TAMPA, Fla. — Tyler Badie’s 43-yard fourth-quarter burst on Sunday served multiple purposes.
It set up the Broncos’ final field goal of a 26-7 throttling of Tampa Bay.
It was the team’s longest rush of the season by far.
It provided yet another opportunity for everyone to learn the apparent, actual pronunciation of Badie (Ba-day).
One other demarcation, indicative of Denver’s offensive picture early in the 2024 season: It put Badie in position to be the first player besides rookie quarterback Bo Nix to lead the Broncos in rushing for a game this year.
Even heading out of a Week 3 win and toward Sunday’s matchup at the New York Jets, Nix is Denver’s season leader in rushing at 18 carries for 107 yards. Badie’s second at 86 yards on 10 carries, Javonte Williams has 52 (2.2 per carry) and Jaleel McLaughlin checks in fourth at 40 (2.2 per).
Nix carried the ball nine times for 47 yards and his second rushing touchdown of the season Sunday against the Bucs and he was productive in a variety of ways.
Three of his carries for 14 yards were designed zone reads where he could have handed the ball off or kept it and he decided to run himself.
He sneaked the ball twice in short-yardage situations, both for first downs.
He scrambled twice, both for first downs — a 5-yarder and a 22-yarder.
He scored easily on a naked bootleg in which he decisively pulled the ball down when he saw he had leverage to the front corner of the end zone
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The final carry on his ledger was a kneel-down at the end of the game.
On the eight before that, though, Nix was efficient.
He generated six first downs. He carried the ball four times on third or fourth down and picked up a first down each time. The sneaks are part of that equation, of course, but he also did it on zone read, and he did it scrambling on designed throws.
The Broncos have ratcheted up the designed runs for Nix, too.
He had none in the opener against Seattle, generating all 35 yards on five carries via scramble.
Against Pittsburgh in Week 2, Nix had two scrambles and two designed quarterback draws.
So the read game additions against Tampa represent another layer of Nix’s game to unfurl.
“We got to a few quarterback read runs, which, if they load the front, how do you get your numbers back?” Payton said Monday. “One way of doing that is your quarterback becomes a threat. There were two or three instances where it might have been a give to Badie or a keep and I think there were a couple of designs that helped us.
“Then we blocked it well.”
The question is to what extent Denver can build it into its plans going forward without exposing the 24-year-old quarterback to too much risk.
“There’s two ways he can end up running, right?” Payton said. “He can scramble on a pass play and then he’s got to be smart. Or he can be involved in the run game plan. There’s not as much control on the A. On the B, there’s a little more control to what we’re doing that week and who we’re playing.”
What’s clear, though, is Nix is comfortable and confident running and he’s got wheels, too. According to Next Gen Stats, he’s hit 15 miles per hour on 12 runs this season, tied for eighth-most in the NFL. And he’s one of only 12 players in the league to hit 20 miles per hour on a run play this season.
How much Denver leans on Nix in the run game going forward remains to be seen and likely will change week to week.
One thing that’s a certainty, though, is that the rookie’s legs give the Jets and other future opponents another variable to have to account for.
One small thing I liked. The Broncos’ pass rush spent the entire second half on a heater. The numbers at this point — seven sacks, including two for Dondrea Tillman in his NFL debut — are well established. But the consistency was even more impressive than the end result.
Denver pressured or sacked Tampa quarterback Baker Mayfield on every full possession of the second half.
By The Post’s count and NGS data, the Broncos racked up six sacks and nine additional pressures after halftime.
Drive 1: Sack, pressure
Drive 2: Pressure, sack
Drive 3: 2 sacks, 4 pressures in a seven-play span
Drive 4: 2 sacks, 3 pressures
The sum total is Denver pressured Mayfield on 15 of 26 second-half drop-backs.
For the season, the Broncos check in at No. 3 in the NFL in overall pressure rate through three weeks at 44.8%, trailing only Houston (46.2%) and the Jets (45.6%).
Quarterbacks beware Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
One small thing I didn’t like. Similar to 2023, the Broncos tight ends are off to a rough start on the season. Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins each had catches Sunday for a total of 19 yards. Greg Dulcich, though, did not and wasn’t targeted at all.
Through three games, the third-year man out of UCLA has five catches on 11 targets for 28 yards.
The Broncos are getting some of that lack of production replaced by receivers like Lil’Jordan Humphrey (10 catches on 14 targets for 87 yards) working mostly underneath coverage. But they need far more from the tight ends to be a productive offense moving forward.
One trend to watch. All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II has traveled with the other team’s top wide receiver through most of the first three weeks.
His assignments to date: DK Metcalf in Week 1, George Pickins in Week 2 and Mike Evans in Week 3.
Next up: Young, budding Jets star Garrett Wilson. The third-year receiver has crested 1,000 yards each of his first two seasons and has 15 catches for 150 yards through three games this year. As he and quarterback Aaron Rodgers continue to develop chemistry, it figures to be a dangerous connection.
The Broncos likely will ask Surtain to try to disrupt that progress for most of Sunday afternoon.
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