{"id":836077,"date":"2026-09-15T20:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/836077\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T20:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:36:20","slug":"broncos-country-shouldnt-give-up-on-bo-nix-just-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/836077\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos Country shouldn’t give up on Bo Nix just yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anybody got Drew Brees\u2019 number?<\/a><\/p>\n

Kidding! Sort of.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a first-rounder, drafted by Sean Payton,\u201d Bubby Brister, the former Broncos quarterback<\/a>, texted me Tuesday morning when I asked about Bo Nix\u2019s miserable Monday night in Kansas City. \u201cHe has a great team around him and some of the best fans in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mind you, some of those \u201cbest fans\u201d are getting Bubby Blistered on social media right now. The buzzards on Xwitter came circling after Nix threw for just 131 yards while suffering four sacks, three fumbles, two turnovers and an interception<\/a>, the kind of numbers that led to a 31-10 season-opening loss to the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

While Nix haters from Bangor to Burbank<\/a> \u2014 OVERRATED! RAG ARM!<\/a> NOT MY QB! \u2014 can\u2019t stop pushing the \u201csend\u201d button, Brister says Broncos Country should wait before pushing the \u201cpanic\u201d one.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Sean Payton would say, everybody has to do their job!\u201d offered Bubby, who led the Broncos to one of their most fun Monday night outings in Kansas City, a 30-7 win in November 1998 during which Brister bootlegged for a 38-yard TD run.<\/a> \u201cAnd do their job better than last night. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KANSASBo Nix (10) of the Denver Broncos fires a pass during the fourth quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 31-10 win at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Yes, Nix was a disaster, especially with ball placement. But that dumpster fire had help fanning the flames. The offensive line, from snaps to protection, struggled to match its preseason hype. When Nix\u2019s wideouts weren\u2019t dropping balls, they were struggling to get any kind of separation from Kansas City defenders.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nix has never had the prototype \u201cbazooka\u201d release that scouts love, and continues to be reluctant to throw anything across the middle of the field. Yet, like his coach, No. 10 does better work in October and November than over the first three weeks of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Over his career, Nix is now 24-11 lifetime as a Broncos starter in the regular season, but that record\u2019s just 4-5 in September contests.<\/a> His lifetime September touchdown-to-interception ratio is 9-9. His career September passer rating is 74.6, the lowest of any regular-season month and more than 15 points lower than his career mark (90.0).<\/p>\n

But even for an opener, Nix\u2019s sloppiness was un-Bo-lievable, his carelessness with the ball alarming, given the stage. He threw a pick into double coverage on his first series. With 35 seconds left in the third quarter, down 24-10 at his own 34, he let the ball squirt free, and the Chiefs recovered to ice the evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this is not going to be the whole season for us,\u201d Nix told reporters Monday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not, and there\u2019s a reason Payton is Mr. October. Marathon, not a sprint.<\/p>\n

That said, when the pistol fired to start the 2026 AFC West 5K, the Chiefs reached over and gave Nix a wedgie that could be heard all the way to Leavenworth.<\/p>\n

\u201c5-12,\u201d one longtime Broncos season ticket holder texted me Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoy, do you have a lot to write about!\u201d texted another.<\/p>\n

On an evening when Patrick Mahomes looked painfully average (15 for 27 passing, 184 yards), that should\u2019ve mattered. It didn\u2019t, because the Broncos\u2019 tackling, new offensive play-caller Davis Webb and Nix were infinitely worse.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chiefs came out as if they were itching for a fight. The Broncos came out as if they were itching for a nap after a late lunch at Zarda.<\/a> Vance Joseph\u2019s defense missed 28 tackles, per Next Gen Stats. The Chiefs\u2019 new tailback, ex-Michigan State star Kenneth Walker III, knifed through the Broncos like they were Rutgers or Purdue. Kansas City resembled a hungry, motivated Super Bowl contender, while the Broncos came off as disinterested, entitled and soft. Run it back got run the heck over.<\/p>\n

But besides the defense, the biggest disappointment was the debut of the Bo & Davis Show, the duo billed as the NFL\u2019s next hot play-caller\/QB combo.<\/a><\/p>\n

Only instead of Shanny and Purdy, or Johnson and Caleb, we got Laurel and Hardy.<\/p>\n

\"OffensiveOffensive coordinator Davis Webb of the Denver Broncos looks at his play sheet during the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday, September 14, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

While Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was playing chess, Webb appeared to be playing Block Blast on his phone. On one third-and-1 late in the first half, game tied at 7-7, instead of running the ball, the first-year Broncos offensive coordinator trotted out an empty backfield \u2014 an empty backfield that had a fullback lined up at wide receiver.<\/a> While down two TDs, the Broncos repeatedly let the play clock tick down to 5 seconds or fewer before snapping the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cNasty wake-up call,\u201d Nix said later.<\/p>\n

More like a walking nightmare. The tone for the evening was set on the Broncos\u2019 first drop back, as Nix, Captain Elusive, wound up getting sacked. On third-and-11, he got smoked. Nix felt heat in the pocket. That wasn\u2019t new. He ducked and weaved. Also not new. But the next part was: No. 10 fired off a semi-wounded duck that was easily picked off by Chiefs rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we have to be better,\u201d Nix told reporters. \u201cThere (are) a lot of guys in that locker room that are going to take ownership and going to be better.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it starts with me. It starts with our offense, and we\u2019re going to be better. And we have to \u2026 we don\u2019t have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not anymore. Not considering some of the Looney Tunes whispers that have trickled out from behind Payton\u2019s orange and blue curtain. The buzz a few months ago was how the Broncos almost turned over the keys to Bill Belichick.<\/a> The buzz before kickoff was an ESPN report that Broncos coaches reached out to the retired Brees, now 47, this past January after Nix broke his ankle, just to see if the old dog had any hunt left.<\/p>\n

After that?<\/p>\n

Woof.<\/p>\n

\u201cHard to win on the road, especially on Monday night,\u201d noted Brister, who still managed to do both in his salad days. \u201cThe Chiefs played really well on both sides of the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Bo will be fine. One game doesn\u2019t make a season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure doesn\u2019t. But it can leave one hell of a scar.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anybody got Drew Brees\u2019 number? Kidding! Sort of. \u201cHe\u2019s a first-rounder, drafted by Sean Payton,\u201d Bubby Brister, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":836078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[28546,7,6309,10148,2858,20403,45695,76511,16370,86641,301,2863,187,3943,7428,45735,130,2469,1638,165,3969,1739,1995,6324,6,9,302,1637,2467,4098,8131,4505,66,198,13349,10154],"class_list":["post-836077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-afc-west","tag-basketball","tag-bill-belichick","tag-bo-nix","tag-broncos","tag-broncos-country","tag-broncos-offense","tag-broncos-quarterbacks","tag-broncos-takes","tag-davis-webb","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-disaster","tag-drew-brees","tag-espn","tag-kansas","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-latest-headlines","tag-media","tag-michigan","tag-michigan-state","tag-more-broncos-news","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-nuggets","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-purdue","tag-sean-keeler","tag-sean-payton","tag-social-media","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-super-bowl","tag-vance-joseph"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}