Winners and losers in the Denver Broncos’ 30-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals

Was this a “do well” game for the Broncos? It certainly looked like it.

We saw vintage Bo Nix, the flash running game, big plays from Waddle, Mims and Sutton, and the defense held strong for most of the game. After a long week of debate over Bo Nix and the Broncos offense, the media narrative is dead at least for this week.

The Broncos are now 5-2 and have won 18 of their last 21 games. Good times at Mile High!

A victory by two scores? Many winners were dealt today, but there are still a few losers coming out of this match. With that said, here are the winners and losers from the Broncos’ 30-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

After a week of bullshit from all corners of the media, Nix responded well against the Cardinals.

He finished 15 of 29 for 222 yards, 1 passing touchdown, 74 rushing yards and another touchdown. He had two big plays: a 62-yard rushing touchdown as well as a 52-yard passing touchdown to running back RJ Harvey on a screen play.

Nix looked confident, made big throws and led the offense to 30 points on the road.

Was it a perfect game? No, he had a few hiccups; the offense had some dips and the offense got off to a bit of a slow start. However, he bounced back and played well for most of the game and led the Broncos to 30 points again.

After a week where his play was called “disrespectful” and Payton was asked if Nix should be benched, Nix responded and silenced the haters.

Either way, it was a ridiculous media story.

WINNER – RB Jonah Coleman and RB RJ Harvey

Jonah Coleman has arrived.

After the game, head coach Sean Payton told reporters that he had to make “Coleman get more touches” moving forward, and he certainly earned them. He led the Broncos’ rushing ball carriers with 9 carries for 54 yards.

Coleman showed the vision, burst, acceleration and power needed to be a starter in the NFL and had the best overall performance of any back this season by the Broncos. He should be their holder in the future,

RJ Harvey also gets a winner for me with his play in the receiving game. He made a well-timed screen play against the untouched blitz for a 50-plus yard touchdown.

Coleman is expected to be the Broncos’ starting running back. He passed the eye exam and the results spoke for themselves. Additionally, Harvey has been the Broncos’ best playmaker this season and once again made a big, explosive play for a touchdown. They must rely on this double to move forward.

Dobbins played well today and scored a touchdown for the third game in a row. However, the reality is that he should not be the Broncos’ starting running back. He currently has a career-low YPC and only had a 3.8 floor average today, while Coleman had 6.0.

Add in Payton saying Coleman needs to get more touches, and you have Dobbins’ actions trending in the wrong direction.

That said, Dobbins was at his best today and had a great run wiped out by one of the many flags in this game. However, the eye exam tells you everything. He looks slow and doesn’t have that extra equipment to get away from defenders, while Coleman has that speed, burst, vision and power.

It’s time to make a change.

WINNER – WR/KR Marvin Mims Jr.

A good moment for Marvin Mims to have the best match of his season. He had some good returns and had 53 yards in the passing game. Most of that came on a 47-yard reception, which led to a Broncos touchdown.

With Waddle leaving the game with an injury and Bryant sidelined, the Broncos need more of these explosive plays from Mims moving forward.

The Broncos had 11 penalties for 114 yards today, which is not good. This has been a problem throughout the Sean Payton era; however, the officials were horrible in this game. They had poor and inconsistent decisions on both ends and had an impact on this game.

One of their worst calls was, you guessed it, cornerback Riley Moss, who was flagged for defensive pass interference spilling the field on a play where… no DPI occurred. For some reason this keeps happening with Moss.

After the match, Payton was asked about the officials in this match and he made an interesting comment about their performance. He told reporters: “I will never criticize public officials. At one point I said, ‘You’re doing your best to turn off the television audience. You’re on a roll.'”

They were really bad and had missed calls from both teams, but luckily it didn’t cost the Broncos the game.

WINNER – LB Alex Singleton

Singleton has been playing some good football lately. Sure, he’s still struggling, but he was all over the field today and had 19 total tackles, including a late-game sack of Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett that took them outside the 1-yard line.

Tackle stats don’t matter too much, but Singleton has played well in recent weeks and, importantly, hasn’t missed many tackles. He has coverage issues from time to time, but overall I thought he played solid football for the Broncos.

The stat line shows 1 tackle and 0 sacks, but his impact was felt throughout the game. Bonitto had a career-high 13 pressures against the Cardinals and was close to several sacks. Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett was just annoying getting the ball out.

The Broncos had 3 sacks in total, but they should have had more if we’re honest. I have to credit Brissett for recovering the ball and avoiding the sack, but the Broncos pass rush was coming home all game long.

LOSER – The One Who Covered Trey McBride

10 receptions for 111 yards and 1 touchdown.

McBride saw 13 targets in total, and the Broncos had no answer for him no matter who was covered. He’s the best tight end in the NFL for a reason, but I had hoped the Broncos would do better against him. Still, the Broncos held the Cardinals to 16 points and limited the damage, but Vance Joseph’s struggles against elite tight ends continue.

Other notable winners and losers