If you turned off the TV after the first five minutes, you probably thought the Bengals had this one in the bag. They marched down the field, Evan McPherson knocked through a chip-shot field goal, and Cincinnati was up 3-0. It felt like business as usual. But then the wheels didn't just come off; the whole car basically disintegrated. By the time the final whistle blew at Empower Field at Mile High, the Bengals vs Broncos score was a lopsided 28-3 in favor of Denver.
It was brutal.
Honestly, it’s hard to put into words how quickly a "promising" start for Cincinnati turned into a Monday Night Football nightmare. The Broncos didn't just win; they physically dominated every single facet of the game. For a Bengals team already reeling from the loss of Joe Burrow to toe surgery, this was the moment the season shifted from "challenging" to "catastrophic."
Breaking Down the Numbers
When you look at the total yardage, it’s almost laughable. Denver put up 512 total yards. Cincinnati? A meager 159. You can't win in the NFL when your opponent triples your offensive output.
Bo Nix, the Broncos' second-year quarterback, played like a guy who had finally seen the game slow down. He wasn't perfect—he threw a pretty ugly interception in the end zone to Demetrius Knight—but he bounced back with a career-high 326 passing yards. He was a gunslinger. He ended the night with three total touchdowns, including a 6-yard scramble where he basically willed himself into the end zone.
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On the other side, Jake Browning was under siege. He was sacked three times, but it felt like thirty. The Bengals' offensive line looked like a turnstile for most of the second half, and without Burrow’s elite processing speed to mask those deficiencies, the offense just flatlined.
The Offensive Disparity
The run game was the real story here. J.K. Dobbins looked like his old self, carving through the Bengals' defense for 101 yards on 16 carries. When the Broncos can run the ball like that, Sean Payton’s play-action game becomes deadly.
- Denver First Downs: 26
- Cincinnati First Downs: 9
- Time of Possession: 37:58 (Denver) vs. 22:02 (Cincinnati)
The Bengals basically lived on their own side of the field. After that opening field goal, they never crossed the 50-yard line again. That is a staggering statistic for a professional football team. They punted on eight consecutive possessions.
The Turning Point in Denver
The momentum didn't just swing; it stayed in the thin air of Mile High. After the Bengals took their 3-0 lead, the Broncos responded with an 80-yard drive that culminated in a Marvin Mims Jr. 16-yard touchdown run. It was a creative play-call, a jet sweep that caught the Cincy linebackers leaning the wrong way.
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From that point on, it was all Denver.
Cincinnati started beating themselves, too. They finished with 11 penalties for 65 yards. Eight of those penalties came before halftime—the most the franchise has seen in the first half in over 15 years. You could see the frustration boiling over on the sidelines. Ja'Marr Chase was visibly upset, later telling reporters that it didn't even look like the team wanted to be out there.
Why the Bengals Are Sinking
It’s easy to blame Jake Browning, but that’s a bit of a cop-out. The issues are systemic. The running game provided almost no relief, with Chase Brown limited to just 40 yards on 10 carries. When you can't run and you can't protect the quarterback, your playbook shrinks to about the size of a postcard.
The defense, which started the season strong, looked gassed. They couldn't get off the field on third down. Denver went 6-of-8 on third down in the first half alone. By the fourth quarter, the Bengals' secondary was giving up massive cushions, allowing Nix to pick them apart with short, efficient throws to Courtland Sutton and Evan Engram.
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Key Takeaways from the 28-3 Result
If you're a Broncos fan, this was the "arrival" game. They moved to 2-2 and found an offensive identity that carried them through a massive winning streak later in the season. For the Bengals, it was a reality check.
- Bo Nix is the real deal: His ability to distribute the ball to five different receivers (all with 4+ catches) showed incredible maturity.
- The Burrow Factor: Cincinnati is a completely different team without #9. The lack of a vertical threat allowed Denver to stack the box and dare Browning to beat them.
- Discipline Issues: The 11 penalties are a coaching problem. Zac Taylor confirmed after the game that they benched Cam Taylor-Britt due to his performance and lack of focus.
The final Bengals vs Broncos score was a reflection of two teams heading in opposite directions. Denver was ascending, eventually finishing the season at 14-3, while Cincinnati struggled to find their footing in a brutal AFC North.
If you are looking to understand how the 2025 season unfolded, you have to look at this game. It wasn't just a loss for the Bengals; it was an exposure of their thinnest areas. For Denver, it was the spark that ignited Sean Payton’s second-year leap.
To track how these teams are trending for the next season, keep an eye on the Bengals' offensive line reinforcements in the upcoming draft and whether Denver can maintain this defensive aggression without losing key personnel to free agency. Reviewing the full-game film on NFL+ is worth it if you want to see exactly how Denver’s zone-blitz scheme completely neutralized Cincinnati’s veteran receivers.