. Troy Franklin was the major recipient. After the emotional win against the Giants, the Broncos could have had a let down game. Nix made sure that didn’t happen. Huge day for the Broncos leader. – Adam Malnati
The Cowboys are the first team this season that could really stress-test the Broncos secondary with both CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens lining up. Riley Moss, due to his size, was given the task of taking on Lamb with PS2 covering the bigger and more physical Pickens. Moss played an outstanding game. Outside of that early 29-yard completion to Lamb, Moss didn’t give up a single completion over eight yards. He had one ugly DPI penalty in the end zone and one phantom DPI called on the very next play in the end zone. He’ll continue to be the most targeted guy on defense and the officials seem to hate him every single game. Despite all that, he’s having one heck of a season and, in my opinion, played his best game against Dallas. – Tim Lynch
Have a day, rookie. Harvey finished with a hat trick of touchdowns in the flogging of the Cowboys, including a 40-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Harvey is the first Broncos rookie to record three TDs in a game since Clinton Portis in 2002. For the game, Harvey finished with 46 yards rushing on seven carries. Harvey also had one reception for five yards that resulted in a TD. When you add what J.K. Dobbins did, Denver has one of the best one-two punches running the ball in the NFL. On a day the offense played its best game, it was great to see Harvey play such a big role. – Ian St. Clair
While the entire offensive line was cooking today, Quinn Meinerz, the best RG in the league, was on another level of destruction. He was all over the field in the run game and was a brick wall in pass protection. The Crack Toss where he decimated three defenders was just the cherry on top. It’s so much fun being able to watch this guy work week in and week out. – Ross Allen
Last week’s game against the New York Giants was a struggle for Troy Franklin. The second-year pro was targeted ten times but only came up with three catches for 19 yards. Granted, one of those was an awesome touchdown, but a 30-percent catch rate certainly wasn’t ideal. Against the Cowboys, Franklin was the top receiver for the Broncos. He had 6 catches on 8 targets for 89 yards [37 after the catch] and two touchdowns. I’m optimistic the chemistry between him and Nix will only get better as the second half of the season approaches. – Chris Hart
After going undrafted out of Indiana of Pennsylvania (yes, that’s a real school) and then spending a year toiling in the XFL, Dondrea Tillman has found a home for himself on the Bronco DL. As the other backup OLB with Jonah Elliss, Tillman has cemented himself as a cog in the best pass rush in the NFL. Despite only getting two sacks this game, the Bronco DL was pressuring Dak Prescott into hurried throws. They ended the game with 8 QB pressures. While Tillman didn’t have any of those pressures, he did have a pass batted down and a beautiful interception that the ran back for 40ish yards, breaking a few tackles in the process. Tillman finished the game with 3 tackles (1 solo) along with the PBU and the INT. For dropping into coverage and picking off Dak, Tillman gets my gameball. – Taylor Kothe
It was a great day for Broncos’ rookies, including wide receiver Pat Bryant. The third-round pick has been criticized for not being too impactful, but he was today, scoring his first NFL touchdown, followed by an emphatic Mile High Salute. He gets it. And for that, he gets my game ball. – Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann
Jahdae Barron gets my game ball this week for playing excellent coverage on a tight end (a rare occurrence as of late for this defense). He was in perfect trail position to pick off an ill-advised throw from Dak Presoctt and helped break the game open for the Broncos early. – Sadaraine
Who gets your game ball for the Broncos-Cowboys game? Share in the comments section below.