Javonte Williams speaks after Broncos' dominant win over Falcons

They may not be the most talented, but the Broncos just may have proved they are one of the league’s most mentally tough teams.

Hangover? That’s for the weak. Not for a team led by Bo Nix, a remarkably strong-willed rookie quarterback. The Broncos bounced back from their devastating loss last week at Kansas City to whip the Atlanta Falcons, 38-6 in an NFL cross-conference game played on a spectacular mid-November Sunday afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High.

Coming off a blocked, close-range feld goal on the final play that turned 17-16 victory into 16-14 defeat, the Broncos could have gone either way Sunday against Atlanta.

Let that excruciating setback linger to the point the team lost momentum.

Or play inspired from knowing they had outplayed the two-time defending and then undefeated Chiefs, and deserved to win.

“It still gets back to the players, the makeup,'' said Broncos' head coach Sean Payton. "It gets back to the things we keep talking about: The grit, the toughness. It’s a team that’s different than a year ago in that it has that. Their response was really good.”

Nix said it took no time at all to move on from last week's heartbreak.

"At the end of the game, you could have lined us all up and we could have played another four-quarter game against another team,'' Nix said about the 16-14 loss to Kansas City last week. "We wanted to go right back into the fire. When you lose a game like that you feel like, man, that one was stolen from us but I want to get right back on the field and go out there and play a game,

"That's how we felt this week. We had a great week of practice. Our preparation was phenomenal. Offense, defense, special teams we prepared like crazy. We fixed our mistakes that we wanted fixed. We came out and played with great effort, great intensity, great love for the guys around you.

The more Nix spoke as he answered the question, the more you could sense his intensity. He is the leader of his team and his personality and uber focus on winning a football game means he is leading the proper way.

"He's a special dude,'' said left tackle Garett Bolles. "He's relentless, he's smart, he's disciplined. That's what you want as a quarterback. And when you that type of guy back there and us up five up front giving him time to throw the ball, he's unbelievable. He can deliver the rock to our playmakers. We go as far as he's playing. If he keeps playing like that, we're a tough team to beat."

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