DENVER (AP) — Sean Payton didn't like the way the Denver Broncos started or finished their 28-14 win over the injury-riddled Carolina Panthers. In between, there was plenty for him to enjoy, though.
Bo Nix threw three touchdown passes and ran for another and Denver's defense throttled Bryce Young for much of the afternoon, intercepting him twice and sacking him twice.
“Everybody on the field was making plays: receivers, tight ends, running backs,” Nix said. “The ball was being dispersed to a lot of positions and I thought that was good. Tough on a defense when you're getting a lot of guys involved.”
In the best game yet of his rookie season, the Broncos quarterback threw for 284 yards. He found Nate Adkins from 3 yards and Adam Trautman from 19 yards in the second quarter as the Broncos (5-3) built a 21-7 halftime lead.
The Broncos wide receivers lost two fumbles, however, both of which led to Carolina touchdowns, which bookended nine consecutive Panthers drives without a score.
“It's not a good offense we played. It's just the truth,” said Payton, who irked some Panthers, notably cornerback Jaycee Horn, with a fake field-goal attempt and a wide receiver pass with a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter. "So, we expected that and we're going to see a lot better teams.”
Like Baltimore and Kansas City the next two weeks.
Payton said the Broncos “still aren't playing our best football,” and he told his team in "bigger games than this, some of those mistakes are going to cost us.”
The Panthers (1-7), who listed a whopping 22 players on their injury report and lost two more players Sunday, lost for the fifth consecutive time.
Young was 24 for 37 for 224 yards with two TDs and two interceptions.
“I was definitely grateful, grateful for the opportunity,” Young said. “I was grateful to play, grateful to be out there with the guys. Obviously, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to. No matter what, I was just blessed to be on the field today.”
Young wasn't the only Carolina player off target — the Broncos made it 28-7 after a failed fake punt by the Panthers from their 24 in the third quarter. Safety Sam Franklin Jr. was wide open but punter Johnny Hekker airmailed the attempt on fourth-and-6.
Four plays later, Nix side-armed a 9-yard TD pass to running back Jaleel McLaughlin.
Patrick Surtain II, who allowed Carolina's first-drive touchdown, intercepted Young at the Denver 11 on the Panthers' next drive.
Courtland Sutton, who exchanged jerseys with former teammate Josey Jewell after the game, caught eight of Nix's passes for 100 yards. It was his first 100-yard game since Week 2 of the 2022 season against Houston.
However, he coughed up the ball at the 1 on his final reception just before the two-minute warning when Trevin Wallace punched it out and Shy Tuttle recovered his second fumble of the game.
Young was terrific in the two-minute drill, driving Carolina 98 yards in 10 plays with the payoff a 15-yard touchdown throw to Jalen Coker with 18 seconds left.
“I’m proud of the guys for the way we finished the fight,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said. “The guys continued to play hard, all the way throughout.”
Benched after Week 2, Young returned as the Panthers’ starting QB when Andy Dalton sprained his right thumb in an auto accident on Tuesday. Dalton didn’t practice all week because he couldn’t grip the football properly, so rookie Jack Plummer served as Young’s backup Sunday.
Canales wasn't ready to name his starting QB for next week.
“We will look at all the information,” he said. “We’ll look at Andy’s health over the next couple of days and I’ll make that decision and I’ll have an answer for you in the next couple days.”
Things started off well for Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
After Tuttle recovered Lil’Jordan Humphrey’s fumble at midfield on the game’s opening drive, Young drove the Panthers to a 7-0 lead on rookie Xavier Legette’s 6-yard touchdown catch.
Not only was that Young’s first touchdown throw of the season, but it also marked the first opening-drive TD of his career.
The Panthers only managed one first down the rest of the half, however, and the Broncos began to dominate in all phases.
“I didn’t like how it finished,” Payton said. “But it was good to get a win.”
The TDs for Akins and Trautman were the first by Broncos tight ends this season, and they came on what the NFL celebrates as “ National Tight Ends Day.”
“It’s actually kind of crazy how it did happen on this day in particular,” Trautman said.
"I was talking to my brother last night and he said he had a dream that I was gonna get a touchdown," Adkins said.
Panthers: Young, who fell to 2-17 in his career and 0-3 this season, was without starting wide receivers Diontae Johnson (rib) and Adam Thielen (hamstring). ... TE Feleipe Franks sustained a concussion on punt coverage and OLB D.J. Johnson sprained his right ankle.
Panthers: Host the New Orleans Saints next Sunday.
Broncos: Visit the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday.
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