Bo Nix’s season has been defined by slow starts and a lot of second-guessing, but the last two weeks have started to tilt the conversation. After the Broncos’ 26-21 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, the rookie quarterback has a little more breathing room and a lot more evidence that he’s settling in.
Against Carolina, Nix completed 67.6% of his passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. It was one of his better passing performances of the year, and it came with Denver heading into its bye at 7-2. More than the numbers, though, the game offered a clear snapshot of what the Broncos have been waiting to see: patience.
That’s been the theme around Nix for weeks, especially on “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan. Mike Evans put it plainly on a recent show.
“Bo Nix is figuring it out,” Evans said.
He went further from there.
“Bo Nix is showing more patience, he’s seeing the field better, he’s not panicking, and after the first read is open taking off and running,” Evans said.
That criticism has followed Nix all season. He opened the year by fumbling three times in Kansas City, then passed up open receivers in San Francisco and later managed only 107 passing yards against Seattle, a game that fueled talk about whether he should be benched. For much of that stretch, he was leaving clean pockets too early, drifting right, missing open first reads and settling for checkdowns before plays had a chance to develop.
Sunday looked different.
The clearest example came on Nix’s 26-yard touchdown to Pat Bryant. Brandon Stokley broke down the play on the show, and the design appeared to be aimed at Courtland Sutton.
Sutton was covered tightly, and earlier in the season that might have sent Nix scrambling or forced him to give up on the play. This time, he stayed in place, moved to the next read and found Bryant for the score.
The touchdown drew a strong reaction from Evans, who tied it back to the complaints that had been building since the San Francisco game.
“Your description of the Bryant touchdown warms my heart. It warms my heart because, you know, this is what you guys were talking about going back to that San Francisco game. That there were plays to be made if he just, you know, stayed patient, and just hung in there a little longer, there were plays to be made,” Evans said.
That San Francisco loss had been Nix’s low point. He completed just 1 of 9 throws of 10 or more air yards, and Mark Schlereth said the loss was “100%” on him after counting five or six open chunk plays in the first half that never got thrown.
The offense was creating chances. Nix wasn’t taking them.
The Bryant touchdown was the opposite. The first look was gone, the quarterback didn’t flinch, and the second option was there waiting.
“But the fact that he moved off the first option and went to the second option, and the second option was wide open for a TD. I mean, that just shows the growth in Bo and this offense,” Evans said.
It was also a useful moment for Bryant, who stood out in training camp but has not yet become a bigger part of the passing game as the season has gone on.
The Broncos are not finished products on offense. They still need sharper execution over four quarters, a steadier run game and more consistency from week to week. But after a stretch in which the defense was carrying the load and the offense was holding the team back, the last two games suggest the balance may be starting to shift.
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