TAMPA >> The biggest play of Bo Nix’s first NFL win won’t go on his career highlight reel.

The critical juncture of the Broncos’ first win of the season didn’t even really feel like it in the moment.

On a day in which head coach Sean Payton preached aggressiveness, even he approached this particular moment with caution.

Third-and-9 from Denver’s own 7-yard line. Midway through the third quarter.

Holding a 20-7 lead but holding. Not controlling.

Jabbing a reeling Tampa Bay team on the road but plateaued after a fast start.

Nix, in the shotgun, had just avoided a could-have-been catastrophe the snap before when he bootlegged to his right, found a defender in his face and had to dirt the football to avoid a safety.

This time, though, he got good protection, made a quick decision and hit Lil’Jordan Humphrey in the flat, short of the first-down marker. Humphrey turned up field, slipped a tackle attempt from Jamel Dean and rumbled for 17 yards and a first down.

Offense: Jumpstarted.

What came next: A 15-play mega-drive that ended in a disappointing field goal but also, critically, chewed 7 minutes, 57 seconds, off the clock and sapped whatever will the Bucs had left on a steamy Gulf Coast afternoon.

The march in the moment represented Denver taking control of their eventual 26-7 win over the Buccaneers with an iron grip. In a broader sense, it provided a blueprint for this team, imperfect as it is, to attempt to replicate as it moves forward and tries to turn an 0-2 start into a footnote throughout a two-week East Coast sojourn.

“Third-and-long backed up, that’s not where you want to be,” Nix, who finished 25 of 36 for 216 yards passing and added 47 yards and a touchdown rushing, said of the drive. “But we had a good call, LJ had choices on that route and he ran an out, made the catch and then got some YAC.

“I thought he played really well when the ball was in his hands today and that jump-started the drive.”

When the drive started, though, Payton just wanted to get out from the Broncos’ own goal line.

Denver blasted ahead 17-0 early on the strength of a terrific opening touchdown drive, a first-quarter Brandon Jones interception that set up a Jaleel McLaughlin touchdown run and a dominant defensive outing.

Midway through the third quarter, though, the Broncos were losing the field position battle and had gone three-and-out on their first drive of the second half.

“We have this saying: ‘If you’re playing the game on their end of the field, mistakes can be magnified,’” Payton said. “Here we are playing on their end of the field. You have to be mindful of that. So coming out, we were going to be smart about where we were throwing it relative to tipped balls and ball security.”Two first downs, Payton said, would neutralize field position.

Denver did better than that and did it in a way that might be a recipe going forward.

When the drive started, they had rushed just 15 times for 49 yards.

Instead of trying to forge ahead on the ground, Payton put the ball in Nix’s hands.

The rookie threw it seven straight times before a sneak for a first down, a 22-yard scramble and a 2-yard Javonte Williams run. Then he threw it three of the next four snaps, too.

But with completions come a rolling clock. The rhythm passing game served the same purpose as a running game from a control standpoint.

Nix completed 7 of 10 for 47 yards and added 22 on the ground. The Broncos caught a break, too, when the Bucs inexplicably jumped offside two straight plays to turn a third-and-14 Not superhero stuff, but super efficient stuff given the game --flow.

When Wil Lutz drilled a 33-yard field goal to cap the drive, Denver led 23-7 with 14:52 remaining.

“It was huge,” Nix said. “You’ve got to have those drives in games. I think we started at about the 5 and we went for a long time. We chewed some clock, we were efficient. We were probably a tipped pass or an explosive play away from getting down there and scoring a touchdown.

“But that was a big drive for us. It was good to see and next time we just want to get seven points there.”

Then the run game finally picked up down the stretch. Badie, a practice squad-er who’s been a revelation, ripped off a 43-yarder later in the fourth quarter, easily Denver’s longest rush of the early going. The Broncos churned to 65 yards on nine carries in the fourth quarter overall, following Payton’s seeming view that the best rushing yardage is the kind that comes when you’re fully worn down your opponent.