The frost burned off. The nerves calmed. The picture crystallized.
When Bo Nix hit Courtland Sutton on third-and-6 with 1:53 remaining against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos’ annual, endless, eternal pursuit of a quarterback ended.
It is officially the Bo Show now.
The Broncos lost to Kansas City in the most excruciating way possible, but they found their guy. This is all we wanted this season, for the franchise to finally pivot from projects, hopeless draft picks, veteran washouts and fading stars to a homegrown solution.
“You’ve got one,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes told coach Sean Payton after Sunday’s game.
When Nix argued with coach Payton on Oct. 6, he became the Broncos starting quarterback. Last Sunday, he became their franchise quarterback.
Logic demands that we wait, that the temptation to make a declaration on Nix requires patience. There is no reason to hold off judgment.
Nix has passed the eye test the past two weeks. He stepped into the vortex of noise and pressure against the NFL’s two top teams and emerged as the Broncos’ best player. He caught a touchdown against the Ravens. He outplayed Mahomes in Arrowhead Stadium, the type of performance expected from John Elway and Peyton Manning but not a rookie.
The bigger the moment, the better he got vs. Kansas City. With the stadium full throat, he remained calm, like he was calling plays in a library on Zoom.
On the sprint-out completion to Sutton on a deep crosser that required poise and accuracy, Nix showed he deserved the glowing draft evaluation from Payton. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey reacted to Nix’s pass like a kid, raising his arms in the air and running over to the quarterback with screaming praise.
“I thought that play effectively ended the game. Bo making a throw like that, I was proud of the way our group played, and I was proud of the way he played,” McGlinchey said Wednesday. “Football is exciting and hard. And when you do good (bleep), you get a good reaction.”
The Broncos know this is the quarterback for them. For Payton. Everybody sees it. He brings a dynamic element with his arm and legs. Payton has shown elasticity, bending the scheme to Nix with a mix of shotgun, RPOs and simplified reads.
And Payton is no longer asking him to do everything like he did during the first month – an impossible task given the team’s lack of weapons. As a result, Nix is now nailing mid-range throws with alarming accuracy. And he ranks 12th in passer rating in the NFL since Week 5 as his yards per attempt have spiked from 4.8 to 7.0.
He is growing on the field and growing on his teammates. Players know a team cannot win without functional to stellar play from their quarterback. They believe in Nix. But it is not blind faith.
Earning trust requires demonstrated ability in the locker room, weight room, film room. Nix has won five games, more than any rookie quarterback in Broncos history. He has also won over his peers.
“Nothing bothers him. He learns quickly and knows what he needs to do. He’s not a rookie. He leads like a veteran,” left tackle Garett Bolles said. “His attitude is like that. His swagger is like that. His ability is special.”
The Broncos have used 14 starters since Peyton Manning, and, other than a fever dream praise of Russell Wilson and Drew Lock’s rookie win at Houston, teammates never talked about any of them like this.
“He continues to show his maturity,” Sutton said.
Nix understands that he is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He lives and breathes his position and embraces the responsibility. We saw it Sunday in his final drive at Kansas City. We heard it Wednesday in his passionate defense of embattled teammate Alex Forsyth.
He gets it. But more importantly, he proves it. When was the last time we saw him repeat a mistake, look lost in the huddle or treat the football carelessly?
“He shows moxie and leadership. He’s getting more and more comfortable,” McGlinchey said. “And he is still letting it rip, while being smart. And that is very unique and a blend you have to have to play successfully in the NFL.”
Payton reiterated Wednesday how much he enjoys coaching Nix. They have different personalities – Payton is more Ferris Bueller and Bo, as I have said, is more Iceman – and bond over an obsession to learn and win.
This offense, this pairing, is not a finished project. The Broncos have scored seven points combined in the second half of their last three games. Nix has missed go routes and took a pair of bad sacks against the Chiefs.
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Those who will not declare him as the answer point to his ceiling, convinced it is not high enough as a passer. Watching him through 10 weeks, I will repeat my opinion that he can be Jalen Hurts.
This week represents a tipping point. The latest biggest game of the season. Denver needs to win three of its final four at home to reach the postseason.
But guess what? Denver is built to win because at quarterback they finally have a winner to build around. Case closed.
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