The relationship between Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and rookie quarterback Bo Nix had a turning point in 2024.
Specifically, it was a 34-18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 5.
That was the game where Nix finally bit back at Payton in an angry sideline confrontation after a third down incompletion. For Payton, it seems like the moment he knew he had the quarterback he always needed.
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini relayed an offseason story about Payton and Nix on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” on August 3 that starts after she missed a call from the Broncos head coach.
“(Payton) is in love with this team right now,” Russini said. “Like even this summer, (Payton) reached out to me a few times checking in and I missed the call … and he just left me a voicemail. And it’s just Sean Payton, and he goes ‘I love my quarterback’ and hangs up. Like who does that? They’re talking Super Bowl there, by the way.”
Nix-Payton Could Be Even More Potent in Year 2
Nix was the last of a record tying 6 quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, going to Payton and the Broncos at No. 12 overall after a record-setting career at Auburn and Oregon.
Nix put up some pretty incredible numbers as a rookie in 2024 with 3,775 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to go with 430 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns. It’s even more incredible when you consider Nix didn’t have a touchdown pass in his first 3 games and only 1 touchdown pass in his first 4 games.
By the time the Broncos reached that Week 5 game against the Raiders, things were at a boiling point. Payton seemed to revel in the confrontation.
“There’s still a little bit of Ferris Bueller in (Nix) that we got to get rid of,” Payton joked in his postgame comments. “I’m talking about Bo, and I love him to death. Sometimes it’s my love language … did you watch the movie? Have you ever seen it?”
Nix seems to have the same love language. Following the win over the Raiders, Nix threw for 28 touchdowns over the final 12 games and, most importantly, led the Broncos into the playoffs for the first time since 2015 with a 10-7 regular season record.
Perhaps an even more telling stat about Nix’s rookie season is how close the Broncos went to going 16-1 — 6 of their 7 losses came by a touchdown or less and included a heartbreaking, 16-14 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10 in which a game-winning field goal attempt was blocked as time expired.
Nix Still Missing Wins over Herbert and Mahomes
For all the hype around Nix, it’s hard to go to nuts over his potential until he gets a win over the 2 quarterbacks ahead of him in the AFC West; Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
The Chargers and Herbert swept the Broncos in a pair of one score wins in 2024.
While the Broncos did get a win over the Chiefs in 2024, it was in the regular season finale with Mahomes and most of the Chiefs starters on the sideline after they already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoffs.
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