What we learned from Sunday's games

FULL BOX SCORE

Coral Smith's takeaways:

1. Nothing arrived. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix He played by far the best game of his young career and led his team to their fifth win in their last six games. Nix's second quarter did the most damage, as the Broncos scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives of 55, 92 and 44 yards. Two came through the air, the third thanks to Nix's legs. He has now scored four rushing touchdowns this season and leads his team. The offense slowed a bit after halftime as a large lead emerged, but another passing touchdown sealed the deal as Nix posted highs in pass yards (284), touchdowns (3) and passer rating (124.2). completed. His targets were well distributed among his pass catchers, completing at least one pass to eight different players, three of whom had a catch of at least 16 yards. Nix even brought his tight ends into the game, a position from which the Broncos have seen few contributions in the passing game so far this season. Two of his touchdown passes went Nate Adkins And Adam TrautmanThe latter scored with an impressive one-handed move. It took a few games for the rookie QB to establish himself in the NFL, but the last few weeks have shown steady progress that should delight any Denver fan.
2. Young's second chance was wasted. Sunday offered another opportunity for Bryce Young After Andy Dalton was sidelined with a sprained thumb, he had a chance to start at quarterback, but when given the chance to prove why Carolina should turn to him on offense, Young came away empty-handed. The game started promisingly for the Panthers' offense despite important teammates Diontae Johnson And Adam Thielen not available. After the defense forced a fumble to give Young the ball in Denver territory, he drove 49 yards down the field in 10 plays, completed throws to four different players and finished the game with a 6-yard touchdown pass Xavier Legette to give Carolina its first lead. But it was all downhill from there, with Young making bad shots and making mental errors, which was more likely to lead to him being benched in the first place. The Panthers had just one first down over the next six drives, which consisted of four punts and two turnovers on downs, the second of which came on a failed fake punt. The Panthers gained some momentum in the second half, but two promising drives ended in interceptions, the latter at the goal line, leading to Young's TD pass Jalen Coker With less than a minute to go, it's only worth a moral victory. Young completed 24 of 37 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, although that doesn't come close to reflecting the struggles for most of the game. It wasn't nearly what he or the Panthers wanted to see from the man who was supposed to be their quarterback of the future.
3. Denver D drives up. Young got in his own way for a few moments Sunday, but it would be remiss not to credit the Broncos defense for a big part of the win. Denver's multi-pronged pass rush did its job, with nine different players getting at least one QB pressure, according to Next Gen Stats. Denver ranked second in the league in sacks in Week 8 and added a few more on Sunday, with Nik Bonitto He recorded his sixth straight game with at least one sack, the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest such streak by a Broncos player since Von Miller in 2018. And even when Young was able to get the ball out, the coverage was there. with Patrick Surtain II And Ja'Quan McMillian Each got an interception to prevent promising advances by the Panthers. It was the fifth game this year in which the Broncos' defense allowed fewer than 14 points. While the offense gained a foothold with Nix at the helm, the defense held its ground. And now that both sides seem to have a good handle on the ball, the Broncos are in a good position almost halfway through the season, sitting in second place in the AFC West at 5-3 despite starting 0-2 .

Next-Gen Stats Insights for the Panthers-Broncos (via NFL Pro): Bryce Young had the most success against man coverage, completing 8 of 12 passes for 82 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His completion rate of +18.5% above expected against men is his highest rate in a game with multiple such attempts in his career (16/25, 142, INT, +0.9% CPOE vs. zone coverage).

NFL Research: Bo Nix became the first quarterback in Broncos history with at least three passing touchdowns, at least one rushing touchdown and zero interceptions in a single game. The only Denver QBs with more than three passing TDs and more than one rushing TDs were John Elway (twice), Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler, but each had an interception in their game.