10 instant reactions to Broncos' preseason win vs. Falcons

The Denver Broncos absolutely dominated in their first preseason game of the 2026 season, especially in the first half.

It wasn't a completely perfect operation from start to finish, but Denver's starters -- the ones that actually played -- looked outstanding, Jarrett Stidham bounced back after a tough go of it in the AFC Championship Game, and the Broncos ultimately gave us all a lot of positive things to react to from the first week of the preseason.

From Davis Webb's debut as offensive coordinator to the big-time performances from stars and roster hopefuls alike, here are our top 10 instant reactions from the 27-7 win over the Falcons to kick off the preseason.

Instant takeaways from Broncos' dominating performance in the preseason opener

1. Davis Webb has the goods as an offensive coordinator

The official start of the Davis Webb era as the Denver Broncos' offensive coordinator and play-caller couldn't have gone much better.

The Broncos marched down the field for a touchdown on their opening drive, which we know was an issue for them throughout the course of last season. Starting fast has been an emphasis this offseason, and Webb did a fantastic job of mixing play calls, balancing the run and pass, as well as working in plenty of under-center calls for Jarrett Stidham. Even if Webb isn't opening up the bag fully at this point, play sequencing was really solid all throughout the game.

The first two drives included 8 plays from under center as well as 6 shotgun calls, and we saw a variety of players getting targeted for big gains. All of Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, and Evan Engram were targeted on explosive plays downfield.

We all saw what we hoped to see out of Webb in this first outing as OC.

2. Jonah Coleman looks like a stud

Rookie running back Jonah Coleman made his preseason debut for the Broncos, and didn't play very many snaps. He ran for 24 yards on just four carries, and showed the Broncos everything they needed to see.

His best run of the night came as a drive starter, a 1st-and-10 where the Broncos handed it to him inside. He showed patience as the blocks developed, vision, and explosiveness through the hole. Once he was met at the second level, he did exactly what he's done better than everyone else in this rookie class: Create yardage after contact.

Coleman bounced off a defender, spun to his left, and racked up some additional yardage before finally going down after a gain of 13.

Coleman's other three runs also showed that he's exactly as advertised, and he's clearly going to have a huge role on this team given how limited his action was.

3. The Broncos' defense is championship-ready

The Broncos' starting defense came out and got a 3-and-out immediately against the Falcons' top offense, and really didn't give up anything at all.

The pass rush was outstanding. The defensive front was unblockable (more on that later). Riley Moss had an interception. The run defense was outstanding.

Maybe most notably, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was already in his bag. You can tell that the Broncos' player development is off the charts because it looks like they've somehow gotten even better on that side of the ball, which is a scary thought for the rest of the NFL.

4. Jahdae Barron got another much-needed confidence boost

Jahdae Barron has gotten a little picked on since he was drafted by the Broncos in the 1st round last offseason. There were many in the fan base who didn't like the pick at all because of the fact that the team is already absurdly deep at cornerback, and the fact that Barron is almost relegated to a reserve/package role by default.

He's also been under a ton of pressure to show tremendous growth this year as a recent 1st-round pick, and it feels like he's been a bit under the microscope throughout camp. He started to put some nice practices together recently, but he was one of the top players under pressure for this game against Atlanta, knowing he was going to play a lot.

And he looked really good.

Barron was in position on the Broncos' opening drive defensively, making a great tackle in space to stop the Falcons on 3rd-and-long. He was also in great position, showing tremendous awareness during a rep in which he caught a tipped pass (by LB Karene Reid), taking it to the house for a pick-six.

He almost had another interception not long after that as well, but it went right through his hands. Another interception would have had Barron as the runaway player of the game (unofficially), but as it stands, he played an outstanding half of football and looks visibly improved.

5. Courtland Sutton...wow

Courtland Sutton wasn't on the field for very long, and he didn't need to be. The veteran receiver showed exactly what he needed to on just a couple of plays where Jarrett Stidham found him for huge gains.

He also had the play of the game on a one-handed snag Broncos fans absolutely can't get enough of:

Sutton had 3 receptions on 3 targets for 60 yards. The other really big play he made was another ball launched by Stidham deep down the middle of the field to set up the Broncos' first touchdown of the game.

Sutton curiously didn't practice for three straight days of training camp in what head coach Sean Payton said he didn't want to label "load management", but it was something of that sort. And practice or not, Sutton looks regular season ready. He was impressive.

6. Defensive line looks like it will be just fine without John Franklin-Myers

It doesn't really matter how deep down the depth chart you want to go -- the Denver Broncos' defensive line was fantastic against Atlanta against both the run and pass.

This was obviously one of the major question marks of the offseason, given the departure of John Franklin-Myers in free agency, but the replacements were proving themselves to be more than capable.

A couple of players who really stood out would have to be Eyioma Uwazurike and Jordan Jackson. Both of those guys had some reps with really great penetration, and it needs to be noted that Uwazurike actually started the game in Franklin-Myers' old spot.

This unit looks extremely deep once again.

7. Jarrett Stidham punches back

All of the talk during training camp for the Broncos has been the performance of third-string QB Sam Ehlinger, who has been competing perhaps for a chance to be Bo Nix's backup this season. Just about every onlooker at camp has made note of Ehlinger's progression this offseason, and it has sounded like Jarrett Stidham could truly be in jeopardy of losing his job.

Based on what we saw against Atlanta, I don't know about all of that.

Stidham was really solid against the Falcons, spreading the ball around to a wide variety of weapons in the passing game, showing outstanding ball placement, some nice escape-ability, and really getting some much-needed positive momentum going in his direction.

There has definitely been a sour taste in the mouths of everyone in Broncos Country, but you can see the value of a player like Stidham in a game like this, especially when the conditions aren't the worst imaginable.

8. Adam Prentice has a valuable role in the offense

Sean Payton wants the fullback in his offense, and Adam Prentice seems ready to oblige.

The Broncos gave the ball to Prentice on a 3rd-and-short to keep their opening drive going, then again to finish the drive for a touchdown. And he obviously converted both of those opportunities.

With all of the work the team was doing under center as well, Prentice undoubtedly has a big role in the offense once again this season.

9. Camp stars made big plays

We've got to check in on the top two training camp stars for the Denver Broncos here: WR Pat Bryant and CB Riley Moss.

Bryant got the first target of the game from Jarrett Stidham, creating a ton of separation on a play-action pass as the outside receiver on the right side of the formation.

Moss had an interception off of what appeared to be a deflected ball by outside linebacker Jonah Elliss (a stud), but he was in great position in coverage and showed fantastic reactive quickness and strong hands to make the play. This has been an emphasis all offseason for the Broncos, and Moss has clearly taken it upon himself to be one of the big reasons why they flip the narrative on takeaways from last season where they were in the bottom-five of the league.

10. The only sack of the game belonged to...Drew Sanders

Somewhat shockingly, as disruptive as the Broncos' pass rush was throughout the game, they only had one sack all game long. That sack ended up going to fourth-year player Drew Sanders.

Former Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Harris, now doing color commentary for 9News during the preseason, made note that the entire starting defense jumped out of their seats when they saw Sanders get home for a sack.

It may have been a coverage sack, but Sanders had a great bull rush to collapse the pocket, then got to the QB on his second effort. It was great to see Sanders make a play considering all of the injuries he's been dealing with in the first three years of his career.

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