How strong is Bo Nix's belief?
With a Broncos rebuilding job destined to require more than a single season with a rookie quarterback, that’s the biggest question around an 0-2 start that stinks to high heaven.
“I think it’s important to keep good perspective and not make football (your) whole entire life,” Nix said Sunday night after the Steelers thumped the Broncos 13-6 at Empower Field at Mile High. “You play it long enough and it will fail you over and over and over. It will knock you down. It will beat you up.”
The Broncos job lately has beaten up Vic Fangio, Vance Joseph and Nathaniel Hackett, while Sean Payton is nursing a series of new bruises to his precious ego. It has beaten up quarterbacks Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, not to mention a half-dozen others who ran for their lives and prayed for their own survival.
While smarter football men than me questioned Nix’s arm strength coming out of the University of Oregon, zipping a spiral 40 yards through the air won’t determine if the 24-year-old is successful or another failed quarterback in Denver.
Mental fortitude will be.
After shouldering the blame for another train wreck of an offensive game plan, Broncos coach Sean Payton confirmed he’s a Bo-liever for the long haul: “This guy’s (already) been through it. It would be different if he hadn't.”
Be strong, Bo. There’s a lot more where this came from.
The home opener had Broncos fans matriculating to the exits with 7:54 remaining in a two-score game. And this was the quietest Mile High opener I could remember.
Was it the low expectations of- the season? The one touchdown scored over two games?
Apathy? Boredom?
You name it, but there's a good chance Broncos Country has had the enthusiasm beaten out of it. And there’s a lot more where that came from.
Even squinting through orange-colored glasses, it’s hard to spot more than four wins on this schedule. The Raiders won at Baltimore Sunday. The Chargers are 2-0. The Chiefs?
You know the drill with the Chiefs.
It's going to get worse before it gets better.
With Nix the leading rusher for the second-straight game, since running backs Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin are ghosts, the big play from the Broncos was a trick play.
On a flea flicker, Nix hit wide receiver Josh Reynolds on a 49-yard pass play. There was hope. Two snaps later, Nix threw an interception in the end zone. Kids these days.
The Steelers built a 10-0 lead that felt like a 30-0 lead against the pitter-patter offense of the Broncos, who are built for a comeback in the same way my 2007 pickup truck is built for Bandimere Speedway.
Coach Payton has some explaining to do. Even he said so.
“Are we putting guys in the right position?” said Payton, who added the coaching staff must “evaluate what we’re doing relative to the personnel” and questioned if his scheme fits the players.
To put the proposed Nix Fix into perspective, the rookie quarterback has dropped back and thrown 77 passes in two games. Russell Wilson never threw 77 passes over two games with the Broncos — not with Hackett or with Payton.
Strange way to introduce a rookie to the NFL.
“That starts with me,” said Payton, who is 0-2 after starting 0-3 last season.
Reality is raining on the Nix parade. There's not enough juice around him to succeed this soon.
Greg Dulcich dropped a couple passes. McLaughlin didn’t have positive rushing yardage until the fourth quarter. Williams has not returned to his former self after a knee injury.
The result so far is that Nix looks like the sixth quarterback taken in the NFL draft.
The Bo-lievers in the Broncos huddle are unwavering.
“Bo is doing a really good job of handling the situations he’s been put into,” veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton said.
Since the playoffs expanded to 14 teams in 2020, 32 teams have started a season 0-2.
Only two of 32 reached the postseason.
“We can’t let this trail roll the way it’s rolling,” Sutton said.
The Broncos can’t be thinking playoffs.
They’ve broken too many men over the past near decade. Their No. 1 priority must be to build Nix’s confidence to a level that prevents the 24-year-old from cracking under the crushing hits and painful defeats.
“My confidence is bigger than football and bigger than wins and losses,” Nix said. “Now don’t make a mistake about it. I’m going out there to compete my tail off and trying to win every game for this team behind me, because they deserve it.”
How big is Bo’s belief? That's the question, because quarterbacking these Broncos would test any man’s resolve.
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