DENVER (AP) — A trio of rookies came up big in the Denver Broncos' 44-24 rout of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday for their fifth consecutive victory.

Running back R.J. Harvey scored three times; wide receiver Pat Bryant caught his first NFL touchdown pass, one of four thrown by Bo Nix; and first-rounder Jahdae Barron picked off Dak Prescott for his first interception in the pros.

“Our rookies did a great job,” said J.K. Dobbins, who ran for 111 yards on 15 carries to help Denver (6-2) extend its NFL-best home winning streak to nine games. “All the rookies, that's a great confidence booster.”

For the veterans, too.

“It was dope seeing all the young boys do their thing,” receiver Courtland Sutton said. “I got a lot of love for all our rookies. We've got some really good rookies.”

Despite two TD runs from former Denver running back Javonte Williams, the Cowboys (3-4-1) lost for the eighth straight time to the Broncos, whom they haven’t beaten since the heyday of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin in 1995.

“All the credit to them,” Prescott said, “but we didn’t play anywhere close to our standard.”

The Broncos, who lost star cornerback Pat Surtain II to a shoulder injury just before halftime, won the toss and chose to receive, a decision that backfired when Nix threw right at cornerback Trikweze Bridges, whose interception set up Brandon Aubrey's short field goal.

From there — excluding a kneel-down at halftime — the Broncos scored on seven of their next eight possessions.

After Williams knifed in from a yard out to pull Dallas to 14-10, Harvey took a direct snap for a 1-yard TD. Nix followed that with a 24-yard, over-the-shoulder strike to Bryant for a 27-10 halftime advantage.

Nix's second TD toss to Troy Franklin made it 37-17 and his 5-yarder to Harvey made it 44-17.

It looked as though Aubrey was going to get a shot at a long field goal, maybe even a record-breaker, before Prescott was picked off by Barron with 12 seconds left in the first half.

Williams' second 1-yard TD run pulled Dallas within 27-17 in the third quarter.

Including their 33-point fourth quarter last week to stun the Giants, the Broncos have outscored their opponents 77-37 over their last five quarters.

“This is what we've been chasing,” Broncos right guard Quinn Meinerz said. “Complementary football on offense, defense and special teams. There's still penalty things that we need to work through but this is what we're capable of.”

The Cowboys were coming off a 44-22 win at Washington, and that inconsistency eats at them.

“We’ve got to find a way to be consistent, whether it’s at home, on the road, regardless, we’re too good,” Prescott said. “We got too many good players. We’ve got great coaches. (Jadeveon Clowney) was just saying in the locker room this roster should not be going up and down like we’re doing, and a guy like that, when he says it ... that’s real, and so we’ve just got to look in the mirror.”

Unhappy homecoming

Williams ran for 41 yards on 13 carries for a 3.2-yard average. His two TDs Sunday gives him a career-best nine so far, but he was overshadowed by Denver's new backfield of Dobbins and Harvey, who combined for 157 yards and two TDs on 22 carries as the Broncos outgained the Cowboys on the ground 179 yards to 108 yards.

“It felt familiar because I was there for four years,” Williams said. “But it was just another game for me.”

Still, Williams got a lot of love back in Denver, from the crowd to his former teammates, who are happy to see him return to his rookie form years after a devastating knee injury that waylaid his career.

“Shout-out to Javonte,” Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad said. “I was trying to talk to him and say good things to him while we were playing, when when tackling him. But the referees thought I was talking bad to him. But really happy for Javonte.”

Nix said he was proud of Williams: “He's doing a great job this season. He was a great teammate of mine in Year 1. He helped me a lot in a lot of different situations. So, I'm happy for him.”

Injuries

Cowboys: S Alijah Clark left with injured ribs in the second half.

Broncos: Surtain, the reigning defensive player of the year, suffered a lower right leg injury in the first quarter but returned. He injured his left shoulder on a tackle just before halftime and was ruled out in the third quarter. ... TE Nate Adkins (knee) left in the fourth quarter. Broncos coach Sean Payton declined to address the injuries but said he was pleased with how the backups played.

Up next

Cowboys: Host Arizona on Monday, Nov. 3.

Broncos: At Houston next Sunday.

Jerry Jones says erratic Cowboys simply must be better after blowout by Broncos

DENVER (AP) — Dak Prescott spent a good chunk of the fourth quarter watching from the sideline in a game that was well out of hand.

It was just another installment in what's been an inconsistent season for the Dallas Cowboys. This time, it was the league's best offense, and not just a porous, injury-riddled defense, that was stymied.

“Surprised is a good word to use,” Prescott said of the Cowboys' struggles in a 44-24 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. “Frustrated as well.”

This after a 44-22 win over Washington the week before that looked as if it might ignite the Cowboys (3-4-1). Instead, they continued their trend of being streaky. They’ve yet to win two in a row.

A sign of just how sour things went against the Broncos: Prescott was taken out with just over seven minutes remaining in favor of backup Joe Milton, who threw the only TD pass for the Cowboys. They haven't beaten Denver in 30 years.

