Before Sunday’s win, Broncos identified two Panthers defenders to put to the test

If you noticed the Denver Broncos being much more aggressive on offense against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, it was part of the team’s game plan to do so. It was also one of our keys to victory this week.

Prior to the game, the Panthers elevated two cornerbacks from their practice squad, Corey Thornton and Marco Wilson. With only two other healthy cornerbacks on the roster, they needed extra help. This put a bullseye on those players for the Broncos.

Head coach Sean Payton discussed this following the victory.

“Well, we tried to go after everyone”, said Payton after the game. “They’re both practice squad players. Outside, there’s one in the nickel, and look, it’s no different than ours. The first play of the game was a delta go. I’ve only done this one other time. The second play of the game, we took those receivers off. We put three new on and we ran the same play from a different formation delta go, and we wanted to attack. Now, they played the one player more inside in the nickel, but I’ve only done that sequence one other time in 20 years. The first one was out of a person, a subgrouping, and I just said you guys just go get a drink of Gatorade. [Marvin] Mims and Troy [Franklin] came on and we ran delta go again. I think we got the PI [pass interference] on the second one. So yeah, I think you’re wanting to do that.”

Thornton played sparingly in 12 games for the Panthers last season, but this was the first game he’s played this season. Wilson was a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2021, but he just joined the Panthers’ roster last month.

Bo Nix tried to take advantage of their lack of being out on the field for the Panthers this season.

“We’re aware. We knew they were rotating guys, said Nix. “We knew they were banged up at that position. So, it’s just always something you want to look out for and be aware of when they have roster changes and lineup changes. It’s something to key in on. I thought they did a good job. They had a couple penalties, but overall, they were physical. They were competitive and they did a good job stepping up I thought in my opinion.”

Nix may have gotten a bit too overzealous as the interception he threw deep in Carolina was made by Thornton. Still, Nix talked about being excited to have the passing game opened up more for him on Sunday.

“Yeah, I loved it. I love two deep shots on the first couple plays and get our guys running and make them adjust, make them back up a little bit. I think that honestly helped throughout the game. Back them up but also make them be a little bit physical. It helped with some pass interferences as the game went, but we did a good job with the outside lane go [routes], but also just those stop routes. And so I think they provided us a couple good key conversions throughout the game. I loved what we did in the first part of the game.”

Much has been made of the low air yards per attempt by Nix this season and him constantly taking his check-down option even before the play fully develops. He threw for 237 yards on Sunday (second-most this season), including a 26-yard touchdown pass to Pat Bryant that accounted for his longest touchdown pass of the season.

This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Before Sunday’s win, Broncos identified two Panthers defenders to put to the test