Denver Broncos Tasted Greatness for First Time in Sean Payton Era
The Denver Broncos were great in their 44-24 blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was the first time they tasted greatness under Sean Payton.
The Denver Broncos were great on Sunday.
They weren't mediocre, they weren't mid—the Broncos tasted greatness in all three phases for the first time since 2015.
Denver dominated the Cowboys in a 44-24 blowout and looked like legitimate contenders for the first time all year.
Denver Broncos Were Great in Cowboys Blowout
There are three tiers in the NFL: Bad, mediocre, and great.
On Sunday, for the first time since Sean Payton became the Broncos head coach in 2023, Denver was great.
Not just elite in one phase of the game, or even great in two phases. The Broncos were straight-up great in all three phases on Sunday.
It was an absolutely beautiful and bountiful win for the Broncos.
All year long, and really since Payton has been head coach, the team's offense has started slowly.
The good news is, they have finished really strong. Especially in wins over the Eagles and Giants.
Rich Kurtzman
If you had to pick whether your team was great early or late, you'd probably pick late. Although, it's really difficult to come back from behind all the time.
Starting slowly was not an option this week, though.
That's because this week, they played the second-best offense in the NFL in Dallas.
The Cowboys have been on fire even without the injured CeeDee Lamb; Jake Ferguson led all tight ends in catches and yards, and George Pickens is enjoying a resurgence there.
Pickens got his (7 catches, 78 yards) but Ferguson was blanked. And while Lamb had a decent game, (7 catches, 74 yards) neither he nor Pickens scored or hit their season averages.
It was a definite win for the defense.
Before kickoff, this looked like a game the Broncos could get down early and by multiple scores.
Instead, even with Bo Nix throwing a silly interception early, Denver was the team who jumped out to the early lead. R.J. Harvey ran for 40 yards and Nix hit Troy Franklin for a 25-yard score in the middle of the field.
Everything was flowing for the Broncos, from an explosive run to hitting on a deep pass; both of which have been few and far between for this offense.
But Denver's offense was just getting going.
They scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter. Harvey ran another one in from the quarterback's spot, and Nix hit Pat Bryant on a beautiful ball.
At 27-10, the Broncos enjoyed their best first half of the season by far. They outscored four previous entire games this year. 27 points is also the most the Broncos have scored in the first half in any game during the Sean Payton Era.
Denver kept their foot on the gas, with a field goal in the third quarter and two more touchdowns in the fourth—Nix passes to Harvey and Franklin—to win 44-24.
44 points was the most ever by a Payton-coached Broncos team, and the most a Denver team scored since October 2018 (45-10 win over Arizona).
Breakout Sunday for Multiple Broncos
This was the breakout game for R.J. Harvey, without a doubt.
But it was also Troy Franklin's breakout game.
Oh, and Pat Bryant's.
And it was the offense's breakout, too.
R.J. Harvey
Harvey's first-quarter touchdown was beautiful. The rookie exploded down the field in a blur, and it was "nothing but grass" as he said after the game thanks to many great blocks by teammates.
[Highlight] RJ Harvey takes it 40 yards to the house
by u/nfl in nfl
R.J. Harvey's first touchdown of the day. A 40-yard run to the crib.
That was the kind of speedy score Broncos fans envisioned when the team took him the second round last April.
He scored three times on the day, which was a career-high. The second came from a shotgun snap, and the third on a reception from Nix.
Have a day, rook. 👏
— Denver Broncos (@denver-broncos.bsky.social) October 26, 2025 at 8:16 PM
[image or embed]
He finished with 7 rushes for 46 yards and 2 TDs, 1 catch for 5 more and the score.
Troy Franklin
Franklin led all receivers—not Pickens nor Lamb—with 89 yards on the day and 2 touchdowns. He tied his career-high in yards in a game and it was the first time he caught two scores in one NFL contest.
This is his second one.
[Highlight] Nix to Franklin again for the TD!
by u/Nads2407 in nfl
Franklin has been very inconsistent during his first year and a half in the NFL, but today he was special like we've never seen him be before. If he can keep playing like this, the Broncos offense will be much more multidimensional.
Pat Bryant
The rookie hadn't done much for the team yet this season. He only had five receptions for 46 yards through seven games. Today, he caught his first NFL touchdown and had a career-high with 2 receptions for 40 yards.
[Highlight] Rookie Pat Bryant II makes impressive catch for first career TD
by u/nfl in nfl
Similarly like Franklin, if the Broncos can get a play like this out of Bryant a game, their offense will be much more dangerous as the season goes forward.
The Offense
One could argue the offense broke out last week when they hung 33 points on the Giants in the fourth quarter alone.
Sure. Fine.
Then this was the offense continuing that momentum from last week.
As I said earlier, the Broncos offense has been downright terrible to start the games this year. Instead, they scored four touchdowns in the first half and bucked the Cowboys, then stomped them.
Denver was 5-8 on third downs. It was only the second time all year (Cincinnati) they converted more than 50% of attempts. They also only had to punt twice, though both came on 3-and-outs. Their 426 total yards and 179 on the ground were each the most outside of that Bengals beatdown.
If the Broncos offense can start hot more often, this team can truly compete this season.
Another Step in Denver's Evolution
After winning Super Bowl 50, and then the 2016 season, the Broncos were bad for a long time. Eight years in total.
Finally last year, they went from bad to mediocre.
After they handled the sad Saints in New Orleans, blowing them out 33-10, I wrote how Sean Payton was molding the Broncos into a winning team. He's finally got them there.
They took that step from bad to mediocre during that win over New Orleans, but sustained it throughout the rest of the season.
Mediocre teams are playoff teams who don't really have a chance to win the Super Bowl, but they're a helluva lot better than bad teams.
Today, the Broncos were great.
For the first time since winning Super Bowl 50 a decade ago, the Broncos tasted greatness for one game.
It was the next step in their evolution.
A mediocre team can taste greatness now and then, but fall back to their level.
Now that they have tasted greatness, the next step is to become great consistently.
Denver's not quite there yet, but the more time they spend in first place in the AFC West, the greater their confidence is going to grow.
Great teams have targets on their back. They get everyone else's best shot.
In order to be great consistently, the Broncos will have to learn to beat other great teams and fend off the mediocre ones who give it their all.
Next week, Denver faces a hot Houston Texans team who has won 3-of-4 games, including today's 25-16 win over San Francisco.
On paper, the 6-2 Broncos should win with ease. But the AFC West leaders will take all of what C.J. Stroud and a 3-4 Texans team can give them and overcome.
Denver's not great yet. But they're on the doorstep.
The goal of the rest of this 2025 season is no longer to simply make the playoffs. They're almost guaranteed that at this point.
The goal is to find this greatness 2-3 more times this season.
These Broncos have beaten the Eagles and now blown out the Cowboys. Both are possible playoff teams; Denver's not just beating bad teams like last year, they're beating good ones too.
Rich Kurtzman
Of course, winning the AFC West for the first time in a decade should be a goal at this point of the year, too.
Everything's lining up for the Broncos (6-2) - Chiefs (4-3) matchup at New Mile High in three weeks. That game could go a long way in deciding the West this year.
For now, Broncos fans should savor their team's five-game winning streak. It's tied with the New England Patriots (6-2) for longest in the league.
Meanwhile, the Colts (7-1) lead the AFC South, joining the Broncos and Pats as division leaders. Just like we all expected before the season started.
