Broncos' blowout win over Cowboys marred by injuries to 2 All-Pros

Surtain’s left arm and shoulder twisted awkwardly on a tackle of George Pickett as he tried to pull the receiver to the ground after a seven-yard reception with 22 seconds left before halftime.

Surtain, who also injured his lower right leg in the first quarter, wasn't wearing a shoulder sling after the game but didn't speak with reporters. He was undergoing tests Monday, including an MRI, to determine the severity of the shoulder injury.

Asked Monday if he had any update to share on Surtain, coach Sean Payton said, "No, nothing to update you guys today on.”

Surtain is the fulcrum of Denver's stingy defense. He's missed two games in his career and an absence of any sort would be a big blow to Vance Joseph's unit.

“Obviously, we hope he's healthy,” linebacker Justin Strnad said. “He's a big part of what we do."

Mims, who has also emerged as an offensive playmaker, suffered a head injury at the end of a 26-yard kickoff return in the waning minutes of the game and will have to clear concussion protocol in order to play at Houston next weekend.

Asked about the wisdom of having Mims still in the game with a 20-point late lead, Payton acknowledged it was a mistake.

"We made a substitution. I know ‘Riz’ (special teams coordinator/assistant head coach Darren Rizzi) was trying to send in Tyler (Badie) in for Marvin. Somehow, the communication failed. Tyler went in for RJ (Harvey), but fair question. Right at that stage of the game, you’re trying to be smart.”

What’s working

Denver's offense has produced 77 points over the last five quarters with 10 touchdowns, two field goals, two punts and an interception. That has finally taken some heat off Denver's dominant defense, which kept the league's top offense in check Sunday.

“I’m proud of our defense,” edge rusher Jonathon Cooper said. “I’m proud of how everybody showed up. Definitely a statement win for us.”

As for Denver's emerging offense, “We still haven’t scratched the surface of what we can do, but we kind of saw it today,” running back J.K. Dobbins said after posting his second 100-yard game of the season Sunday.

What needs help

The Broncos can't shake their penalty vice. They were whistled a dozen times Sunday with seven accepted penalties totaling 42 yards. For the season, they've been flagged an NFL-high 85 times for an average of 10.6 infractions per game.

Stock up

Bo Nix has found a nice rhythm the last two weeks. He threw for four touchdowns Sunday after becoming the first QB in league history to run and throw for multiple scores in a fourth quarter last week against the Giants.

One of his TD throws Sunday was an over-the-shoulder toss to rookie Pat Bryant for his first career score.

“It was amazing,” Bryant said. “I just wanted to make sure that I got the Mile High Salute in. Especially with the throwbacks, I’ve been hearing it a lot this week.”

Stock down

Rizzi's special teams units, again. This time, the blunder was a wrong substitution.

Injuries

In addition to Surtain and Mims, TE Nate Adkins (knee) got hurt Sunday.

Key stats

__Denver’s 44 points were the most by the club since a 45-point outburst at Arizona on Oct. 18, 2018.

__Harvey's three TDs Sunday made him the first Broncos rookie since RB Clinton Portis in 2002 to score at least three touchdowns in a game.

__The Broncos are the first team in NFL history to eclipse 35 sacks within the first eight games of a season while allowing fewer than 10 sacks in that span.

Next steps

The Broncos visit the Texans (3-4), who are coming off a 26-15 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

“Coach liked our week of practice,” Nix said. “We all thought the urgency was up. We have to go stack weeks and have a similar vibe this week and make sure that we are practicing hard Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, so we can come out here and do that performance over and over.”

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