Despite some of Sean Payton’s former colleagues in NFL media throwing Bo Nix under the bus, the Denver Broncos’ head coach refuses to do so. Any objective observer can see that Nix has been in a mini-slump over the past two weeks, but Payton has closed ranks around his beleaguered quarterback, pointing the finger at himself, the coaches, and the supporting cast to step it up.
“I think it’s not Bo. I mean, I think it’s part of the whole process offensively and constantly in our game planning this week,” Payton said on Wednesday.
Game plans and play-calling aside, penalties have been a massive hindrance to Nix and the offense over this stretch. The Broncos had more penalties than first downs (11) last week vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.
When a quarterback is staring down the barrel of 1st-&-20 or 2nd-&-long, it’s hard to guide an offense into favorable third-down situations. The Broncos’ discipline is lacking in a big, bad way, and that falls on Payton and the coaches.
Unfortunately, it’s been a theme all year long, as the Broncos rank 31st in penalties. Only one team has more this season than Denver.
“Obviously, the penalties,” Payton said. “We are doing a great job of not taking sacks, but when we’re all of a sudden first-and-20, we have to eliminate those.”
As for scheme and play-calling, that’s also on Payton, but he has much more direct control over how they materialize, which means he’s got to step it up, too. His track record says that he can and will improve there, but so must the execution.
Nix has only been sacked 11 times this season (the second-fewest in the NFL), so he continues to do a good job of directly avoiding the negative play. That’s also a credit to Denver’s top-shelf offensive line.
This week, the Broncos face a Kansas City Chiefs defense that ranks sixth in total yards and that likes to bring the pressure.
“Certainly, opponents vary what they do scheme-wise; this is a pressure team. Our job each week, we’re always looking to find easy completions,” Payton said. “When I look at the touchdown reel on Mondays—I said this to you before—sometimes you look at a play and you just say, ‘Player, he went up, made a great play.’ Then sometimes someone’s wide open, and you click that button, you save it and that was scheme. So we’re constantly looking at how we can find those throws that fit the scheme and the defense you’re attacking.”
One of the trends of Nix’s 2025 body of work has been the slow starts punctuated by furious end-of-game flurries of production, all in a very Tim Tebow-esque way. Nix struggled for three quarters against the Philadelphia Eagles before turning it on and coming from behind to defeat the defending World Champions on the road.
Nix’s out-of-body fourth-quarter performance against the New York Giants in Week 7 began a groundswell of fans calling for Payton to call a more hurry-up, tempo-oriented offense for his young quarterback. For reasons he’s never quite articulated, Payton is reluctant to do that (until he has to), perhaps because it would limit his ability to constantly substitute personnel throughout a drive, which is a hallmark of his offense. But that’s just an educated guess.
Cut to Week 11, and fans and media are still wondering why Payton isn’t working tempo into the offense, if for no other reason than to get Nix in a groove much earlier in games. To Payton, tempo seems to translate to simply starting faster, which, as we’ve seen this season, has been much easier said than done with few exceptions.
“I think it’s our jobs to offensively put ourselves in a position of starting faster,” Payton said. “When I discussed this after the game, there aren’t many times when a game’s over—when you win even—where you’re fully satisfied.”
I imagine Payton has often gone home from games a bit unsatisfied, even amid the Broncos’ ongoing seven-game winning streak. The victories keep piling up, which is crucial, but something is clearly missing from the championship football equation.
The one obvious improvement in the 2025 Broncos, compared to last season, is their comportment and, thus, their results in one-score games. The Broncos were 1-6 in such games last year. This year, however, they’re 6-2.
“There’s something bugging you, there’s something… Certainly getting that balance and the time of possession also to help our defense,” Payton said. “I like that this year we’re doing better in these one-score games. I think you gained some confidence, and if you tried to pick, ‘When did that turn?’ You might look at Philly, but to go where we want to go, there has to be improvement and certainly we understand that.”
Nix has been a big reason for Denver’s sudden reversal of fortune in one-score games. Saving his best play for the clutch is admirable, but it takes on a sheen of aberrance when it only happens when the chips are down.
Nix is staying off social media and keeping his nose to the grindstone. He has plenty to work on and improve, but fixing the penalty issue, the dropped passes, and the play-calling would go a long way toward helping him get back on the horse.
Against an weathered opponent like the Chiefs, the margin of error will be razor-thin. If the Broncos haven’t used this mini-bye as a means to batten down the hatches and do what it takes to eliminate the mental errors and penalties, it’ll be tough sledding vs. Kansas City.
If the three extra days afforded the Broncos the chance to fix those things, Nix will improve by osmosis. It’s quite astounding, really, that the Broncos are 8-2, despite not having consistently played their best football as a team.
Imagine what this team would be capable of it could. That’s what it takes to win championships in this league: complementary football for four quarters. Rinse. Repeat.
The Broncos will go only as far as Nix can take them, so first thing’s first for Payton: take the necessary strides to make things easier on the quarterback. I’m not saying Payton needs to ‘dumb’ things down for Nix offensively; I’m saying that, at a certain point, the Broncos need to fix these lingering issues and trends that have persisted throughout the season.
Not many NFL signal-callers can thrive when faced with 1st-&-20s and 3rd-&-longs on the regular, or when their receivers are dropping passes. The book of the 2025 Broncos hasn’t been written yet; we’re 10 chapters in, but Payton is running out of time to brainstorm a storybook ending.
More Must-Read Denver Broncos Coverage
Source link
