Bengals @ Broncos
Final Score: Broncos 28, Bengals 3
Writer: Brett Ford (@FadeThatMan)
Two teams looking for a bounce-back win battled on Monday night in the Mile High City, as the Denver Broncos hosted the Cincinnati Bengals. Jake Browning and the Bengals drove down the field, mostly through the air, on the first drive of the game and earned points — something that came few and far between in Minnesota a week ago — stalling in the red zone for a chip-shot field goal to make it 3-0. That was Cincinnati’s highlight of the night. From that point on, it was all Denver as the Broncos drove for three touchdowns to take a 21-3 lead into the halftime break. The Broncos’ defense pinned its ears back and the offense went on cruise control in the second half as they breezed to a 28-3 victory. Let’s dig in.
Three Up
- Courtland Sutton — Cemented his status as a top wide receiver in the league with an outstanding first half before the game got out of hand.
- RJ Harvey — Much more involved in this game, especially in the passing game, where he caught a score.
- J.K. Dobbins — Became the Broncos’ first 100-yard rusher during the Sean Payton era.
Two Down
- The entire Bengals offense — Browning isn’t the answer — and it sure doesn’t seem like coach Zac Taylor is the answer — or has an answer — either.
- Evan Engram — Less volume, shorter routes … he seems like an afterthought in this offense
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Jake Browning: 14/25, 125 Yards | 3 Carries, 4 Yards
The Bengals were awful from a pre-snap communication standpoint, which I’m going to put on the quarterback (though it may not be his fault alone). The refs may have thrown more penalty flags on the Bengals than Browning threw catchable balls after the first drive of the game. Between the delay of game penalties, false starts and all the other nonsense that Browning had to deal with, he did his best to make plays but it just wasn’t working for anybody in orange and black stripes. When he had a clean pocket (maybe like … twice), he made good throws. But the Bengals couldn’t communicate, couldn’t protect, couldn’t get the ball to open players downfield and couldn’t convert on third down. Not all of it was Browning’s fault, but his performance certainly contributed to the utter failure of this offense.
Running Back
Chase Brown: 10 Carries, 40 Yards | 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 31 Yards
Chase Brown was as involved as he could have been in a game that was out of reach for three quarters, garnering 10 carries and three catches for over 70 all-purpose yards. The Bengals will have to get things going in the run game with Browning completely unable to make things happen through the air. Expect Brown to continue to see elite usage numbers, we just need to hope he gets more efficient.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Ja’Marr Chase: 8 Targets, 5 Receptions, 23 Yards
Ja’Marr Chase was visibly frustrated on the sideline — and for good reason. At one point during this game, Chase went five-consecutive drives without a reception or even a catchable target. The consensus top overall pick in most PPR drafts, Chase has seen his value take a massive hit with the injury to Joe Burrow and the poor performance of the entire offense since Browning took over.
Tee Higgins: 6 Targets, 3 Receptions, 32 Yards
Tee Higgins played football on Monday night, but like the entire Cincinnati offense, he struggled. On the first drive of the game, Higgins pulled in a pair of receptions, including a 19-yard pickup to lead the team into scoring position, but it was all downhill from there.
Higgins had a massive second-quarter gain erased by an illegal formation penalty, 37 yards and nearly guaranteed points for the Bengals were taken off the board by one of the Bengals’ seemingly endless pre-snap mistakes.
Andrei Iosivas: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 22 Yards | 1 Carry, 5 Yards
Andrei Iosivas took advantage of his only target with a 22-yard catch-and-run in the second half.
Mitchell Tinsley: 2 Targets, 1 reception, 9 yards
Mike Gesicki: 1 Target, 1 reception, 8 yards
Denver Broncos
Quarterback
Bo Nix: 29/42, 326 Yards, 2 TDs, INT | 6 Carries, 7 Yards
Bo Nix continues to be a wildly inconsistent quarterback from a decision-making standpoint. He’ll do everything right for eight-straight passes and then force a bad pass into a tight window that is easily picked off by the defense in the red zone (see below). And then he zips the ball all around the offense, leading his team on a 2-minute drive touchdown, including a laser beam of a throw to Sutton for a score. If he can continue to grow from a maturity standpoint and eliminate the silly mistakes, he has the arm talent to be as good as any quarterback in this league.
The Bo Nix sophomore slump is realpic.twitter.com/vCk9fVre0E
— Bookit Sports (@BookitHQ) September 30, 2025
Running Back
J.K. Dobbins: 16 Carries, 101 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 4 Yards
J.K. Dobbins got going in the second quarter with three consecutive big runs. On the second breakaway run, he ran into his own lineman in the second or third level of the defense — perhaps the only reason he didn’t break it for a long touchdown. On the very next play, Dobbins’ 20-plus-yard gain was negated by a holding penalty. He continued to pound the rock and force the Bengals defense to yield to his will the entire night, finishing with 101 yards on 16 carries. He never really broke anything loose, just gained 5-10 yards on what felt like nearly every carry — patient, consistent and determined. Dobbins looked as strong as we’ve ever seen him.
RJ Harvey: 14 Carries, 58 Yards | 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 40 Yards, TD
RJ Harvey was heavily involved in the passing game and got a lot of garbage-time carries as the game script tilted toward the run game from the jump. After several hard-nosed runs and a handful of targets, Harvey broke free on a fourth-quarter wheel route out of the backfield, where the defense left him unaccounted for and didn’t get to Nix in time. Nix calmly tossed it to the back for an easy 10-yard touchdown pitch and catch to seal the game.
Harvey dropped what would’ve been another touchdown on a wheel route in the second quarter, watching the ball sail off his fingertips in a whole lot of green grass.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Courtland Sutton: 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 81 Yards, TD
Courtland Sutton is just an incredibly reliable playmaker, constantly finding ways to get open for his quarterback. And even when he’s not open, he goes up and gets the ball to pull it in on 50-50 balls. He’s an elite pass catcher and should be regarded as such not just on the Broncos’ depth chart, but in fantasy as well.
Courtland Sutton, Broncos WR1. Often undervalued and under appreciated. Terrific WR who can go up and get the ball, especially with 50/50 opportunities. 💪 pic.twitter.com/iOJR0xsJo6
— Joshua Cho (@jbchoknows) September 30, 2025
Troy Franklin: 8 Targets, 4 Receptions, 55 Yards
Troy Franklin led the team in targets for the second time in three weeks, but fell short of another breakout performance in this one. Though he pulled in four of eight targets, he dropped what would have been his longest gain of the night on a ball delivered with finesse from Nix on a deep crossing route. If he can continue to see volume, there’s value here — he just needs the efficiency to come with it.
Marvin Mims Jr.: 6 Targets, 6 Receptions, 69 Yards | 1 Carry, 16 Yards, TD
Marvin Mims Jr. was heavily involved in the offense as the Broncos looked to get creative against a defense that allowed them to do basically whatever they wanted. Mims caught all six of his targets and found the end zone on a jet sweep in the second quarter as the Broncos kept him active in the gadget game as well.
Adam Trautman: 3 Targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards
Evan Engram: 7 Targets, 4 Receptions, 29 Yards
Nate Adkins: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 5 Yards
Evan Engram kind of feels like an afterthought in this offense, with the Broncos deploying him on obvious passing downs while Nate Adkins and Adam Trautman take up most of the early-down snaps for run-blocking purposes. Engram was targeted a total of seven times, including twice in the red zone, but neither pass was close to finding the paint. Though he’s getting some looks in the pass game, he feels like the odd man out in this offense with so many weapons, especially when he’s only on the field for less than 50% of snaps.