Nate Adkins was confident he would catch his second touchdown of the afternoon.

Deep in Carolina territory, the Broncos' second-year tight end found himself all alone near the right sideline in the second quarter. But Bo Nix had other plans.

The rookie quarterback fired the ball down the seam to fellow tight end Adam Trautman, who made an impressive one-handed catch in the end zone to give Denver a 14-7 lead with 6:51 left in the first half.

“I walked openly to the sideline and thought, 'Oh my God.' “Maybe I’ll get another one,” Adkins said after Denver’s 28-14 win over the Panthers at Empower Field on Sunday.

“…Then he threw it to Trautman and it was a one-handed catch. It was great.”

It was such a day for the Broncos on National Tight Ends Day.

Denver's tight ends broke out of a seven-week slump and had their biggest ball-catching game yet this season, catching seven passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

Before Trautman's touchdown grab, he caught a 17-yard reception at Carolina's 24-yard line. Two games later, he delivered his highlight reel grab – one that could easily qualify as the Broncos' best of the season.

Trautman finished the game with four catches for a career-best 85 yards, helping the Broncos to their fifth win of the year and their best start since 2016. Trautman's previous record was five receptions for 58 yards as a member of the Saints in 2021.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said the team didn't go into Sunday with a plan to give the tight ends the ball more often. Rather, it was the course of the game that determined it that way. Trautman got momentum when he caught a pass from Nix on a play-action bootleg for a 37-yard gain to end the first quarter, but he wasn't the first target.

“This could go to a few people,” Payton said. “It’s hard to predict who will get (the ball). Sometimes it's the first read (wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey). Adam did a good job of finding that deep window.”

Of Trautman's touchdown catch in the second quarter, Payton said, “If you had given me our roster and (I'm tagging) the player I thought would score on this game, he would have been at the bottom.”

Before Sunday, Denver's tight ends accumulated a total of 17 catches for 136 yards and no touchdowns. Trautman had just two catches for 32 yards, while Greg Dulcich – who was supposed to be Denver's threat in the middle – underperformed (five catches for 28 yards) and was inactive the last four weeks.

The Broncos won't face as many defenses as bad as the Panthers did in their last game in October. But Trautman's outing showed the benefits of making pass catches out of the tight end room.

“It does a lot, especially when (me and Adkins) are blockers,” Trautman said. “I think when you can (throw) the ball with the (blocking tight ends) on the field, it opens up a lot of things. It was huge.”