ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos enter Sunday’s marquee matchup with the Baltimore Ravens having won five of their last six games. It has been a stretch defined in no small part by the progress of rookie quarterback Bo Nix, the winner of the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Month award for October.
It was during the one loss in that stretch, though, that Nix revealed one of the qualities that has endeared him to teammates midway through his first NFL season.
The scene: The Broncos had fallen behind the Los Angeles Chargers 23-0 at home in Week 6. The Broncos hadn’t scored and had produced only 88 yards of total offense through three quarters. Nix’s passer rating at that point was 9.8.
First Bronco to be named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month since Clinton Portis in 2002. ✅
But there’s more work to be done. 😤 pic.twitter.com/cgwSfOY2qu
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 31, 2024
But as offensive players looked at their quarterback in the huddle to begin the fourth quarter, they saw a player unaffected by the prior 45 minutes of struggle. So they followed his lead.
“He just had this confidence stepping into the huddle that rubbed off on everybody,” tight end Adam Trautman said. “He never wavered.”
“There’s something about being a leader and knowing we could get the job done without saying anything,” left guard Ben Powers said. “It was just a look, a demeanor, and he carried it.”
“We all still wanted that one, and he started that and led it,” wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey said. “It showed how gritty he is, how much of a competitor he is. A lot of people don’t have that. … I’m happy that he’s on my team.”
Nix helped lead the Broncos to 16 points in the fourth quarter. He completed 15 of 19 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Had the Broncos been able to convert their 2-point conversion attempt on the second of those scores — Marvin Mims Jr. was stuffed on a jet sweep, leaving the deficit at 10 points — he may have had a chance to bring the Broncos all the way back.
“Even when stuff is going bad,” Trautman said, “he seems comfortable.”
That trait has become a defining one for Nix during his rookie season, and it’s one that figures to be tested as the Broncos (5-3) enter the most challenging part of their schedule. They visit the Baltimore Ravens (5-3) on Sunday before traveling to face the Kansas City Chiefs (7-0) in Week 10.
You don’t need a crystal ball to predict Nix won’t always have the pressure-free, wide-open looks that he did Sunday in a 28-14 win against the reeling Carolina Panthers. He’ll be navigating two of the league’s more hostile atmospheres, playing opposite quarterbacks (Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes) who have combined to win four of the last six NFL MVP awards.
“We’re going to have a good plan and ultimately we have to match it (with execution),” Nix said. “We know what it’s going to be. We have to match the intensity, the passion, the physicality that they’re going to play with. I’m excited for the challenge because these are the type of games that you go through, you play and they’re extremely difficult. They’re hard at the moment, but when you get out of them, you grow a lot as a player.”
One measure of Nix’s growth came Thursday when he became the first Bronco to win the rookie of the month award since running back Clinton Portis in 2002. It was a recognition of a four-game stretch in which Nix produced 1,119 yards of total offense, nine touchdowns and only one turnover. Most importantly, the Broncos went 3-1 during the month, setting them up to make a run at the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2015.
“Every bit of experience you get is helpful. Some of the fundamentals become easier,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “Calling the plays, getting out of the huddle, you just have more bandwidth for everything else that comes with playing the position. I just think that as he gets more experience, he’ll just get better and better.”
Teammates and coaches have been encouraged by Nix’s growth as a passer. Trautman marveled that the pass he caught from Nix in the back of the end zone in the second quarter of Sunday’s victory against the Panthers was “literally put it in the only spot I could get it.”
It’s just that #NationalTightEndsDay magic 🪄
📺: #CARvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/e6ct0UYAXK— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
Others pointed toward a play in the fourth quarter of the game. With Denver facing a third-and-3 at its own 40-yard line, Carolina sent safety Xavier Woods on a blitz from Nix’s right, and he got deep into the backfield before fullback Michael Burton arrived from the opposite side to land a clean block. Nix recognized the pressure, dipped his shoulder while moving to his right to avoid Woods and buried a throw to Devaughn Vele on the sideline for a 16-yard gain.
“At the end of the day, that’s just playing backyard football,” Vele said. “I just ran to a spot, got in his vision, got ready for his throw and we made a big play.”
It was a microcosm of the calm demeanor in the face of pressure Nix has shown this season. Nobody working with the quarterback, least of all Nix himself, is naive enough to believe the path will be linear from here.
Things will almost certainly “go bad” at times in the next two weeks as the rookie quarterback and the still-developing offense around him wade into the crucible of big-time November games. Ravens coach John Harbaugh and his staff have routinely made life miserable for rookie quarterbacks over the years. The same goes for Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
But it’s no small measure of Nix’s first-year progress that those around him are already soundly convinced he’ll stand up to the heat that is coming.
“Bo is a great leader who knows exactly what he needs to do and knows how to communicate to us,” Powers said. “He goes out there and just balls, and that’s something you have to respect.”
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(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
