DENVER — Bo Nix took advantage of an undisciplined, penalty-riddled Cincinnati defense, throwing for a career-high 326 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Denver Broncos past the Bengals 28-3 on Monday.
Nix finished 29 of 42 on the night as the Broncos (2-2) won for the second time in as many home games and outgained the Bengals 512-159 on the night. The Bengals (2-2) lost their second straight without injured quarterback Joe Burrow.
J.K. Dobbins finished with 101 yards on 16 carries, snapping the Broncos’ string of 37 games without a 100-yard rusher.
Cincinnati QB Jake Browning completed 14 of 25 passes for 125 yards and led an offense that struggled to pick up a first down for much of the first half and into the third quarter.
The Bengals went from the 14:08 mark of the second quarter to 6:11 remaining in the third without a first down. After their first drive ended with a 26-yard Evan McPherson field goal, the Bengals punted on their remaining eight possessions (excluding a kneel-down at the end of the first half).
It was another nightmare first half for Cincinnati, which trailed 21-3 at the half. The Bengals have been outscored a combined 55-6 in the opening half of their last two blowout losses.
The Bengals appeared to show some fight when rookie Demetrius Knight picked off Nix in the end zone to stop a red zone chance for the Broncos on fourth-and-1 from the Cincinnati 2. But after the Bengals went three-and-out, the Broncos answered.
With Denver facing a third-and-10 from and its 33, the Bengals could not get to Nix, and the Denver quarterback connected on a 28-yard completion to Marvin Mims to the Cincinnati 39.
Four plays later, Nix found Courtland Sutton over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown with eight seconds left in the half, giving them a 21-3 lead at halftime.
The sloppy Bengals were flagged for 11 penalties (eight accepted) for 50 yards in the first half. Tee Higgins had a 37-yard completion wiped out due to an illegal-formation call against right tackle Amarius Mims.
The Broncos took full advantage of several Cincinnati mistakes, starting with a 24-yard punt by Ryan Rehkow that set up Denver’s first touchdown drive of 64 yards in nine plays. Nix ran 6 yards up the middle on a scramble for the score in the last minute of the opening quarter.
Marvin Mims Jr. added a 16-yard touchdown run as Denver piled up 305 yards in the first half, highlighted by Nix’s 17-of-26 success for 217 yards. Cincinnati had 94 total yards before halftime.
The Bengals ended up losing 65 yards on 11 penalties. The Broncos were flagged seven times for 72 yards.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
