In perhaps the defining regular-season win of Sean Payton’s tenure in Denver, Bo Nix and the Broncos came all the way back from a 17-3 deficit in Philadelphia and drove the defending-champion Eagles into the turf for an improbable 21-17 victory. Here’s The Denver Post’s report card.
OFFENSE — B+
What a tale of two halves. And what a tale of two quarterbacks.
Bo Nix, through five games, has looked night-and-day as a thrower when he’s simply gone through his progressions with decisiveness. For much of the first half Sunday, he looked completely helpless against defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s swarm. And for much of the second half, he looked like the ascending star that Sean Payton promised for much of this offseason. In one star-making fourth-quarter drive, Nix went 5-for-5 passing for 85 yards and a touchdown, fitting in advanced-timing strikes to Courtland Sutton and Evan Engram to put the Broncos ahead.
After a lackluster start, too, Sean Payton turned back to trusty J.K. Dobbins as a bell-cow, who finished with 79 yards on 20 carries. Sutton’s impact was immeasurable, with eight catches for 99 yards. And the Broncos, somehow, rolled to 358 yards of offense in upsetting the champs.
DEFENSE — A-
The Eagles went right after Vance Joseph’s pass defense from the jump Sunday, in a clear effort to prevent star wideout A.J. Brown from quoting any more scripture. It worked, for a time. Philadelphia got going in the second quarter with a 52-yard ball to DeVonta Smith, who absolutely torched Broncos cornerback Riley Moss. Brown slanted Surtain for a few first downs, and got him on a big pass-interference call after the Smith bomb. Denver turned Hurts into a thrower — and it backfired, as running back Saquon Barkley torched linebacker Alex Singleton on an all-too-predictable wheel route for a 47-yard touchdown.
In the second half, though, Denver’s pass-rush started to generate pressure from the interior and off the edge, and continually shut any spark of Eagles momentum down. Surtain adjusted wonderfully to Brown’s slant game on a third-down stop. Nik Bonitto continued to bull-rush anyone in sight, finishing with 2.5 sacks. And the Broncos held Philadelphia to a grueling 2 of 10 on third down.
SPECIAL TEAMS — C-
Well, there weren’t any massive mistakes here. But special-teams coordinator Darren Rizzi’s unit continues to struggle with dumb penalties. Both JL Skinner and Trent Sherfield set Denver’s offense back with 10-yard holding penalties on kick returns Sunday, mistakes that simply can’t happen in a game where Sean Payton’s offense already struggled enough to gain momentum on drives. Punter Jeremy Crawshaw was the Broncos’ bright spot of the day, pinning the Eagles inside the 20-yard line on five of his seven punts, and Marvin Mims Jr. had a couple of nice returns. But Denver’s special teams play continues to be — as with the rest of their three phases — undisciplined, as Philadelphia’s Will Shipley sped for a 37-yard kick return in the fourth quarter.
COACHING — A
Same movie. Sean Payton turns to run to start. Sean Payton goes away from run. Broncos offense struggles. Sean Payton turns back to run. Just put it on repeat, at this point.
After Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense looked completely out of sync for most of the first half, though, give Payton credit for turning back to J.K. Dobbins in the second half. A third-quarter touchdown drive suddenly opened the floodgates for Bo Nix, and Vance Joseph’s defense tightened up after an uneven start. The Broncos had eight penalties midway through the third quarter, but suddenly flipped Philadelphia — a team that had won 20 of its last 21 games — on its head in the fourth quarter, as the Eagles fell apart under an avalanche of self-induced fourth-quarter penalties. Payton and Joseph’s aggressiveness set up Jalen Hurts’ right arm to carry Philadelphia, and it fell flat Sunday.
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