Bo Nix’s season has reached a point where opponents appear to know the script before the snap.
Five games in, Denver sits at 3-2, but the offense still hasn’t settled into any real identity. Nix has had trouble pushing the ball downfield - including a 1-of-9 showing on throws of 10 or more air yards in the loss to San Francisco - and he’s been bailing from the pocket before plays can fully develop. That combination has made him easier to attack than the Broncos would like.
On a recent edition of “Dover and Cecil” on 104.3 The Fan, Josh Dover said the issue is simple: defenders have found a pattern.
“He is so predictable. You know what I mean? Like Bo Nix, it is so easy to get Bo to do what you wanna do,” Dover said.
Dover said it’s a little like facing the kind of opponent who can be nudged off his game with the right button push.
“And I think all of us have played sports, and there’s a hothead on the other side, and Bo’s not this, but you go, ‘Oh, if I talk a little junk, I’m gonna take this guy out of his game immediately,'” Dover said.
He was clear that Nix is not a hothead. The larger point, though, is that defenses have identified the pressure point.
With most players, that’s emotion. With Nix, it’s the rush.
That’s where the blueprint comes in.
“Bo is so predictable and so easy to prepare for. Blitz him.
He’s gonna flush out to the right. If something’s not a given 100% success rate, he’s gonna throw it out of bounds, and they’re gonna try it again on the next play,” Dover said.
That tendency has become a problem for Denver’s offense. When extra rushers come and the coverage behind them is sound, Nix often moves right.
If nothing is clearly there, he gives up on the play and sends the ball away. It’s understandable on one level - he has been among the league’s better quarterbacks at avoiding sacks throughout his career - but it also means drives can disappear fast.
A throwaway on first down turns into second-and-10, and another one puts the offense behind the sticks again.
That’s how possessions stall out. If the quarterback doesn’t let the routes finish, especially on calls where a receiver may come open a beat later, the Broncos never get the chance to breathe.
Of course, this isn’t all on Nix. After the Chargers game, Brandon Stokley said the Broncos “don’t pick up blitzes at all,” and that kind of breakdown makes the quarterback’s job a whole lot tougher. Even so, the line has had stretches this season where the protection has held up, and in those moments Nix has to stay put, trust what’s in front of him and work through his reads.
That’s the same remedy Cecil Lammey and Mark Schlereth have been stressing for weeks: calm feet, eyes downfield and faith in the protection. If Nix can stand in against pressure and find the receiver who opens up because of it, defenses will have to think twice about bringing extra rushers.
For now, though, the film says teams don’t have much reason to stop.
The Seahawks are next as Denver finishes its six-game opening stretch, and they’ve surely seen the same tendencies. If Nix keeps flushing right and throwing the ball away, Seattle will have every reason to keep blitzing until he gives them a different answer.
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