Good morning, Broncos Country!

Bo Nix had a great quote Sunday night that stats don’t play the game.

“The funny thing about stats is tomorrow, you’re gonna wake up, and there’s gonna be a new stat. There’s gonna be something else that somebody else figured out. …They’re just that. They’re just a stat,” Nix said. “They have nothing to do with the football game. They can’t grow legs and go out there and score touchdowns for you.”

He’s 100% right on both accounts — the stats don’t win the game AND also somebody is going to have figured out a whole bunch of new stats after the fact about the guys who actually did win the game.

But he would be wrong if he thinks the stats don’t matter (just ask his coach who loves his analytics and stats!) Because while stats don’t play the game, they do tell us a lot about the story of the game.

And there have been some interesting ones since the Broncos’ OT thriller on Sunday:

First, a few critical ones that point to issues to fix — many of which are obvious, like needing much better production from the rushing attack.

Not enough from the run game

Sean Payton noted after the game that Washington, which had been one of the easier teams to run against, made it hard for Denver.

“Yeah, I mean, it was one of those frustrating nights running the ball,” Payton said. “They did a few things differently by staying in their heavy personnel. Teams have been able to run the ball in sub against them. And to Dan’s credit, they didn’t allow that.”

There’s no doubt that this has to improve if the Broncos want to win the tough games coming up — namely the Chiefs, Jags and Packers — but particularly if they want to do anything in the playoffs.

The defense – and individual defenders – are still elite

Despite letting the Commanders’ run game get the best of them much of the night on Sunday, the Broncos defense is still holding strong in most every way possible.

Especially in the pass rush but also including pass coverage. When you’re opposite Pat Surtain as a defensive back, you know you’re the one being targeted. And Sunday night’s game saw some great stuff from Moss and Singleton, who have certainly gotten burned.

A lot of bright spots on the offense

From the O-line to the quarterback to receivers, there is much about this offense to praise even while criticizing clear areas of improvement, including Nix’s footwork still, as Tim Jenkins points out in this week’s video breakdown:

But Nix is generally being protected well, and he’s making big plays when he needs to, so until that’s not happening, there’s no reason to panic or complain.

And let’s not overlook the incredible play by Courtland Sutton to be in position to get that incredible falling TD pass from Nix. The QB certainly pointed it out:

“It kind of feels like you’re floating for a second,” Nix said of his pass. I was obviously a little bit, you know, close to being down, but stayed up just long enough and he “[Courtland] did a great job. You saw him on the other side of the field and ran all the way to the other side. He scrambled with me and got open and in a game like that…we literally talk about a game of inches. It really is, you know, it comes down to an inch or two every once in a while.”

Great chemistry from these two (and I, for one, would love to see more of it).

And of course, the comebacks

The stat that ALWAYS matters the most is what column the checkmark goes at the end of the game, W or L? This season the Broncos have put 10 in the W column and that is no small feat, no matter who the opponent is or what the conditions are.

10-2 is impressive no matter how you got there.

Just ask Aqib Talib when putting the smackdown on Skip Bayless yesterday and defending the 2025 Broncos:

“If we go to the Super Bowl and lose 40-6, I’ll be cool with that. …Are you not impressed with nine straight wins and 10-2?”

Bayless: “And trailing every one.”

Talib: “That shit don’t matter, Skip. How we wakin’ up in the morning? VICTORY MONDAAAYYY!!!”