DENVER — Mike McGlinchey knows the reality of the NFL.
It's not easy to score 44 points on an NFL defense, and it may not always be possible for the Broncos to pour on the points the way they did in Sunday's 44-24 blowout of the Dallas Cowboys.
But this Week 8 performance, which marked the Broncos' highest scoring output under Head Coach Sean Payton and the franchise's most points at home since 2014, did show what's possible.
It showed what the Broncos can do when they're near their best. It showed what they're capable of when they play complimentary football. It showed what they can strive for as they move ahead looking for more.
"It was everything we've been working for," McGlinchey said. "… It was a huge step forward for us."
The Broncos' offense turned in a master class, as the unit averaged more than 8 yards per play until the late stages of the game when the team ran down the clock on the win. Each statistic, it seemed, was more impressive than the last.
The largest win — excluding a 38-0 win over the Chiefs' reserve players — since a 30-6 runaway win over the Falcons last November. The most first-quarter points since 2018. The most first-half points in a home game since 2013.
The Broncos faced just eight third downs all afternoon and converted five of the first seven before bleeding the clock at the end of regulation. Denver's rookies combined for four touchdowns, while Troy Franklin posted the first multi-touchdown game of his career.
J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey each averaged north of 6.5 yards per carry, with Dobbins averaging a lucrative 7.4 yards per tote while crossing the 100-yard mark for the second time this year.
"Offensively, I felt like we did a great job with the line of scrimmage, so our run numbers, pass numbers — all of it was kind of lopsided," Head Coach Sean Payton said.
After a first-drive interception, quarterback Bo Nix responded by leading touchdown drives on four of Denver's next five possessions.
"He was magnificent," Payton said. "He was outstanding."
Nix became the third Broncos quarterback to win at least three games in which he threw for four touchdowns, joining John Elway and Peyton Manning as players to accomplish the feat.
"[We've] got a lot of potential," Nix said. "We played really well on all cylinders. Run game, pass game, third downs, base downs, we played well in the red zone and scored points. I think only one field goal. We played well when we needed to. Our defense played well and got us the ball back a lot. Overall, it was a really good performance by us."
Denver passed nearly every test, as the team scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns to build a 14-3 lead and then essentially put the game out of reach with a late two-minute drive to build a 27-10 halftime lead. The Broncos were 4-of-5 in the red zone, 2-of-2 in goal-to-go scenarios and racked up 426 yards of offense in just 57 plays.
The Broncos spurred the impressive performance, McGlinchey said, by using last week's fourth quarter as a launching pad. The 33-point spurt in 15 minutes against the Giants offered a tangible example of Denver's potential — and they turned it into results.
"I think what we are and what we're capable of, was showed in the fourth quarter a week ago, and it gave guys a lot of belief of what we need to do and the mindset we need to be in at all times on offense," McGlinchey said. "And we did that today."
Entering the week, the narrative centered on the Cowboys' top-ranked offense against Denver's highly respected defense. But on Sunday, it was Nix and Co. who turned in the highest scoring performance of Week 8 thus far.
And while the Broncos know it's difficult to deliver that sort of performance each week, it does provide a new standard to reach toward.
"It was a hell of a day," McGlinchey said, "and it's a day we need more of."
