After the Denver Broncos heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, much of this past week’s anticipation for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons was going to measure how they would respond. Denver blew out the Falcons in dramatic fashion on Sunday, which was the response they were looking for.

Denver Broncos respond vs. Falcons

One thing I said last week after the Broncos lost against Kansas City was that a loss like that can either suck the wind out of the sails of the season or push them in the right direction. Sunday’s 38-6 win against the Atlanta Falcons was the ultimate response.

“It still gets back to the players and the make-up,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said. “It gets back to the things we keep talking about: the grit, the toughness. This is a team that [is] different from a year ago and kind of has that. Their response was really good.”

Not only did the Broncos’ defense limit the explosiveness of the Atlanta Falcons offense and Kirk Cousins, but their offense went off, led by rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who had himself a career day.

Nix became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history with four touchdown passes, zero interceptions, 300+ yards passing, and an 85% completion percentage. He also joined Peyton Manning as the second rookie quarterback in league history to throw for 200+ yards, and multiple touchdowns in four consecutive home games.

“It kind of felt like last week at the end of the game we could have lined the ball up and played another four-quarter game against another team,” Nix said. “We just wanted to go right back into the fire. It is hard when you lose a game like that. You feel like that one was stolen from us, but I want to get right back on the field. I want to go out there and play again. That is kind of how we felt this week. We had a great week of practice. The preparation was phenomenal. Offense, defense, special teams, we prepared like crazy. We fixed our mistakes that we wanted to fix. We came out and played with great effort, great intensity and great love for the guys around you. You can just see our sidelines and see everybody on the field. When another guy has success, you can see all the fun and enjoyment we get out of it.”

The Broncos team culture, leadership, and mentality are entirely different, and it’s something that’s tangibly on display under Payton.