6 winners and 4 losers as Broncos escape Panthers with another clutch win

The Denver Broncos head into their bye week with a 7-2 record after their latest clutch victory. They escaped the Carolina Panthers with a 26-21 win, which included some clutch plays by both the offense and the defense.

One thing is certain after watching this game: The bye week is coming at the perfect time for the Broncos.

This team is abnormally banged up, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And those injuries really started to show up against Carolina, but this Broncos team continued to show resolve and resilience. The Denver Broncos are simply the best situational football team in the NFL.

WIth that said, let's dive into our biggest winners and losers from the victory over the Panthers after having plenty of time to digest the game.

Biggest winners and losers from the Broncos' win over Panthers

Bo Nix, QB -- Winner

The Broncos had 27 first downs against the Panthers offensively on Sunday, and 17 of them were passing first downs. The Broncos also got 6 more first downs via penalty, and a handful of those were drawn via the passing game.

Bo Nix finished the game with 237 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns against Carolina, but the passing attack was the offense for the majority of this game.

When Nix is attacking down the field with confidence, it's a beautiful sight to behold. It's not always perfect, but it opens up so much for the offense overall.

The Broncos needed to improve on 3rd downs going into this game against Carolina, and Nix was key in helping accomplish that. Other than a 3rd-and-26 in which the Broncos conceded with a running play, the team was 6-of-9 on 3rd down attemps, including a 3rd-and-5 touchdown from Nix to Pat Bryant.

Courtland Sutton, WR -- Winner

For an extended period of time, it was more profitable to spike the ball into the ground than to throw it Courtland Sutton's direction this season (in terms of passer rating when targeting).

I wish that was a joke, but it's reality.

The Broncos' 3rd down woes offensively this season can absolutely be traced to Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton not being on the same page for much of the season, or at the very least, those two not being able to connect on a regular basis.

The connection was back in a big way against the Carolina Panthers, and Sutton made some huge plays. He caught the first touchdown of the game, converted a number of 3rd downs, and drew multiple flags in coverage.

Even going up against a banged-up Panthers secondary, seeing the Nix-to-Sutton connection return was crucial.

Evan Rothstein, Director of Game Management -- Winner

You may be reading this and wondering, who is Evan Rothstein?

Even though his title with the team is listed, the reason Rothstein is being included in this week's "Winners" category is because he was the one who told head coach Sean Payton to challenge the play in which Devon Key intercepted a pass that deflected off Panthers TE Tommy Tremble.

Nobody in the stadium -- including Devon Key himself -- thought this was an interception in real-time. It looked like it bounced off the turf before Key pulled it off the ground.

Fortunately for the Broncos, it didn't. And even more fortunately, Evan Rothstein noticed it and gave Sean Payton a heads up. With an assist from the folks in New York, the Broncos were able to challenge the play, and they went on a 14-play touchdown drive that shifted the momentum of the game from that point on.

Running game -- Loser

The Broncos averaged 3.0 yards per carry against the Panthers, who had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL coming in.

Even if you consider the fact that the Panthers may have sold out to stop the run in this game, this was a clear get-right chance for the Broncos. Like I talked about earlier, the Broncos had 17 first downs through the air in this game. They had just 4 on the ground, including one of the first runs of the game by JK Dobbins and a late conversion by Bo Nix on a QB sneak.

This running game simply cannot get going, and that's even with the team giving the lion's share of carries to Jonah Coleman.

Getting off the field on 3rd/4th and long -- Losers

The Panthers scored three touchdowns against the Denver Broncos' defense on Sunday, and on two of those touchdown drives, they converted a 3rd-and-17 play as well as a 4th-and-18 play.

Both of those conversions are completely unacceptable, even if you give a little grace for the fact that Vance Joseph's secondary was down three starters. You simply can't have that level of incompetence when you're being gifted a chance to get off the field.

The 4th-and-18 conversion is especially maddening, because if the Broncos had gotten off the field there, they would have had the ball with a 12-point lead in the 4th quarter. It never had to come down to Nik Bonitto needing a clutch strip-sack to win this one. The Denver defense was unacceptably bad on those crucial downs.

JK Dobbins & Ben Powers -- Losers

Against the Panthers, JK Dobbins played just 11 total snaps compared to Jonah Coleman's 58.

The Broncos clearly want to see what Jonah Coleman can handle heading into the NFL trade deadline, but Coleman's expanded role is coming very obviously at the expense of JK Dobbins.

The perception -- regardless of the reality behind the scenes -- is that the Broncos do not trust Dobbins at all. Even though Dobbins had an impressive 11-yard run in this game, he was given an opportunity on a swing pass to score a very obvious walk-in touchdown. And he bobbled it.

Over the last 3 games, Dobbins has just 18 total touches. He's being phased out of the offense even with the team needing him to step up with RJ Harvey on IR.

Ben Powers is another player who has played his way out of favor with the Denver Broncos' fan base. And nobody can fathom how he hasn't played his way out of favor with the coaching staff at this point.

Maybe the Broncos just don't want to make an in-season change at the left guard position before the bye, but it wouldn't be shocking to see Alex Palczewski take over at the left guard position after the bye given the way Powers has played this season.

There was one play where he stood out in a big way, giving up immediate pressure to Derrick Brown and causing one of the Broncos' worst running plays of the game.

Whether Powers is playing hurt or simply has declined after injuries last season, he's not playing at a starter-caliber level right now.

Pat Bryant, WR -- Winner

You have to throw Pat Bryant into the winner category after the way he was able to quickly come back from what appeared to be a devastating ankle injury earlier this season.

Bryant led the Broncos with 56 receiving yards, and had a touchdown to extend the Broncos' lead in the 4th quarter.

One thing Bryant brings to the table that most other receivers on this Broncos team don't is his ability to create after the catch. He's not only a really good route runner, but he's crafty in space and makes things happen for the offense.

He's been missed.

Nik Bonitto & Devon Key -- Winners

This was not the best day at the office for the Broncos' defense as a whole, but Devon Key and Nik Bonitto both came up with clutch plays.

We already talked a bit about the heads-up play by Key to snatch the ball as it bounced like a pinball in the back of the end zone, but how about Nik Bonitto with shades of Von Miller, coming up in the clutch?

The Broncos' pass rush was abnormally quiet in this game until it mattered the most. Jonathon Cooper came up with a huge sack in the 4th quarter, but with the Panthers threatening and the game on the line, Nik Bonitto made a Defensive Player of the Year kind of play:

It's not apples to apples, but it felt similar to Bonitto's huge play against Washington last year when he came through on a 2-point conversion. Just when it felt like the Broncos' "bend-don't-break" defense was about to break, Bonitto saved the day.

That's what superstars do.

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