Bo Nix left Thursday night with a win, but not with many admirers.
The Denver Broncos edged the Seattle Seahawks 17-14 in overtime, and Nix did enough to help get them there. He threw for just 107 yards, finished without a touchdown through the air, and completed 17 of 27 passes. His biggest impact came on the ground, where he helped produce two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter.
Still, the offense never really found any rhythm after that. In the second half, Denver punted six times, and the final possession in regulation was a three-and-out after the Broncos intercepted Sam Darnold with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
That sluggish stretch drew a blistering reaction from former quarterback and current Amazon Prime Video analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick during the postgame show.
"They were in four-minute mode with their second-half start. It was really frustrating to watch, and part of it, for me, is Bo Nix.
He's not playing competitively. It's almost disrespectful to the QB position how he's playing football."
When host Charissa Thompson pressed him for more, Fitzpatrick kept going.
"The guy doesn't wanna throw the ball. That's fine.
He's throwing to the flats; he's throwing behind, but he has no trust from his coach. ... I can only imagine how (head coach) Sean Payton feels.
Sean Payton, (offensive coordinator) Davis Webb, everybody that blocks for (Nix) - he's not competing right now. It's not good enough."
After the game, Nix was asked about Denver’s trouble generating yardage on offense, and he didn’t shy away from the problem.
“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.”
He added:
“I don’t understand why we can’t really push the ball vertically right now, but defenses are just sitting back there, hanging out. So, we’re just going to keep running the football, hopefully find ways to get more out of it. ...
We’re definitely capable, we’ve shown it. I don’t know where the disconnect is right now.”
Denver now turns to its final NFC West road matchup, a trip to face the Arizona Cardinals on October 25. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. MT on CBS.
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