Denver was losing at the start of the fourth quarter in Carolina on Sunday, but that doesn’t much matter to Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.
On back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter, Nix led a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive and a six-play, 61-yard touchdown drive, and the Broncos beat the Panthers. That has become the norm for Nix, who has a remarkable record of winning even when his team is losing in the fourth quarter.
Nix now has six game-winning drives this season, the most of any quarterback in the NFL. He also has 16 game-winning drives so far in his three-year career, which is the record for any quarterback in his first three seasons. (This is a regular-season statistic only, but Nix also had a game-winning drive in the playoffs last season.)
A game-winning drive is defined as an offensive scoring drive in the fourth quarter or overtime that puts a team ahead for the final time. Nix had three of them as a rookie in 2024, an NFL-high seven of them last year, and is now leading the league again with six game-winning drives already this year.
At 7-2, the Broncos currently lead the AFC West and appear set to compete for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff race. With big games coming for them, they’ve got a quarterback they know they can win with, even when they’re losing in the fourth quarter.