Browns-Broncos on 'Monday Night Football': What We Learned from Denver's 41-32 win

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• REWATCH: Browns-Broncos on NFL+
• READ: Broncos own final AFC playoff spot after Week 13
• READ: Where does Cleveland stand in draft order after loss?
• READ: Winston on three INTs in defeat: 'I messed it up for us'

1. Jameis delivers the full Winston experience. We've known Jameis Winston to be a volatile passer in his NFL career, but this outing reached a new, previously unfathomable level. The numbers are really all you need to see to understand what went down in Denver on Monday night. With little run game to speak of, the Browns leaned heavily on their veteran backup-turned-starter, asking him to drop back to throw 62 times, finishing 34 for 58 for a career- and franchise-high 497 yards and four touchdowns. Winston's play was at times heroic, courageous and determined, especially on must-have third downs with the pass rush bearing down on him. That was the ceiling of the Winston experience. The floor, however, came along for the stomach-flipping ride. Winston threw a pick-six on a panicked dump-off attempt intended for Jordan Akins, which is where Nik Bonitto was waiting for the ball, intercepting it and returning it 71 yards for a touchdown. Facing a one-point deficit late, Winston threw another pick-six, putting the ball on the wrong shoulder of Elijah Moore, leaving it for Ja'Quan McMillian to make a diving interception, then rise to his feet and house it for another pick-six. With nothing to lose, Winston led the Browns down the field one more time before throwing a ball into end zone traffic, where Cody Barton slid into his passing window to snag the ball and end the night emphatically. Now, for the context: If Cleveland plays this game with Deshaun Watson or Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback, it probably gets run out of Empower Field at Mile High. Winston kept the Browns competitive, but with every Winston throw comes the risk of a back-breaking interception. The three he threw -- marking the 14th time in his career he's tossed three or more -- were just that, perfectly summarizing the risk-reward balance that comes with each Winston outing.
2. Nix has an uneven night. While Bo Nix didn't quite live on the extremes as much as his orange-and-brown-clad counterpart, he also had a bit of a tumultuous outing. The rookie finished 18 of 35 for 294 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His first interception was the product of a great defensive play made by Denzel Ward, who popped the ball high into the night sky for the taking, but his second interception was the result of an unnecessarily risky shot taken downfield to a receiver who was covered over the top by Ward. Nix didn't get out on the run nearly as much as he has in recent weeks, finishing with just six attempts outside of the tackle box (he went 2 for 6 for 48 yards and an interception on such attempts) and only eight throws made on the run (4 for 8, 78 yards). Instead, Nix operated largely from the pocket, enjoying quality protection that limited Cleveland to seven pressures. Despite the lower completion percentage, Nix still spun it, finding open receivers frequently and ripping a few timely bullets to keep the Broncos moving in the wild affair. He was also fortunate to receive a boost in production from Jaleel McLaughlin, who averaged 6 yards per carry on 14 attempts and gained 64 of his 84 yards in the final two quarters. This brought balance to the Broncos' offense, keying a couple of field goal drives that allowed them to stay slightly ahead of the Browns. In the end, Nix didn't need to carry the Broncos to victory, but we did receive a reminder of where he's best.
3. Jeudy earns some revenge. In the lead up to Monday night, Jerry Jeudy didn't hide the fact he wanted to dominate against the team that he felt never used him properly during his four seasons in Denver. He played inspired football against the Broncos, starting hot and drawing scores of boos from Broncos fans who'd heard his trash talk (and likely remembered his underwhelming production in Denver). He ended with a phenomenal stat line, catching nine passes for a career-best 235 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown that served as an immediate answer to a 93-yard Marvin Mims Jr. score. The yardage was the most in NFL history for a player against his former squad. He played into the vitriolic responses, too, celebrating by raising a hand to his ear, egging on the crowd. Jeudy was remarkably consistent and proved to be a clutch target, hauling in passes in key spots all night long to keep the Browns in the game, much like he did 12 days ago in a win over the Steelers on a snowy night in Cleveland. He's flourished since the Browns turned to Winston, demonstrating he can be an important piece for Cleveland's future, and certainly did enough to prove his point to his former employer. All that was missing was the win.
4. Bonitto announces his presence. Edge rusher Nik Bonitto has been coming on strong as of late and played a big part in this game, causing plenty of problems for Cleveland's offense, registering a team-high six QB pressures, including three quick pressures. He was constantly involved off the edge throughout the night and made his biggest play when he properly read Winston's frantic eyes, taking what he admitted was a risk by making a play on Winston's pass, correctly anticipating the throw, snagging the ball and returning it for a touchdown. Bonitto isn't a household name, but neither were these Broncos entering the 2024 season. They're now 8-5 because of the contributions of players like Bonitto, who will rightfully be a key part of every opposing offense's game plan going forward.
5. Denver's defense needs to use this tape constructively. The Broncos entered Week 13 ranked third in points allowed per game, total yards allowed per game, No. 1 in yards allowed per play and sacks, and 14th in third down percentage. Those numbers might as well have been hieroglyphics when attempting to apply them to Monday night's game, because they certainly didn't perform like it. By the time halftime arrived, Cleveland had 298 yards of offense -- two more than Denver's average per game for the season. The Browns had already exceeded the Broncos' average passing yards allowed per game (199.8) by the break, too, reaching 245. The alarm bells were ringing like mad, and it was only the beginning. With Winston slinging it all over the yard, Cleveland finished with 552 yards of offense. Winston accounted for 497 of them. But there's good news: Denver's defense took a page out of its pre-2024 form, proving to be an opportunistic bunch with their three interceptions. Had the Broncos not immediately turned two of those takeaways into touchdowns, this game could have ended in much different fashion and caused a crisis of confidence in the Denver facility in the coming days. Instead, they'll take it as a timely lesson that they need to be better prepared if they want to ride their elite defense to a once-unexpected playoff berth.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Browns-Broncos (via NFL Pro): Former pro and college teammates Jerry Jeudy and Patrick Surtain II lined up against each other on 34 of 57 Jeudy routes. Surtain allowed two receptions for 20 yards (three targets) versus Jeudy while the rest of the team allowed seven receptions for 215 yards (10 targets).

NFL Research: Jameis Winston is the first player in the Super Bowl era with 400-plus passing yards, four passing touchdowns and multiple pick-sixes thrown in a single game. When factoring in the 171 interception return yards gained by Denver against Winston, the 668 combined passing yards plus interception return yards off of his passes is the most by any quarterback in a single game in NFL history.