Javonte Williams finds his stride in win over the Packers

The Denver Broncos made it look easy against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. In their second preseason game, and against the Packers backups, the Broncos made easy work of their opponent and won by a score of 27-2.

After the game, Broncos head coach Sean Payton seemed pleased with his team’s performance.

“I thought—what I told the players just a little bit ago. I was pleased with, when I say the week, the preparation, the joint practice, and then the energy tonight. That’s a start. That’s half the battle when you play this game. I thought there were a lot of positives. Now, we had enough penalties for three games, and we’ve got to get a lot of that cleaned up. We’ll see the tape. They’ll come in here tomorrow, but I liked how we played relative to the effort. They’ll be a number of things we look at on tape and we’re happy with and they’ll be some things that obviously we have to get cleaned up,” Payton said.

Here are three observations from Sunday’s win over the Packers.

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Over Four

Last week, I needed to see more from RB Javonte Williams. He has played well this training camp, and Williams looks much better after losing weight. During minicamp and OTAs, Williams was overweight and sluggish. Now, it looks like his burst is back – but I didn’t see it as much against the Indianapolis Colts. Against the Packers, Williams showcased his burst and averaged over 4.0 yards per carry for the first time since Week 7 of the 2023 season – against the Packers.

Since Week 7 of last year, Williams failed to average over 4.0 yards per carry in any contest he participated in. I think he wore down as the season went on in 2023, and he was not able to gash a defense like he did as a rookie in 2021. Some blamed the offensive line, but that’s an inaccurate criticism as the Broncos were the no.3 offensive line in the league in terms of run-block win rate. They were blasting open holes, but Williams was not taking advantage of them like he used to.

Is Williams all the way back? I can’t say for sure, but he does look good and it was something to note when he averaged a healthy 5.7 yards per carry on Sunday night. It’s just the preseason, and it was against Packers backups but it’s nice to see Williams build momentum with the regular season less than three weeks away.

Payton liked what his ground game did on Sunday night.

“I thought it was good at times tonight. We have a 38-yard run called back because of a penalty. I want to look at the tape. Like I said at the onset, [we had] far too many fouls. So they set you back. They take yards off your numbers, but more importantly they also take away field position. One of the things I wanted to see tonight is offensively I wanted to see how we were doing that way. I thought it was a little inconsistent, but obviously I felt like we ran it a lot better than they did,” Payton said.

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Move the Ball

The Broncos offense seems much different than what it was last year. Instead of stalling after mistakes, the Broncos offense has shown the ability to work through problems and move the ball down the field. Rookie QB Bo Nix has done a great job of leading his offense on scoring drives this entire preseason.

In two preseason games, Nix has led the Broncos offense on seven drives. Six times out of seven, Nix has led his team on a scoring drive with three ending in touchdowns and three ending with a field goal. Unlike years past, this Broncos offense doesn’t have a problem moving the ball.

Nobody should be surprised by this, but many are. The Payton offense is designed to move the ball when executed properly. Through the struggles last year, Payton didn’t forget how to coach – he simply needed someone who fit his offense at the quarterback position. That’s where Nix and his ‘supercomputer’ brain come into play.

Nix likes the fit with Payton.

“Really good. I think it’s a really good fit. Especially tonight, I came out here and was very comfortable with the first few plays that were called. They were kind of keeping it within my comfort level, and that’s huge, especially for someone’s who’s trying to get in there and execute. You want to run plays that you feel comfortable with, and that’s what [Head] Coach [Sean] Payton was calling tonight. We do a good job of practicing throughout the week and making sure we’re prepared for those plays. Yes, I messed up a few tonight and there will always be those that you mess up, but you definitely want to execute more than you mess up. That’s what we were able to do tonight,” Nix said.

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Moss on Top?

Quarterback isn’t the only starting job up for grabs. The Broncos need to determine which cornerback is going to start opposite Pat Surtain. After two preseason games, it seems like Riley Moss is going to come out on top ahead of Damarri Mathis.

I felt Moss had a good game against the Packers. He’s got a high football intelligence, and that always puts him around the football. Moss is a young player, but he does not get fooled by play action and pump fakes. Instead of biting on every fake in an effort to make a big play, Moss plays with a calm mind.

Moss does not press, even when he gets burned. Like all good cornerbacks, Moss has a short memory and will quickly put bad plays behind him. The player opposite of Surtain is going to get a lot of looks as opposing quarterbacks will avoid Surtain. It looks like Moss is ready for the challenge.

Starting safety P.J. Locke likes what Moss did against the Packers.

“He’s doing great. Stuff like that happens, as far as someone getting behind you, but it’s not a ‘minus’ at this point. That’s what comes with being a corner at times. He’s doing great. He’s picking up the playbook. Riley has a crazy skillset. I mean nobody expected it, obviously. He’s fast, he has great footwork, he has great technique, he knows the defense, and he’s doing great,” Locke said.

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