The Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 9, and, in typical Broncos fashion, it did not come without some drama.
Thanks to a strip sack on Bryce Young by Nik Bonitto, the Broncos were able to get the ball back late in the fourth quarter and got a first down to ice the game. Denver now moves to 7-2 on the season and have won five games in a row.
The team is now also on the bye in Week 10. Let's get into our immediate takeaways following this game.
Denver Broncos immediate takeaways highlight key players coming up in big-time moments
Jonah Coleman, for the time being, is the clear-cut RB1 of the Broncos
The Broncos, once again, did not run the ball well, but Jonah Coleman continues to be the RB1 of this team. He had 17 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. J.K. Dobbins had four carries for 18 yards. Coleman had more than three times the carries than Dobbins did, and we are seeing this depth chart change happen in real-time.
Coleman is simply a more explosive player and has higher upside as a receiver. He is also quite solid in pass protection, so there really isn't much of a reason to take him off the field outside of giving some a series off here and there.
Bo Nix's late-game magic continues
The Broncos scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and, once again, Bo Nix showed a ton of poise and made the plays that his team needed him to make in this one. It wasn't pretty, and Nix did toss an interception in the first half, but after the team lost the lead in the third quarter, Denver turned it on when it mattered the most.
Folks, this is simply the type of team that the Broncos are, and it also does coincide with Nix's efficient play late in games. It happened once again in a hostile environment and with the defense missing a trio of defensive backs, so this one was definitely a different flavor than other wins.
Courtland Sutton looked like himself again
Courtland Sutton had five receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown, showing off what we saw from him in 2024 and 2025. Sutton is very clearly not a No. 1 wide receiver, but he does have sticky, reliable hands outside the numbers and can use his body to win routes.
We did see flashes of the 'old' Sutton in this game, and it could not have come at a better time, as Jaylen Waddle left with a concussion, and the Panthers had backup cornerbacks all over the secondary. Sutton didn't light up the stat sheet, but he leaned into his skill set at an ideal time.
The Broncos really missed Brandon Jones, Talanoa Hufanga, and Riley Moss
I don't know if this could be any more clear. The Broncos saw Riley Moss leave the game in the first half with a concussion, and the secondary, from that point on, just flat-out struggled. Bryce Young went 28/39 for 276 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
This wasn't a huge shock, and it was plainly obvious how bad the secondary was. Jahdae Barron was 'toast' in this game, as some would say. Barron was playing soft coverage at times and was the nearest defender on the Panthers fourth down and 18 conversion late in the game.
Denver likes to play 'press' man a lot, which is lining up right across from the opposing receiver without much cushion. They have the CBs to do it under normal circumstances, but not having Moss in and missing Brandon Jones and Talanoa Hufanga almost cost Denver the game.
Nik Bonitto proved why he's one of the best in the league
It felt like a mostly quiet game from the pass rush until late in the game, and Nik Bonitto's strip sack of Young ended up being the de-facto winning play. He drove left tackle Rasheed Walker right into Young, and Bonitto got a hand in there at the right time.
Bonitto seems to come and go at times, but he has always been a clutch player and continues to prove why the Broncos paid him and why he was and is worth every penny.
Broncos are 7-2 at the bye and first in the AFC West
The Broncos are now 7-2 for the second season in a row, have not lost since October 4th, and are in first place in the AFC West - it doesn't get much better than that. Denver also, for the most part, control their own destiny in the division, especially since Kansas City's schedule gets a lot tougher in the coming weeks.
Broncos are also banged up and need this time to get healthy
The Broncos did not have all of Jones, Hufanga, Moss, or Kris Abrams-Draine in the secondary for much of this game. Eyioma Uwazurike was just put on IR, and he joins Jonah Elliss, RJ Harvey, and Tyler Badie already on IR.
Waddle left this game with a concussion as well. Folks, the Broncos are banged up, so the bye week really could not come at a better time. It's clear that Denver needs the rest to get as healthy as possible before the second-half stretch.
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