Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix sparked quite the controversy during the post-game on October 15th. He openly questioned the team’s old and conservative passing game after a 17-14 overtime victory against the Seattle Seahawks.  While his comments focused on A disconnect keeping the Denver Broncos from vertical play, several NFL insiders and analysts have heavily criticised the quarterback instead. They have argued that the conservative strategy is a direct result of head coach Sean Payton, who does not trust in the capabilities of the team.

Recently, Emory Hunt discussed Bo Nix not taking opportunities to run the football. CBS Sports football analyst highlighted that opposing defences do not respect the Denver Broncos' deep passing game, which results in congested defensive boxes and narrow lanes that limit the offence. 

Hunt said, “In Bo Nix's second half, we saw opportunities for him to really take off and run, and we were sitting there watching the game like, 'Man, if this was last year, Bo Nix probably would've had 75 to 100 yards rushing." There were opportunities for him to not only just get cheap yards, but close out the game by going and getting those 10 to 15, 20 yards. Even in overtime, I still feel like he's not 100%, and that showed up tonight.”

But what did Bo Nix have to say about the team rather than looking at his own performance?

Bo Nix does not know where the disconnect is

 The main point of playing football games is to win them, and the Denver Broncos were successfully able to do that against the Seahawks on Thursday night. However, the result did not shield their quarterback from some harsh criticism after the game. In fact, former NFL Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick Nix's performance in the 17- 14 overtime victory was garbage. Go Nix finished 17 of 27 for 107 yards, and the team's longest pass play went for 16 yards, which he commented after the game was not part of a plan to be overly conservative, and he does not “understand why we can’t really push the ball vertically right now.” 

“We’re definitely capable,” Nix said. “We’ve shown it, and I don’t know where the disconnect is right now, to be honest with you. . . . I just think we’re really, for some reason, struggling to find those explosive plays, and that’s what makes an offense really spectacular — finding explosive plays. And right now we don’t have those.” 

However, he did find one positive, which is that the Broncos did not turn the ball over while the Seahawks gave it away three times. Head coach Sean Payton did not give details on the offense’s struggles beyond saying, “we’re going to see a lot that we want to clean up,” but it is apparent that his plan to take over playcalling has not solved all that’s wrong with Nix or the rest of the unit. 

Written by

Tanushree Bhowmick

Edited by

Tanushree Bhowmick