Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle in the Denver Broncos‘ thrilling playoff win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday night, head coach Sean Payton has announced.
The Broncos quarterback will now require season-ending surgery, coming as a disaster on an otherwise historic night for the franchise.
It is a devastating outcome for both Denver and Nix, who played an integral role in the dramatic 33-30 overtime victory which sealed their first AFC Championship game for 10 years.
Footage circulating on social media appears to show that he sustained the devastating injury shortly before Wil Lutz’ game-winning field goal in overtime.
Nix was still able to continue the drive and set up a 23-yard kick for Lutz, despite fracturing his ankle roughly a minute prior.
Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle in the Denver Broncos’ thrilling playoff win over the Buffalo Bills
As their starting quarterback now prepares for surgery, the Broncos must turn to understudy Jarrett Stidham.
Stidham will start next weekend’s showdown with either the New England Patriots or Houston Texans, who battle it out in the other AFC Divisional game on Sunday.
‘He is ready,’ Payton said about his backup quarterback. ‘We’ll be ready for the next challenge.’
The Broncos have not contested an AFC Championship game since 2015, when they went on to win Super Bowl 50.
Share or comment on this article:
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix suffers broken ankle in win over Bills as he’s ruled out of NFL playoffs