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The rain poured and the thunder struck just as Broncos quarterback was getting hot. He had just found for a deep strike. He had just found for a 25-yard completion, after which Sanders reeled in a touchdown catch in the back of the end zone, clouded by a trio of Cowboys defenders.

Siemian needed fewer than six minutes of sunlight to help the Broncos jump to a 7-0 lead Sunday afternoon. The Broncos’ defense needed even less time to send a message to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Although sky鈥檚 favors were short-lived Sunday afternoon, the Broncos鈥� momentum was not, as they returned from an hour-long lightning delay in the first quarter to punish the Cowboys鈥� depleted defense and take a 42-17 victory.

Siemian tossed four touchdown passes (three in the first half alone) and finished 22-of-32 in passing for 231 yards, one interception and a passer rating of 116.0. The Broncos鈥� outgained the Cowboys 380 yards to 268 and out-rushed them 178-40 in a statement game perhaps few saw coming.

BOX SCORE:

鈥淭revor played excellent,鈥� Broncos coach said.鈥漁nce again very, very, very efficient with the football. He put us in good plays all night. Outside of the one interception, which was more of a unit issue than a Trevor issue, he played well. If he plays that solid for us, we鈥檒l be hard to beat down the stretch.”

Remember: Denver was supposed to be the offensive underdog in this matchup, led by a seventh-round draft pick out of Northwestern whose arm strength and mobility are so often questioned.

And remember: He鈥檚 no Prescott, they said, and is no Elliott.

The script flipped in Denver as Siemian sprayed passes to nine different receivers and found Sanders twice for touchdown passes. Anderson busted loose for 118 rushing yards and a pair of scores himself, the first a 16-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter and the second a 23-yard run that blew the game open in the third.

Elliott, who led the league in rushing last season, had a mere eight net yards on nine carries Sunday. His previous single-game career low? Fifty-one.

Prescott, the lauded second-year quarterback and controller of Dallas鈥� typically prolific offense, led his team both in the air (238 passing yards) and on the ground (24 rushing yards), threw a pair interceptions and notched a 68.6 rating.

鈥淚 just think everybody is buying into the scheme. I think (offensive coordinator) got into a play-call rhythm,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥�… (Siemian) played tremendous once again. When we protect him, good things happy. He鈥檚 understanding the gameplan and he鈥檚 believing it and we鈥檙e just following the plan. We鈥檙e following our script, going down the script, play by play.鈥�

But Dallas鈥� stumbles were as significant as Denver鈥檚 overall attack. And while there were areas that certainly need a clean-up, the Broncos checked the important boxes Joseph spelled out when he took over.

They scored early, and they scored often. They were consistent in the run game, and mostly so in the passing game (outside of a miscommunication in the third quarter that resulted in an interception). They converted nine-of-15 third downs, they shored up the run defense, they pressured the quarterback and they didn鈥檛 punt until the fourth quarter.

鈥淲e knew with their starters out (in the secondary) they would have trouble covering our receivers,鈥� Joseph said. 鈥淏ut the run the game, that was the jumpstarter. To run the football and to force those guys to play single-high to get (Thomas) and (Sanders) one-on-one. We knew it was going to be our advantage. Our receivers versus their DBs were going to be an edge for us, and obviously running the football helped that edge.鈥�

But a lingering and glaring weakness remained on the right side of the offensive line. Tackle Menelik Watson was burned twice, first inside by DeMarcus Lawrence that resulted in a strip-sack and led to a touchdown catch, then again in the second quarter, on a spin move by Lawrence.

Concerns over the front five grew significantly midway through the third quarter to include both edges. Rookie left tackle Garett Bolles went down on a run play and had to be carted off the field. Bolles seemed to know immediately the injury was significant as he slapped the field while trainers tended to him, and received pats on the head from teammates as he was driven off. (X-rays were inconclusive, but Bolles, who left the stadium on crutches and an in a boot, will undergo further testing Monday.)

replaced him on the left side — and later Allen Barbre did, too — and the offense carried on. Siemian found tight end for a two-yard touchdown two plays after Bolles went down and cornerback picked off Prescott to set up Anderson鈥檚 second touchdown of the day on the next drive.

Siemian took his hits early, but the Broncos鈥� defense made many more against a discombobulated Cowboys offense. snapped his streak of sack-less outings with two takedowns of Prescott late in the fourth. The Broncos鈥� secondary added five pass deflections, including one by in the end zone in the waning minutes of the fourth.

And then punctuated the day with a 103-yard pick-six that propelled him past Hall of Famers Deion Sanders, Ken Houston and Aeneas Williams and into fourth place on the NFL鈥檚 all-time list with 10.

America鈥檚 team was stymied in 抖阴apountry. Not even the weather could stop this one.

“I think we played well — the played well,鈥� Siemian said. “That was one of things when we came in, is we want to play complementary football. And to beat two good teams in this league, you got to play well together, everybody across the board — offense, defense, special teams.

鈥淚t’s Week 2, but we’re excited about where we’re at and hopefully we can continue to grow and develop.”

Running back comparison

Trevor Siemian quarter-by-quarter

For the second time in his career, Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian threw four touchdown passes in a game. He has thrown at least two touchdown passes in three consecutive games, dating back to last season’s finale at Jacksonville. Sunday marked the first time a Broncos quarterback threw three touchdowns in the first half since Brock Osweiler (remember him?) on Dec. 20, 2015, at Pittsburgh.

鈥� Matt Stephens, The Denver Post