After suffering a heartbreaking 16-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week following a blocked field goal, the Denver Broncos were motivated to bounce back in a big way in Week 11.
Unfortunately for the Atlanta Falcons, they were next on Denver’s schedule following the game in Kansas City.
The Broncos dominated the Falcons in a 38-6 victory on Sunday.
“That’s a thing that I was really most proud of and excited about was obviously the response coming off of a tough loss,” Denver coach Sean Payton said after the game.
It appeared that Broncos players stored up their emotions from the Chiefs loss and unleashed their frustrations against the Falcons.
“I think it started early in the week,” Payton said. “It still gets back to the players and the make-up. It gets back to the things we keep talking about: the grit, the toughness. This is a team that [is] different from a year ago and kind of has that. Their response was really good.”
Denver left tackle Garett Bolles said the team was “relentless” on Sunday.
“The more time we spend together, we’re just a tight-knit group of dudes,” Bolles said. “That’s what happens to teams with a tight group of dudes, we put points on the board, and we win games like that.”
Denver’s offense scored a season-high five touchdowns against Atlanta. The defense also dominated, holding the Falcons to just two field goals.
“It’s great because we’ve been talking about having our first complete football game,” wide receiver Troy Franklin said after the win. “A full four quarters where everybody’s playing, giving effort and executing. I think we did that today.”
Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix said the team was eager to bounce back after last week’s last-second loss at Arrowhead.
“It kind of felt like last week at the end of the game we could have lined the ball up and played another four-quarter game against another team,” Nix said. “We just wanted to go right back into the fire. It is hard when you lose a game like that. You feel like that one was stolen from us, but I want to get right back on the field. I want to go out there and play again. That is kind of how we felt this week.
“We had a great week of practice. The preparation was phenomenal. Offense, defense, special teams, we prepared like crazy. We fixed our mistakes that we wanted to fix. We came out and played with great effort, great intensity and great love for the guys around you. You can just see our sidelines and see everybody on the field. When another guy has success, you can see all the fun and enjoyment we get out of it.”
Following the big win, Denver is now 6-5 and currently on pace to make the NFL playoffs. Up next is a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8) in Week 12.
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