A lot was learned in the Denver Broncos‘ 30-16 Sunday afternoon victory against the Arizona Cardinals, an important win for a team still looking for answers on who they are. Here are some takeaways from an important Week 7 win.
Takeaways From Broncos’ 30-16 Victory Over Cardinals
Bo Nix Looks Like His Old Self
Bo Nix had a very good game Sunday. He passed for 222 yards and ran for 73 yards on seven carries including a 62 yard touchdown, which is a career long run for Nix. One the first play from scrimmage, Nix immediately found wide receiver Courtland Sutton for a gain of 20 yards.
Overall, the third year quarterback looked poised, showed great pocket presence and played a clean football game. Up to this point of the year we really haven’t seen this from Nix, so Broncos fans should be more than happy with his performance today. Was it absolutely superstar play from Nix? No, but was it much improved from previous weeks? Yes it very much was.
SeanTober Is Here
Sean Payton, the Broncos fourth year head coach, has now won his third game this year in the month of October. Historically, Payton has the best record in the month of October out of any head coach in NFL history with a 55-17 mark. Not sure what it is of his teams heating up at the right time, but nonetheless, winning in October means you’re taking the right steps to win down the line in November and December.
Will Late Injuries Hurt the Broncos?
Despite playing an overall great game the Broncos had some key players go down at the end of the game. One of these injuries came from wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who went out of the game late in the fourth quarter due a blown up reverse and the timing of that play call had a lot of Denver fans scratching their heads. All the Broncos had to do was keep feeding the ball to rookie running back Jonah Coleman who had a career best 69 all purpose yards today.
According to reports from Broncos beat reporter Zac Stevens, Waddle is believed to have a chest injury. Payton seemed optimistic as he was more light about the situation. “Why didn’t anyone ask me about the dumb reverse call?” Payton Said. “That would be one of the first calls. All right, I’m going to answer, everyone asked the question. It was awful, all right. I’m sorry. If you look it up in 2008 in a similar situation, even a more radical reverse, fumbled, Tampa Bay beat us. I know better. Every once in a while you fall in love with a play.”
There are no further reports on the injury at this time.
Secondly, defensive end Zack Allen went out of the game late as well with a hamstring injury. Fortunately he told reporters “He will be fine” per Zach Stevens.
On to Kansas City
Next week will be the biggest game for the Broncos up to this point. First off, it is imperative that the Broncos avenge their brutal 31-10 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead back in week one. Secondly, this game has major division implications on it.
As of now, the Chiefs have only a one game lead over the Broncos due to the loss vs. the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night. A win would give the Broncos sole possession of first place in the AFC West and great momentum to carry out that lead. A loss would make it almost impossible for Denver to win the division due to having to rely solely on the Chiefs to lose at least four-plus games.
We will see how things play out but for now, the Broncos have put themselves in a good position. Next week’s matchup will be the top game of the week on CBS and Jim Nantz and JJ Watt will be on the call, kickoff will be at 4:25 p.m. E.T.
Main Image: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
