Broncos Fans After Loss to Seahawks: Too Early to Say Bo Nix Sucks? | Westword
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Broncos Fans Debate After Loss to Seahawks: Too Early to Say Bo Nix Sucks?

Bo Nix's average completion went just 3.3 yards.
September 9, 2024
Bo Nix looking confused after the Broncos' 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Bo Nix looking confused after the Broncos' 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Denver Broncos via YouTube
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Fans tend to leap to conclusions. So it's no surprise that plenty of certified citizens of Denver Broncos country concluded during or immediately after the squad's 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the first game of the season that new quarterback Bo Nix is as incompetent as a Neanderthal asked to perform brain surgery.

Granted, not every Broncos loyalist is already convinced that Bo is a bust. But his performance yesterday likely shook the confidence of even the most dedicated Bo-ner.

Most NFL draft experts argued that Nix, who played his college ball at Auburn and Oregon, wasn't a first-round talent — a conclusion that suggested his selection by the Broncos with the twelfth overall pick was indicative of desperation on the parts of general manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton. But the latter spent months since the choice was made arguing against this theory, telling anyone who would listen that Nix was the QB he wanted most thanks to his talent, cool-headedness and pro-ready skill set.

The working press was polite enough not to guffaw in Payton's face when he made this claim. Still, most had their doubts given the fact that the majority of Nix's completions at the previous level had been short passes — the sort of extended handoffs that wouldn't stretch professional defenses. Hence, Nix needed to prove that he could complete passes all over the field, and when he looked unexpectedly competent during Denver's three-game preseason slate, Broncos lovers desperate for anything resembling hope were eager to believe that the experts would be quickly proven wrong.

That hasn't happened yet.

The Seahawks did their level best to help Nix defy conventional wisdom. The Seattle offense's first-half performance at home was epitomized by the initial pair of plays authored by their field general, Geno Smith: a sack and an interception by linebacker Alex Singleton, who barely had to move in order to haul in the hilariously errant heave. The turn of events gave Nix the opportunity to engineer his first touchdown drive from Seattle's twenty yard line. But he and his charges managed to stack up a mere three yards in four plays before Payton settled for a Will Lutz field goal.

So it went throughout the first half. The Broncos recorded not one, but two safeties, and a muffed punt gave Denver possession just nine yards from the end zone. This time, though, Nix moved his brethren all of two yards prior to another Lutz boot. The majority of other drives went practically nowhere owing to Nix's seeming inability to throw the ball with accuracy more than five yards. True, a couple of decent intermediate-length passes were dropped, but several others were so far off that Courtland Sutton and other intended targets would have had trouble hauling them in even if they had arms more stretchy than Mr. Fantastic.

Somehow, the Broncos went into halftime up 13-9, but it was abundantly clear that the lead wouldn't last — and it didn't. Nix's one-dimensional play meant the Seahawks could stop the Broncos simply by crowding the line of scrimmage, and the strategy worked time and again. As a result, the Denver D was clearly gassed by the middle of the third quarter, and both Smith and Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III took advantage. The Hawks quickly scored seventeen unanswered points, creating a 26-13 lead that shouldn't have been insurmountable. But it was.

A late touchdown on a Nix scramble wouldn't have happened outside of garbage time. His final stat line was fully representative of his performance: 26 completions out of 42 attempts at a grand total of 3.3 yards apiece, for an anemic 138 yards. Moreover, his two interceptions were the sort of rookie mistakes the 24-year-old was supposedly too mature to commit.

Afterward, loads of Denver fans on X rushed to brand Nix a disaster — a judgment that's definitely too harsh. But to put it mildly, he's got a lot left to prove, and he'll get another chance next Sunday, September 15, when he'll make his home debut versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, who may or may not be led by his immediate predecessor, the precipitously declining Russell Wilson — our choice for the most disappointing Broncos quarterback ever.

Given that Wilson sat out the Steelers' 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons yesterday with a calf injury, there's no guarantee he'll actually be under center for the match-up. But Nix will, and if he continues to be limited to dinks and dunks, even those defending him now may find themselves spitting up the Kool-Aid Payton has been serving.

Below, count down our top-twenty takes in the Bo Nix debate.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
Contact: Michael Roberts
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