SEATTLE — The Denver Broncos knew what kind of environment Bo Nix was walking into Sunday as he made his first NFL start.
Teammates like right tackle Mike McGlinchey and defensive tackle D.J. Jones made annual trips to Lumen Field during their previous stop with the San Francisco 49ers. Defensive end Zach Allen did the same while playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Sean Payton and numerous members of his coaching staff have worked inside the venue at its loudest, during the crescendo of the playoffs. They knew Nix would be challenged not only by the “12s” in the stands but also by a ball-hawking secondary and a new head coach in Mike Macdonald, one of the game’s brightest young defensive play callers.
The best way to help Nix on Sunday was to take as much burden off the rookie quarterback as possible, then trust him to make plays and avoid catastrophic mistakes when it was his turn on the high dive.
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None of it came together that way for the Broncos in a 26-20 loss to the Seahawks. Nix attempted 42 passes, tied for the most by a Denver quarterback in a Week 1 game since 2011. Two of those passes were intercepted and he easily could have had twice that many. Nix also ended the game as Denver’s leading rusher, with 35 yards on his five scrambles.
It couldn’t have been part of the plan, right? To put so much on the rookie’s plate in a hostile environment during his first pro start?
“Heck no,” Payton said afterward.
It’s not yet time to lunge for the panic button. It was one start. Nix’s final stat line — 26-of-42 for 138 yards, two interceptions and a 47.5 passer rating — didn’t look all that different than the one produced by first-overall pick Caleb Williams during the Chicago Bears’ victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. But Sunday made clear that life in the NFL for Nix won’t be as easy as a breezy roll through backup defenses in the preseason made it seem. There are more challenging moments coming like the one from Nix midway through the fourth quarter, when his throw for Courtland Sutton into double coverage was picked off by Tariq Woolen.
“OH NO”
– @AdamArchuleta before Bo Nix’s pass even landed in the Seahawks hands pic.twitter.com/8sCkVTwm17
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 8, 2024
It’s the Broncos’ job to help those moments sting less by playing clean football around Nix as the quarterback trudges through the season’s early days. That’s something Payton didn’t see enough of Sunday.
“At one point in the game, I went to the bench and said, ‘Let’s go, man. Let’s help this guy,’” Payton said after Broncos receivers dropped two passes in the first half and failed to haul in a couple of other catchable balls.
Payton called the team’s pass protection “average at best.” He lamented a lack of rushing efficiency that forced the Broncos into “too many third downs of 8 (yards) or more.” He called his own play-calling into question after the Broncos had a designed run rate (a figure that excludes scrambles) of 29 percent Sunday, compared to 55.3 percent for Seattle.
“Any time we have a plan like that and we don’t execute it — and we don’t run the ball well — then you’ve got to look at why,” Payton said. ” … It’s going to be hard to play quarterback, period, if that’s the best we can do running the ball.”
The Broncos seemed to be putting together a masterclass in complementary football in the game’s early moments. Outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper registered the first of two sacks on the game’s opening play. On the second, he and Jones created pressure that led to a Geno Smith interception. The return by linebacker Alex Singleton set Denver up at Seattle’s 20-yard line. On Denver’s first play, Javonte Williams ran for 9 yards, nearly breaking the run for a touchdown before he slipped. But Williams slipped in the backfield on second-and-1 and was then unable to haul in Nix’s pass along the sideline on third down.
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The Broncos settled for a field goal, just as they did after recovering a muffed punt at the Seattle 9-yard line in the second quarter. McGlinchey was called for a false start on first down, an omen for a drive that quickly fizzled. Denver recorded two safeties in the second quarter — one after Nix was picked off by Julian Love on the 1-yard line; the other after JL Skinner and Tremon Smith downed a Riley Dixon punt at the 1. They were unable to score on either ensuing possession. The Broncos had a 13-9 lead at halftime, but they had already blown their chance to dictate the game’s tempo.
“We weren’t able to punch it in when we had opportunities today,” McGlinchey said. “Excited for where we’re going to go but you can’t make that many mistakes like we did today.”
After the Broncos went three-and-out to begin the third quarter, Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb turned up the tempo and used frequent motion to create edges in the run game. Kenneth Walker had 81 yards rushing and a touchdown in the third quarter alone. Meanwhile, Denver’s first four possessions of the half accounted for 14 total plays, 23 net yards, three punts and a lost fumble.
“They were a really good defense; I thought they played well in their scheme,” Nix said of the Seahawks. “I thought they rallied to the football. It was tough to get some explosive plays, and when you have a hard time getting explosives, you’ve got to sustain drives. You can’t be in third-and-long, tough situations.”
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It’s hard to create explosive passing plays when you don’t push the ball down the field. Nix threw 17 passes between 3 and 8 yards in the air beyond the line of scrimmage, according to TruMedia, a higher total of throws in that short range than any Broncos quarterback attempted in a game since 2022. Overall, Nix’s 3.3 yards per pass attempt tied for the lowest average in a game by a Broncos quarterback (excluding the 2020 quarterback-less game) since Tim Tebow averaged only 2.7 yards across 22 attempts during a 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the 2011 season.
Payton last season lamented the team’s thin margin for error on offense. Because of the frequent sacks the Broncos took and their inability to strike for big plays regularly in the passing game, they needed to play turnover-free and near-perfect on the margins to be competitive most weeks. At this early stage in Nix’s development, that margin might be even smaller for the Broncos right now. It wasn’t until his 34th pass attempt Sunday that Nix eclipsed the 100-yard passing mark.
Bo Nix scores his first NFL TD!
📺: #DENvsSEA on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/R9BWx51L53— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2024
That’s not to say Sunday’s performance was devoid of encouraging signs from the rookie quarterback. He hit Josh Reynolds on a 25-yard pass up the left sideline on a third-and-9 play during the final seconds of the second quarter, setting up a field goal. With Denver trailing, 26-13, late in the fourth quarter, Nix led a seven-play, 54-yard drive that ended in his 4-yard touchdown run. The Broncos were a play away from getting the ball back with at least a chance at a winning drive, but Tyler Lockett made an acrobatic 9-yard catch on third down just after the 2-minute warning to seal the win for Seattle.
“I think Bo handled himself well,” McGlinchey said. “It’s a difficult place to make your first NFL start, especially at the quarterback position. I think he handled himself with poise and commanded the huddle well. He’s competitive as all hell and lays his body out there for us. I’m really pleased with where he’s going and I know he’s going to take a look at this and improve as much as anybody on the team.”
The Broncos are confident Nix will rapidly progress. The glass-half-full view: After a performance like Sunday’s, there’s nowhere to go but up. That goes for the support around the rookie quarterback, too.
(Photo: Rio Giancarlo / Getty Images)
