The Denver Broncos followed up their epic comeback win against the Giants with a dominating 44-24 win over another NFC East opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, in Week 8. The rout of the Cowboys pushed the Broncos to 6-2 on the season, still first-place in the AFC West.
The Broncos are making some noise, and it's music to all of our ears.
Every game tells a story, so what did this huge win tell us? There were plenty of winners in a game like this, but some unfortunate "losers" as well. Who were they?
Bo Nix, Troy Franklin lead Broncos' biggest winners in win vs. Cowboys
Broncos winner: Bo Nix, QB
On the first drive of the game, Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw an ugly, ugly interception. It was either one of the worst throws he's made all year, or rookie receiver Pat Bryant was supposed to sit down when he continued running a slant. Or, at the very least, Nix thought he was going to sit down.
After that pass, Nix was completely locked in for the rest of the game. It was like the interception unlocked some new level of focus and accuracy in Nix, and he started making one throw after another. He finished the game with four touchdown passes, the lone interception, and no sacks taken.
Nix is up to 18 total touchdowns this year and five interceptions after the game against the Cowboys, absolutely shredding the beaten-up Dallas secondary.
Broncos winner: Troy Franklin, WR
Against the Giants in Week 7, it felt like the Broncos were trying to get Troy Franklin more involved, but it wasn't working out. He had 10 targets against the Giants, believe it or not, but just three catches for a rough 19 yards.
He did have a crucial touchdown in that game, but it was a much better overall performance for Franklin against the Cowboys with a pair of touchdown catches and a team-leading 89 yards on the game. Franklin has yet to break through for a 100-yard game this season, but it feels like that's bubbling beneath the surface.
And if this guy caught every pass that came his way for a game, he might go for 200. He's got big-time speed, he's effective in space, and he has been cashing in when the Broncos get him targets in the red zone.
Broncos loser: Injuries
The biggest "loser" from the game against the Cowboys was the injury bug. Not only did Pat Surtain II go down early with a leg injury, but after coming back to the game, he then suffered what the team called a "shoudler" injury before leaving the game for good.
Nate Adkins, who has been dealing with injuries this year, also suffered a knee injury in this game and his absence would be crucial for the offense.
Marvin Mims Jr. was hit hard on a number of occasions in this game and is now in the NFL's concussion protocol.
Injuries are part of the game, but you get used to the Broncos being almost completely healthy every week with how clean their injury reports have been this season. These are major players dealing with stuff that could loom large for the team's Week 9 matchup against Houston.
Broncos winner: The rookie class
How about the 2025 rookie class for the Denver Broncos?
Going into the game, Jahdae Barron had played sparingly on defense. RJ Harvey was involved in the offense, but it had been inconsistent involvement week-to-week. Pat Bryant was on the field plenty to block, but wasn't getting the rock all that often.
Each one of these guys flipped the script in Week 8 against the Cowboys. Barron got a huge interception off of Dak Prescott before the end of the 1st half, and put the clamps on stud tight end Jake Ferguson
Harvey had not one, not two, but three touchdowns on the day. He had one as a traditional runner, one as a receiver, and one running the "wildcat" offense in the tight red zone.
Pat Bryant had his first-career NFL touchdown catch.
It was a much-needed and highly exciting breakthrough game for the young playmakers on both sides of the ball.
Broncos loser: Officials
It feels like every single week, we have a legitimate gripe with the officiating in the Denver Broncos' game. Officiating across the league this year has been a little rough, but in Broncos games, it's been very obvious.
There was the obviously horrible pass interference penalty called on Riley Moss vs. the Giants last week that nearly cost the team the game, but the Broncos were called for a few penalties against the Cowboys that were worse than questionable.
Two of the most egregious were an offensive pass interference called on Adam Trautman, who was running a legal pick play until Courtland Sutton's defender got tangled up with him on incidental contact. In truth, it was just way too well-executed by the Broncos.
The other was a(nother) pass interference penalty called on Riley Moss, which is getting wild at this point. Moss has former players coming to his defense on Twitter/X, and there's almost nothing he can do at this point.
It felt like there was yellow on the field for nearly every major third-down stop the Broncos got in this game.
Broncos winner: JK Dobbins, RB
It's hard to deny the impact JK Dobbins has made on the Denver Broncos' offense at this point. While the narrative in this game was a "revenge" game for Javonte Williams (who did get a pair of touchdowns), it was the Broncos who got a measure of revenge, and they got it through Dobbins.
Dobbins running for over 100 yards in this game (his second 100-yard outing this season) was all the revenge they needed to get on Williams, because they pulled it off right in front of him. The Broncos didn't have a 100-yard rushing game for over 30 games, and now Dobbins has two in his first eight with the team.
He's physical, he's got great burst, and he's got an outstanding personality to go along with it. As of right now, it's hard to see the Broncos moving on from Dobbins, who deserves a new contract with the team.