ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos coach Vance Joseph wants to turn moments into memories, or at least some more touchdowns.

Almost as soon as Joseph was hired as the Broncos' coach in January he said that one of his missions on offense was to make defenses pay for loading up against the run by getting the ball to "our two All-Pro-caliber receivers" -- Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

The Broncos have had their moments on offense this season when the ball has found the two, but in Sunday's 26-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Bills' defense largely did what Joseph didn't want a defense to do. Buffalo loaded up to stop the run, hoping its defensive backs were up to the challenge in coverage. They were.

"They played us in a lot of heavy boxes [Sunday], so we thought the pass game would be our advantage," Joseph said. "I was not disappointed about how we attacked that defense. Now, with that being said, I think their [defensive backs] played better than I thought they could versus our receivers. They played well and they won the football game."

That they did. And the Bills did it by forcing the Broncos to not quite be the team on offense they were in the first two weeks of the season.

In their opening-week win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Broncos ran the ball 36 times while Trevor Siemian attempted 28 passes. In their Week 2 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Broncos ran the ball 39 times and Siemian attempted 32 passes.

What you need to know in the NFL

• Statistics

• Scoreboard

• 2017 schedule, results

• Standings

The Bills loaded the line of scrimmage and tipped off the Broncos' offense in the process. The Broncos, despite being productive when they did run at 4.8 yards per carry, ran 23 times in the loss as Siemian attempted 40 passes.

The thinking was with the Bills so committed to the line of scrimmage, the Broncos' receivers should have some one-on-one situations on the outside that they could exploit. Thomas, who had 98 yards receiving, and Sanders -- who had 75 yards along with a 44-yard effort that was ruled a drop after a replay review -- had times when they did.

But neither scored a touchdown, they had a combined five catches in the second half and the Broncos were 1-of-3 in red zone drives.

"I thought they gave us a number of different looks and they kept us guessing," Joseph said. "They played a lot of heavy box stuff on obvious run downs and forced us to throw the football. We threw it enough and we didn't win enough on the outside."

That could be seen on first down, when the Broncos attempted more passes (17) than they had rushing attempts (11). That passing total doesn't include two additional dropbacks when Siemian was sacked.

One of Siemian's two interceptions in the game came on first down as well.

So in some ways the Broncos, who are still ranked No. 3 in the league in rushing yards per game -- they were No. 1 heading into the Bills game -- are back where they started. The Bills have shown, at least for this week, a defense can load up against the Broncos' run game and get away with it.

"We all have to do our jobs, that's how it gets better," Thomas said. "We get back to practice ... we can do more."

The Broncos might get the chance to improve their passing numbers as they face the Raiders this weekend. The Raiders are currently the league's 23rd-ranked pass defense after Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards to go with three touchdowns against them on Sunday night.

Cousins was efficient, piling that total up in 30 attempts, and the Redskins also had the ball enough to run 34 times.

For his part, Joseph said he liked the plan against the Bills, but turnovers -- along with drives that ended in field goals instead of touchdowns -- will always crater a good plan. He also emphasized paying attention to detail.

"I don't think we got humbled," Joseph said. "The details of how we've played the last couple weeks -- it wasn't the same Sunday. I'll say that about our football team. We played hard, absolutely. But the detail and engagement that we've played with the last two weeks was different."