The Denver Broncos rolled to their fifth straight win on Sunday in a 44-24 dismantlement of the Dallas Cowboys. During their streak, the Broncos have won in every way imaginable. From this blowout, to a defensive slugfest, to multiple fourth quarter comeback wins, this team is learning how to win games in just about every scenario. However, that will make many national prognosticators unsure of whether or not they should believe in this team.
At 6-2, the record will force their hand a bit. Denver will need to start producing more regular wins to turn the national sentiment in a direction that teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills enjoy. That won’t come until the Broncos actually start beating teams like the Chiefs and Bills. Hopefully we start seeing that soon.
Here is where the Broncos rank heading into Week 9:
Even if it came against Dallas’ porous defense, that was exactly the kind of game Denver needed offensively. Bo Nix overcame his early pick to have a terrific day, and the run game really flourished. RJ Harvey hadn’t gotten many touches lately, so it was a pleasant surprise to see the rookie log his first two NFL rushing touchdowns in a three-TD performance. The Broncos will encounter much tougher defenses before the Week 12 bye (this Sunday at Houston and Week 11 vs. Kansas City), but this 44-point outing bodes well for Sean Payton’s attack. The news wasn’t all good, with star CB Patrick Surtain II leaving with a left shoulder injury. Denver’s defense did a number on the Cowboys most of the game, but Surtain missing significant time would be a problem.
Bo Nix lit up the Cowboys on Sunday in a game where he looked like the Bo Nix of last year. The pass rush is fierce as they’ve won five straight.
After getting four touchdowns from rookies on Sunday, the long-term answer here could be different. But right now, fifth-year ball carrier Dobbins is third in the league at 79.3 rushing yards per game and second only to the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor in runs of at least 10 yards. Dobbins is the first Broncos running back with two 100-yard rushing games in a season since Melvin Gordon had three in 2021. And with his reliability as a pass protector and a receiver, Dobbins has checked every possible box.
They’ve now won eight in a row against the Cowboys, and nine in a row at home.
Awesome as this pass rush has been, now up to a league-leading 36 sacks, how many of the coverage variety will it lose with injured CB Pat Surtain II set to miss a few games?
They lit up the Cowboys with 44 points, which is impressive. More impressive was their defense holding a dangerous Cowboys offense to just 24.
The Broncos’ rookie class is soaring and, while RJ Harvey’s three-touchdown game was somewhat opportunistic, cleaning up the grunt work from J.K. Dobbins, his impact on the field reminds me of a Lions team that moved more toward Jahmyr Gibbs after a Gibbs/David Montgomery platoon.
Nearly every single power rankings this week has remained unchanged despite the convincing win over the Cowboys on Sunday. I think people have begun to dig in their heels on where they think teams should rank. Despite having the third-best record in the NFL, most power rankings are pushing Denver down in the bottom half of the Top 10. I think that will not change no matter how long this win streak goes until the Broncos take down teams these national pundits have penciled in as their best teams in 2025.
The Broncos have proven they can hang with any team. What they have not yet proven is that they can be trusted to win any game. Personally, I think we’re just going through the growing pains of a young team learning how to win games and build their team identity. I think they are close to maturing into a contender. Time and the game against the Chiefs in a few weeks will tell.
Do you think the Broncos are being fairly ranked heading into Week 9?
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