Broncos, Payton found balance against Bengals — and found their identity

DENVER — The Broncos experienced their get-right game. But most importantly, they might have found their identity.

And that was probably of more value than the 28-3 win itself.

Not that the triumph in the standings didn’t matter, of course. But beating a team reeling since the loss of its starting quarterback is what you’re supposed to do. Unlike in Week 1, when the Broncos struggled to get past the Tennessee Titans, they dropped the hammer once their foes got past the 15-play opener.

After that, the Cincinnati Bengals had nothing left.

In their first 15 plays, the Bengals picked up 70 yards, five first downs, drove to a 26-yard Evan McPherson field goal, drew a 22-yard pass-interference penalty against Broncos cornerback Riley Moss and had Denver on its heels.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati defense generated a three-and-out, pouring through to short-circuit a third-and-2 sweep by RJ Harvey. Then he Bengals’ reservoir of effective football was exhausted. Pre-snap penalties accumulated — including four during one four-play stretch.

A week after the Broncos short-circuited themselves, Cincinnati did the same. Meanwhile, Denver stayed on schedule, rarely facing the kind of long-yardage third downs with which it dealt in the previous week’s defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers, when its average needed yardage on third down was 10 yards.

“It was almost the antithesis of a week ago when you look at our average third-down numbers. I think it was third-and-4,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

And because they remained on schedule, they could establish the run. By the game’s end, they had their first 100-yard rusher since Latavius Murray on Jan. 8, 2023 — the Broncos’ last game before Payton became their head coach — when J.K. Dobbins reached 101 yards on 16 carries.

But of greater significance might have been that RJ Harvey and Dobbins combined for 205 yards from scrimmage, and that the duo averaged 5.3 yards per carry between them on 30 attempts — despite not having a single rushing attempt of longer than 16 yards.

Unlike the previous three games, the Broncos didn’t build up a healthy per-carry average thanks to an explosive run; they did it with a series of consistent jabs that sustained the offense and ground down the Bengals.

“I think we found a little bit of a rhythm and a little bit of an identity tonight,” right guard Quinn Meinerz said. “I think we are figuring out our standard and, looking at this film, that this is what we need to expect from everybody moving forward.

“Everyone did their job tonight.”

BRONCOS FOUND IDENTITY THROUGH BALANCE

When Bo Nix and the offense left the field in disappointment after his second-quarter end-zone interception, the frustration was understandable.

But the Broncos had just completed their third-consecutive march of at least 64 yards.

And at that moment, they had near perfect balance: Seventeen passes and 16 rushes, including two Nix scrambles.

“It was a step,” Payton said. “Early in the season, all other 31 teams are really working to figure out who they are. We are no different, but certainly this was a step in the right direction.

“I would say that there were a lot of things that we were able to do tonight that hopefully can carry over. Now we change quickly to a team that just finished winning the Super Bowl.”

Success against the Philadelphia Eagles may look different than it did against the Bengals. Where Dobbins and Harvey averaged 5.3 yards per carry on Monday, an acceptable pace might be 4.5 yards per attempt at Lincoln Financial Field.

Thus, a key will be maintaining patience — and remaining on schedule.

But the way Payton used Harvey and Dobbins on Monday night — giving each running back several plays in a row, rather than shuttling them in and out — allowed them to become better ingrained in the flow of the game.

“I’m one of those guys where if I get in a rhythm, if I get consecutive carries, I can get better,” Dobbins said. ” As the game goes on, I get better. I’m sure that’s probably every running back. They’ll probably tell you that. So tonight, in the second half, that’s what you saw.”

Wide receiver Courtland Sutton could barely contain his glee at how Dobbins and Harvey flourished.

“I’m just excited,” he said, smiling. “I was very excited to see those guys go…. Those guys are capable of doing so much damage in the backfield.”

And with receivers like Sutton and Pat bryant blocking downfield, the damage goes beyond.

“So, it’s really fulfilling for us to be able to see those guys [get] 7, 8, 9, 10 yards, 12 yards, 20 yards, seeing them get these runs, it’s fun to be a part of.”

IT WASN’T PERFECT, THOUGH

In addition to Nix’s end-zone interception, the third quarter saw the Broncos offense fail in two opportunities to march downfield for the kill shot on the Bengals. Denver’s first series after halftime stalled after a deflected pass.

On the second series of the third quarter, Denver committed three penalties, one of which was accepted — an illegal blindside block against Alex Palczewski. One infraction — an offsides penalty against wide receiver Pat Bryant — was of the pre-snap variety, a point of emphasis during practice last week.

But the drives got steadily lengthier after halftime. From one first down to two, to three, and finally five first downs, 76 yards and 10 plays en route to Harvey’s 12-yard scoring reception from Nix that capped a series that chewed up 6:11 of the fourth quarter.

“Oh, it was everything,” Meinerz said of that touchdown series. “I mean, to be able to take the clock down to [4:58] and take up all that time, that’s the thing that we’ve been missing in these fourth-quarter games is putting them away.

“It was encouraging to see that growth from our offense to put that game away. We’ve had a couple fourth quarter games where we weren’t able to put it away as an offense, and so, today we were able to do that.”

It won’t come as easy in future games as it did against the Bengals. But at least the Broncos offense now knows what it can do, what it’s supposed to look like … and what its optimal success equation should be: a balanced attack.

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