DENVER -- The Denver Broncos welcomed Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler back by showing him what he left behind, as Denver cruised to a 27-9 victory on Monday night.

Osweiler's much ballyhooed return overshadowed another comeback: that of Broncos coach Gary Kubiak.

Osweiler was Denver's backup last season, but he passed on being the starting quarterback for the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos -- after Peyton Manning retired -- because the Texans ponied up a $72 million deal.

Kubiak spent a week away, per doctors’ orders, as the Broncos suffered through a less-than-attractive loss to the San Diego Chargers on Thursday. Kubiak’s absence on the road trip seemed to be too much for Denver in a short week.

Kubiak returned to practice Oct. 17 and made his game return Monday night, with plenty of fire to go with a couple sides of brimstone. With that, the Broncos got down to business, to Kubiak's "points of emphasis."

"We missed him last week, man," Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib said. "We really missed him. Our whole vibe during the week was off because [Kubiak] wasn’t there. We knew he was struggling, he was going through some things with his health."

Talib said the team awarded its coach the game ball after Monday night's win.

"He was super-focused this week too," Talib said. "He just deserved [the game ball]. He came back and made us have a great week of practice, and he definitely deserved it."

With Kubiak back on the sideline, the Broncos simply looked more like themselves, and that should put them back in the Super Bowl conversation. The Broncos have an efficient quarterback and a nasty defense. Couple that with a coach who can get the team through the rough spots, and Denver is squarely in the title hunt. The Broncos have been there, done that, after all, so what went on under the lights Monday in Denver should be an attention-grabber.

The Broncos have a Super Bowl roster that is largely intact, and at its best, it shows. What Kubiak’s return showed was that the Broncos can adapt and adjust week to week. That is a skill that matters over the course of a season.

Kubiak promised -- vowed, really -- that the Broncos would run the ball better. He said rookie running back Devontae Booker “deserved" to get the ball more, and Booker did Monday. Booker and C.J. Anderson combined for more rushing yards in the first half -- 98 -- than they had rushed for in any of the previous four games. They finished with a season-best 190 rushing yards combined and had a touchdown apiece.

The Texans, who came into the game with the league’s No. 2 pass defense -- behind the Broncos -- didn’t let the Broncos throw downfield. And so, over and over again Monday, the Broncos displayed the run game Kubiak wants, the run game he believes will be crucial for this team to do what last year’s team did. What last year’s Broncos team did was squeeze every ounce out of what it could be. The team, as Kubiak has said many times, “got everything it had."

There’s plenty of season left to play for the Broncos, but after two games in which it looked like this whole follow-up-the-Super-Bowl thing was a burden that was only getting bigger, Kubiak hit the reset button, and an accomplished team showed it still has big plans.