Broncos snap skid with 28-3 win
over Bengals fueled by Dobbins' 100-yard game, 2 Nix TD passes
[September 30, 2025]
By ARNIE STAPLETON
DENVER (AP) — Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos finally justified their
head coach's talking them up all offseason.
Nix threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to atone for his
end zone interception and the Broncos snapped a two-game skid by
sending the Cincinnati Bengals to their second straight blowout
loss, 28-3 Monday night.
The Bengals (2-2) never crossed midfield after an opening-drive
field goal for a 3-0 lead as Denver's defense limited Cincinnati to
a mere 159 yards of offense — to the Broncos' 512 — and two
third-down conversions all night.
With 101 yards on 16 carries, J.K. Dobbins recorded Denver's first
100-yard rushing game since Latavius Murray did it against the
Chargers in the 2022 season finale, a span of 38 games, including
the playoffs.
“Nobody can stop us if we keep doing what we did tonight,” Dobbins
said.
Nix threw for 326 yards and the Broncos piled up 29 first downs to
Cincinnati's nine.
“We showed that we’re a tough team,” Dobbins said. “And we can be
even tougher."
The Bengals (2-2) lost their second straight game behind backup
quarterback Jake Browning, who is filling in with star Joe Burrow
recovering from toe surgery. They were coming off their biggest
blowout in their history, a 48-10 drubbing at Minnesota, and this
one wasn’t much better.
“The last two weeks just feels like never really had momentum,”
Browning said, "haven’t really been explosive, have one or two good
plays and then and then we’ll get into the first-and-20. And then
you’re fighting a hard battle with one arm behind your back when you
end up in longer situations, second-and-long, first-and-long,
leading to third-and-long. Good offenses don’t do that, so we need
to clean it up.”
The Broncos (2-2) still haven't trailed in the fourth quarter and
for the first time since the opener, the outcome wasn't decided on a
walk-off field goal as time expired.
Cincinnati went up 3-0 on Evan McPherson's short field goal, but
then gained just two first downs the rest of the first half and
committed eight penalties, the franchise's most before halftime in
at least 15 years.
The Bengals punted on all eight possessions after their opening
field goal, save for a kneel-down at halftime when the Broncos led
21-3.
Another flag negated the Bengals' biggest play when PJ Jules
snatched the ball from punt returner Marvin Mims Jr. at the Denver
15-yard line after a bobble. But because Mims had waved for a fair
catch, the call was interference and Denver maintained possession.
After a three-and-out to start the game, during which Nix burned a
timeout, the Broncos grabbed control with three touchdown drives.
Nix ran it in from 6 yards out, Mims scored on a 16-yard end-around
and Courtland Sutton hauled in a 20-yard scoring pass on the drive
following Nix's end zone interception.
“If you get into any trouble, just find me,” said Sutton, whose TD
came with 8 seconds left in the first half.
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Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey (12) runs against the
Cincinnati Bengals during the second half of an NFL football game
Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver's only major blemish was Nix throwing the
ball right to linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. on fouth-and-1 from
the Bengals 2.
Nix's second touchdown throw went to rookie RJ Harvey, a 12-yarder
in the fourth quarter. Harvey ran for 58 yards to go with his 40
receiving yards.
Browning threw for just 125 yards on 14 of 25 passing and his big
targets had a quiet night — Tee Higgins had 32 yards on three
receptions and Ja'Marr Chase managed just 23 yards on five catches.
The game plan on Chase?
“The game plan was Patrick Surtain,” Denver defensive back Ja'Quan
McMillian said.
“Overall, the whole performance on offense was very poor and we left
our defense out to dry. A lot,” Browning said. "On offense we’re all
part of the problem and we all need to be a part of the solution.”
The Broncos still have plenty to clean up themselves, but this was
their best game so far, especially on offense.
“It certainly was a step in the right direction,” coach Sean Payton
said. “I would say there were a lot of things that we were able to
do tonight that hopefully we can carry over. Now we change quickly
to a team that just won the Super Bowl.”
Flag football
Among the bundle of flags were four on Broncos center Luke
Wattenberg. The Broncos had seven accepted penalties for 72 yards
and the Bengals had 11 accepted flags for 65 yards.
“It is a lack of discipline,” Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said.
"Pre-snap penalties, as a whole it’s not good enough. We’re a team
that should not be having that problem. We have to get it corrected.
We can’t just hand the other team five yards and put us behind the
eight ball, especially dealing with some of the stuff that we got to
deal with on the road. And so we got to get it cleaned up.”
Injuries
Bengals WR Charlie Jones sprained his right ankle in the second
half.
Broncos WR Marvin Mims Jr. started after injuring a hip Saturday and
being listed as questionable.
Up next
Bengals: Host the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Broncos: Visit the unbeaten Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
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