For much of October, Sean Payton talked about his offense’s need to improve on third down.

Not only were the Broncos struggling, they were extremely bad.

Denver failed to convert better than 36% of its attempts in any of the first seven games and entered Week 8 ranked 31st in the NFL with a 26% conversion rate.

But over the last three weeks, falling money has become a completely different story for Payton’s offense.

The Broncos’ offense was far from perfect in the win over Carolina (17/17) and losses at Baltimore (6/14) and Kansas City (7/13), but it was actually good on third down.

During this period, the team converted 24 of 44 chances for a conversion rate of 54.5%.

“Probably a few things,” Payton said Friday. “What do we do, who does it, how do we protect it? That kind of thing. We move the pocket a little bit. But most importantly, I can say this; Take last week for example, when we analyzed the film we felt like Kansas City was defending a lot of third downs and 6 to 10 or more than 10 guys.

“And it was a little bit like, ‘Man, we’ve got to stay on schedule on first and second down to get third (and manageable).’ If you look at what our third downs are, if I look at (third and long), it’s not good. Two to three meters, everyone has good ideas. From four to six, likewise.

“From seven to 10, more than 11, there are crickets in the headphones. Some of this is the product of the first and second decline.

This is true. Part of it is the way rookie quarterback Bo Nix has been playing on third down lately.

He was 23-of-29 for 279 yards, three touchdowns and three sacks over the last three games. He has also had a number of first downs with his legs, although only one in the last two weeks.

Mostly he does this with his arm.

Nix has made third-down interceptions twice this year: Week 1 at Seattle and on Denver’s first possession against the Chargers in Week 6. It’s the third time since Marvin Mims Jr.’s ouster that Nix has gone 52 downs without a turnover.

Take, for example, the critical drive in Kansas City that left 5 minutes, 56 seconds behind in the fourth quarter. Audric Estime got a first down and on the other two conversions, Nix hit his top receiver, Courtland Sutton.

But Sutton isn’t Nix’s only reliable target in the third defeat.

Over the past five weeks, rookie Devaughn Vele has also been a conversion machine. Overall in that span, the seventh-round draft pick caught 14 passes (19 targets) for 176 yards and his first career touchdown against the Chiefs.

These are not huge numbers, but most of the seizures occurred in critical situations. Vele was targeted eight times on third and fourth down in that span, catching all eight for conversions.

“He gets his opportunities and takes advantage of them,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Thursday. “Anytime you transform, it’s a team effort. The protection is the quarterback making the right reads, (the receivers) not routing the ball correctly and not setting the distance correctly. You never know where the ball will go.

“He takes advantage, completes plays and takes advantage when he gets the opportunity. “It’s fun to see the rookies take advantage, get more confident, and see everyone’s confidence in them grow.”

Vele quickly developed this confidence of Nix and made himself a regular target in critical situations.