DENVER — Bo Nix set career bests by completing 85% of his passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns Sunday. Yet it was Javonte Williams' 14-yard touchdown run that really delighted the Denver Broncos' rookie quarterback.
Williams got a push into the end zone from a half-dozen of his teammates after being stood up at the 5-yard line by former teammate Justin Simmons, and the Broncos rolled past the Atlanta Falcons 38-6 on Sunday.
''No one play ever defines any game,'' Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. ''(But) that was a great-effort play by those guys and not a great-effort play by us. You've got to give those guys a lot of credit for playing hard, playing physical. And they absolutely went out there and beat us today with their effort and their physicality, and that was a key to the game.''
Game-defining or not, Nix suggested Williams' TD run summarized the Broncos' resolve following last week's gut-wrenching loss at Kansas City in which the Chiefs blocked a game-winning field goal try as time expired.
Simmons tried to stop Williams at the 5-yard line, holding his ground for a second or two as reinforcements arrived from both teams for a shoving match that resembled a rugby scrum.
''My feet came off the ground and I was still moving,'' Williams said. ''I said is must be Quinn (Meinerz). It was a collective effort. I felt like everybody played well today on both sides of the ball.''
That shove into the end zone isn't something they practice, Williams said.
''Naw, they just saw me and Justin 1-on-1,'' he said. ''We kind of stalemated and after that the cavalry came.''