“We want to put a streak together and talk about identity, trying to find identity,” said Prescott, who finished 19 of 31 for 188 yards and two interceptions before giving way to Milton. “It’s hard to even give you an identity until we put a couple of games together in a row.”

The defense struggled once again. The Cowboys have given up 250 points through eight games, the third-most in team history, according to ESPN Research. The only Dallas teams to allow more were in 1960 (272 points) and 2020 (266).

“We had high hopes, because we thought we could come in here and have a big win for us,” team owner Jerry Jones said. “That didn’t happen. They had everything to do with it. Got to get better.”

With the trade deadline coming up, would an acquisition help?

“If I saw a proposition for us to help this team, no matter what this score was today, then I would look at it on the merits,” said Jones, who's also Dallas' general manager.

It certainly panned out for the Cowboys in 2018, when they traded for receiver Amari Cooper. They turned a 3-4 start into a 7-2 finish that earned them a playoff berth.

“I trust and I like the guys that we have,” Prescott said. “I honestly do, and that’s not just a political answer or whatever it is.

“I just echo to those people or to the guys in locker room, forget a trade. Do more. Shut that talk up. Whether it be offense, whether it be defense, whatever position group that you guys are alluding to, step up and shut the talk up.”

Prescott had another take.

“We’ve got to find a way to be consistent, whether it’s at home, on the road, regardless. We’re too good,” said Prescott, whose team committed nine penalties for 80 yards. “We've got too many good players. We’ve got great coaches. Jadeveon (Clowney) was just saying in the locker room this roster should not be going up and down like we’re doing.

"We’ve just got to look in the mirror.”

For Prescott, it was those two interceptions — one at the end of the first half with the Cowboys on the move and another in Denver territory in the fourth quarter.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer didn't think it was all a matter of Prescott pressing.

“It was one of those deals where it was hard to get into a rhythm a little bit,” Schottenheimer said. “At the end of the day, Dak has done a great job of trying to just say, ‘Each play is its own.’”

It was a bittersweet homecoming for running back Javonte Williams, who scored a pair of touchdowns against his former team but was largely bottled up along with the rest of Dallas' offense.

“It turned out the way it did,” Williams said. “We have to execute better.”

Jones felt the same way.

“We all saw the same thing out there,” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Bo Nix guided a Broncos offense that gained 426 yards against the beleaguered Cowboys defense. Jones danced around the topic of whether he's lost any confidence in defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.

“I’ve seen him take players and units, and they improve and get better as he coaches, and I’ve seen it more than once,” Jones said. “He’s a good coach.”

Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II exits Dallas game with shoulder injury, team has no update

DENVER (AP) — Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II missed the second half against Dallas on Sunday with a shoulder injury.

After Denver's 44-24 win over the Cowboys, Broncos coach Sean Payton had no update on Surtain's injury. Surtain wasn't in the locker room when the media was allowed inside.

The reigning defensive player of the year was hurt trying to make a tackle just before halftime. He finished with five tackles.

Earlier in the game, Surtain hurt his lower leg while breaking up a pass in the end zone. He stayed down for several minutes before being helped off the field by medical personnel. After a visit to the medical tent for evaluation, he spent a few minutes testing out the leg before returning to the game.

The fifth-year player out of Alabama earned AP Defensive Player of the Year honors a season ago after intercepting four passes and breaking up 11 passes.

All-Pro punt returner Marvin Mims Jr. suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter and will be in the concussion protocol this week.

Jack Hughes scores in OT and Devils extend win streak to 8 with 4-3 victory over Avalanche

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored at 1:53 of overtime and Jake Allen made 21 saves and the New Jersey Devils slipped past the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 for their eighth straight win.

Hughes scored his second goal of the game and team-best eighth of the season to send New Jersey on its longest winning streak since it earned 13 straight victories early in the 2022-23 season.

Defenseman Simon Nemec had three assists for the Devils, who have won eight straight since a season-opening loss at Carolina. Allen improved to 5-0-0. He has been starting since Jacob Markstrom was injured late in a win Columbus on Oct. 13.

Connor Brown put New Jersey ahead at 12:51 of the second, but Colorado’s Brock Nelson tied the game at 13:55 of the third with his second goal of the season.

Brown beat backup Avalanche netminder Trent Miner on a breakaway at 12:51 for his fifth goal. The 31-year-old Brown joined the Devils as a free agent and been a key part of New Jersey’s early success this season.

Rookie Arseny Gritsyuk also scored for New Jersey.

Valeri Nichushkin and Nathan MacKinnon also scored for the Colorado, which dropped its second game in two days after opening the season 5-0-3. The Avalanche lost 3-2 at Boston on Saturday.

Gritsyuk scored his second goal of the season at 9:09 of the opening period. Hughes made it 2-0 at 9:48.

Nichishkin scored his fifth of the season at 12:55 of the first. MacKinnon then scored his seventh at 17:03 to send the teams into the first intermission tied at 2.

Miner made 20 saves in his first start this season. Scott Wedgewood has started Colorado’s other nine games with starter Mackenzie Blackwood injured.

Up next

Devils: Visiting Avalanche on Tuesday to complete home and home and start a four-game road trip.