How ‘bout George Paton’s Broncos: Why no one had a better day than Denver’s general manager

DALLAS — Six days before the Broncos went to Dallas to play the Cowboys, George Paton made the boldest move of his career.

Denver’s new general manager said goodbye to Mr. Bronco, Von Miller. Paton shipped the team’s highest-paid, most talented and most successful player to the Los Angeles Rams for a second and third-round pick.

On the surface, moving on from a player of Von’s caliber for future draft capital could only be viewed as a play for the future, not for the present.

On Tuesday, Paton made the argument that wasn’t the case.

“We’re 4-4. It hasn’t been perfect. We’ve had some ebbs; we’ve had some flows. We have a long way to go, but I do believe in the players,” Paton stated. “We’re 4-4 and everything is in front of us. We’re still in the thick of it.”

With a record of 1-4 in their previous five games at that point, Paton was viewed by many as foolish for outwardly focusing on this season, while his actions said otherwise. On top of that, Denver had to go on the road to play the 6-1 Dallas Cowboys just a few days later.

On Sunday afternoon, however, Paton got the last laugh from Jerry’s World, which had turned into Broncos’ World for the afternoon.

Despite entering the game as 10-point underdogs, the Broncos were whooping the Cowboys 30-0 with five minutes left in the game. Vic Fangio’s defense was pitching a shutout against the NFL’s best offense and the Broncos’ offense dropped 30 points for the first time this season.

Denver looked like the 6-1 team, while they made the Cowboys look like the team that was 1-4 in their previous five games.

“How ’bout them Broncos,” Vic Fangio said after the game.

How ’bout them Broncos is right. And how ’bout George Paton.

Not only did Paton’s bold words on Tuesday prove to be right, at least for this week, but the players he brought in this offseason flat-out balled.

From his key free-agent acquisitions to his draft picks, Paton’s players played a massive role in Sunday’s dominant victory.

Teddy Bridgewater—who is having the best season of his career—had another game with a passer rating above 100 to go along with not a single turnover.

Paton’s rebuilt cornerback room—featuring two highly-paid free agents in Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller and first-round pick Pat Surtain—shutdown Dak Prescott. In fact, entering the fourth quarter, Prescott had 79 total passing yards. The Cowboys didn’t score a single point until the final five minutes of the game, when Dallas tacked on two “garbage touchdowns,” as Fangio put it.

Fuller was so good, in fact, he earned one of three game balls from Fangio for his work shutting down the nickel spot as well as left and right corner.

Denver’s starting inside linebacking corps, Kenny Young and Baron Browning, which was built by Paton, stepped up in a big way, despite it being just their second start with the Broncos.

Fangio’s starting outside linebackers, Jonathon Cooper and Stephen Weatherly, provided a lethal pass rush all game long. Despite only sacking Prescott twice, both courtesy of Cooper, Denver’s pass rush constantly had pressure on Dak. Cooper and Weatherly are both players Paton brought in.

“It was great,” Fangio said after the 30-16 win, when talking about the contributions Denver’s rookies made. “It was the whole team though. You’re right with the guys you mentioned, but I mean, we had guys running in and out of there like crazy.”

The player that stole the headlines and highlights from Jerry Jones on Sunday was also a Paton pickup. Denver’s second-round pick Javonte Williams was a man on a mission.

Not only did the rookie running back have his first-career 100-yard rushing game, he did it in style. In the third quarter, after carrying multiple Cowboys on his back, Javonte tossed the defenders off his body and broke out for a gain of 30 yards.

Pookie, as Williams is nicknamed, provided a monster spark for the Broncos’ offense time and time again.

Game balls went to Fuller, Williams and running backs coach Curtis Modkins. The Denver Broncos destroyed the Cowboys by more than just their 14-point win indicates.

But on Sunday, no one had a better day than George Paton. And that’s excellent news for the Broncos moving forward.