The Denver Broncos lost at home on Friday evening to the Green Bay Packers in a display that had head coach Sean Payton frustrated. Not many things went right for Denver, but the starting offense and Bo Nix were bright spots as we look at the good and the bad.

Denver Broncos aftermath of preseason loss to Green Bay

The NFL Preseason doesn’t count when it comes to standings, but it does have meaning to Payton and his coaching staff as they try to evaluate the areas that went well and went wrong. Three good things, and three bad things coming out of Friday’s game will be under focus on the final week of the preseason.

Good: Bo Nix saw his first action since suffering a fractured ankle back in January against the Buffalo Bills. One thing people always look for when a player returns from injury is whether or not there’s any hesitation or pause in the first live game action back. That was not the case for Nix.

He finished the game 6-of-9 passing for 76 yards and a touchdown pass to RJ Harvey. Nix looked calm and confident in his limited action that saw two series, with the offense putting up 10 points in those two possessions, including a connection with Jaylen Waddle for 35-yards on 3rd and 5.

Bad: The Broncos’ starting defense surrendered an opening drive touchdown to Jordan Love and the Packers on a 12-play 66-yard scoring drive that took 6:35 off the clock. On top of that, there appeared to be a miscommunication issue defensively that led to Green Bay’s score.

Good: Jaylen Waddle looked good in his first action as a Bronco. He saw a limited number of snaps while playing on a pitch count, but his 35-yard catch and run up the seam was worth it as Nix and the offense caught Green Bay in Cover 1, and Waddle beat his man inside and vertically, hauling in Nix’s pass and doing damage after the catch. His speed is a legitimate weapon for this offense and if Friday was an appetizer, Broncos Country won’t go hungry this season.

Bad: Broncos backups struggled on both sides of the ball, plus special teams surrendered some big plays in the return game. Denver’s QB2 battle didn’t progress forward after Jarrett Stidham struggled, and Sam Ehlinger saw limited snaps. Both offensive line units they worked with didn’t necessarily do them any favors because there were penalties and too much pressure allowed.

Stidham’s interception was a costly six-point swing for Denver right before half, after a Packers’ safety keyed his eyes on Stidham being locked onto Lucas Krull. That ultimately swung things negatively going into halftime. Ehlinger was sacked twice and only had two passing attempts total.

Denver’s defensive line and linebackers struggled in early downs against the Packers, which allowed Green Bay to finish the game averaging 4.5 yards per play.

The Broncos were also penalized 10 total times for 79 yards on Friday.

Good/Bad: The good in this scenario is that Riley Moss looked awesome in his limited action. He had a tremendous pass breakup while covering Christian Watson early on, he even recovered what was initially thought to be a forced fumble on Watson by Patrick Surtain II. The bad news is that Moss suffered a rib injury on the play and did not return to the game.

With the Broncos practicing today, we’ll see what his level of participation is today and throughout the week as they prepare for the Minnesota Vikings.