DENVER -- The Falcons were hoping to rebound from a porous showing against the Saints.
But the Broncos, led by rookie quarterback Bo Nix, had other plans.
The Broncos, behind four touchdown passes from Nix, throttled the Falcons 38-6 on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High.
“We got our butts kicked today,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Hats off to the Denver Broncos.”
Nix tossed touchdown passes to four different receivers and running back Javonte Williams scored a rushing touchdown to power the Broncos. All the Falcons could muster were two field goals from kicker Younghoe Koo.
“It was a bad day for us all across the board: offense, defense and special teams,” Morris said.
The Broncos improved to 6-5 on the season. The Falcons dropped to 6-5, and 0-3 against AFC teams.
It got so bad, the Falcons pulled quarterback Kirk Cousins early in the fourth quarter for Michael Penix Jr.
Nix, who played at Auburn and Oregon, passed for a career-high 307 yards. The 4 TD passes were also a career high. He passed for 284 yards and three touchdowns against the Panthers in a 28-14 win on Oct. 27.
It was the Falcons’ worst defeat since they loss 43-3 to the Cowboys on Nov. 14, 2021.
The Broncos threw short passes and their receivers piled up the yardage after the catch against the Falcons’ depleted secondary. Of the 307 passing yards by Nix, 199 came after the catch.
Behind the accurate passing of Nix, the Broncos held a 21-6 lead at halftime.
The Falcons’ defense, which was down cornerbacks Mike Hughes (neck) and Dee Alford (hamstring), lost cornerback Kevin King early in the game. He suffered a concussion and did not return. Richie Grant replaced King.
The Broncos opened the game with a nine play, 70-yard touchdown drive. Nix tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to fullback Nate Adkins, who was wide open.
The Falcons tried to answer, but penalties got in the way. The Falcons moved the ball down to the 1-yard line twice before penalties set them back. Left guard Matt Bergeron was called for holding after Robinson had run down to the 1.
On the very next play, London caught a pass and rambled back down to the 1. But he was called for illegal motion.
The Falcons had to settle for a 41-yard field goal from Koo to make it 7-3.
After an exchange of points, the Broncos went back on the move.
On third down-and-10 from Denver’s 33, wide receiver Malcolm Mims Jr. lined up a running back and was uncovered on a wheel route that went for 37 yards. Four plays later, Williams scored from 14 yards out, powering his way over safety Justin Simmons with some pushing help from his teammates from 4 yards out.
“No one play every defines any game,” Morris said when asked about the shoving touchdown. “That was a great effort play by those guys. Not an great effort play by us….you have to give those guys a lot of credit for playing hard. Playing physical. They absolutely went out there and beat us today with their effort and their physicality. That was the key to the game.”
The Falcons answered with a 51-yard field goal from Koo to make it 14-6 with 2:48 to play in the second quarter.
The Falcons’ defense needed to hold the Broncos scoreless since the offense was receiving the ball to start the second half.
But on the second play of the drive, Nix found wide receiver Devaughn Vele wide open in the middle of the Falcons’ zone defense for a 33-yard gain to move the ball to the Falcons’ 34. The Broncos were in field goal range, but wanted a touchdown.
The Falcons got a sack when Denver tackle Mike McGlinchey ran into Nix, but the Broncos were able to overcome that miscue. On third down-and-goal from the 12, Nix connected with Mims on a short pass, he picked up blocks and scored with 25 seconds left.
The Falcons couldn’t scramble back down to get into field goal range before the first half ended.
The Falcons needed to score to start the third quarter, but had a three-and-out and then gave up 37-yard punt return to Mims.
The Falcons defense appeared to stop the Broncos when they went for it on a fourth down-and-3. After review, the referees determined that Denver wide receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey caught the ball and recovered his own fumble.
Instead of getting the ball back, the Broncos retained possession and went on to score a touchdown.
“It was a fumble and he clearly recovered it,” Morris said. “We had an opportunity to get on the ball right there, but we did not. You’ve got to make those plays. That’s the nature of the beast. The bounce didn’t go our way today and unfortunately we got our butts kicked.”
Nix tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin to make it 28-6 with 9:05 to play in the third quarter.
Cousins tossed an interception on the Falcons next possession. The defense forced their second punt of the game, but the offense couldn’t get moving and were forced to punt.
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury.
Nix tossed a 41-yard pass to Humphrey for their final TD.
The Falcons will have the bye to figure out what went wrong against the Broncos.
“You have two weeks to come back, get ready, get healthy,” Morris said. “Prepare yourself to get better. Prepare yourself to play your best football.”
The Falcons will host the Los Angeles Chargers at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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