The Denver Broncos have a problem, and multiple players know it, including Bo Nix, who one league insider places at the center of the team’s issues entering a potentially pivotal tilt against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11.
Nix has the Broncos at 8-2, with plenty of help from the team’s vaunted defense.
However, the quarterback has relied on late-game heroics, including in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the context of which has left some of his teammates unnerved in general.
Bo Nix Singled Out Among Broncos’ Issues
GettyBo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos runs a play against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Nix has completed 60.9% of his passes for 2,126 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions, adding another 205 yards and 3 TDs on 47 carries. It is indeed his passing that has faced intense scrutiny this season.
While the Broncos have needed Nix’s late-game theatrics, they wouldn’t have if he had been able to orchestrate the offense more successfully early on.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler offered his read after attending “Thursday Night Football” in Week 10.
“It’s fair to say that Broncos players are concerned about the offense. Multiple offensive players acknowledged that the team is playing with fire if it doesn’t improve. Denver knows quarterback Bo Nix is better than how he played Thursday night, as Las Vegas had a good, defensive-linemen-heavy game plan on a short week that thwarted the Broncos’ attack,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on November 12.
“Nix still has a few things going for him: He has a knack for moving the ball downfield, even when it’s not pretty, and he’s clutch in the fourth quarter. But recent struggles from Nix and the passing game suggest the Broncos could be destined for an early playoff exit despite their defensive dominance if the offense doesn’t improve.”
Fowler noted that Nix and the offense missed third-year wideout Marvin Mims Jr., who is set to return in Week 11 from a two-game absence due to a concussion.
Nix has completed 59.9% of his passes for 1,460 yards, 11 TDs, and 6 INTs combined through the first three quarters of games this season. In the fourth quarters of games, Nix has completed 63.2% of his passes for 666 yards with 7 passing TDs to 2 picks.
Bo Nix Gets Honest About Offense
GettyBo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos leaves the field after defeating the Dallas Cowboys.
ix completed better than 60% of his passes in all four quarters of games as a rookie, and he spoke candidly about the Broncos’ late-game prowess this season.
“We always want to score, every drive. That’s, point blank period, that’s our goal. Sometimes we fall short of that goal, and we have to rely on the next drive and go score the next drive. But I think at times we execute better than others,” Nix told reporters on November 4. “Then, we just got to find a way to execute all of them like they’re the most important thing ever. We’re always really close. And so, that’s the good thing.”
Broncos head coach Sean Payton spoke about the “fine line” Nix must balance between hanging in the pocket and making a quicker decision, such as taking off and gaining yards with his feet.
Payton called it a “plus and a minus.”
“I think one of his great strengths is not taking sacks. And so, the clock in his head relative to that sense of urgency, I think there is a fine line of, No. 1, the depth of route. Is this a longer-developing play? A seven-step drop, a five-step drop, a three-step drop, and what should be the appropriate time?” Payton told reporters on November 10.
“I think that’s a much easier problem to correct than the latter, which is taking the sacks, and, historically speaking, has proven to be much more difficult to fix.”
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