Bo Nix’s 2026 opener went sideways fast, and by the end of Monday night’s 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the conversation had already turned to whether the Denver Broncos might be looking at something bigger than a bad game.
Nix finished 17-of-? Actually, he completed 17 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown to Evan Engram, but the numbers never told the full story.
The Broncos quarterback also threw an interception to Mansoor Delane on Denver’s first drive, then coughed up the ball on a late-third-quarter sack by Felix Anudike-Uzomah. On the Broncos’ final meaningful chance, he missed Troy Franklin on fourth down with the game already out of reach.
That was enough for Colin Cowherd to throw out a harsh take on Denver’s situation, suggesting Sean Payton could consider moving off Nix - and even offensive coordinator Davis Webb - if he had the chance.
"Roster too good for this mess."
The problems around Nix were obvious all night. Courtland Sutton and Jaylen Waddle, the receivers expected to carry much of the passing load, barely registered, finishing with just 13 yards combined. Instead, Engram and Pat Pryant did most of the work through the air, accounting for 85 receiving yards between them.
Denver couldn’t get anything going on the ground either. JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey managed only 54 yards combined, while reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III ran for 173 yards by himself.
After the game, Nix pointed to Webb and said the offense’s issues were on the players, not the coordinator.
"I think the players did not make it easy on him today. Pretty critical, actually, that he was in the headset. We treated it, like, he was a pro with it."
He added:
"He was like, 'Hey, next play, here we go. You got this.'
He shot it with conviction. I mean, we called exactly what we prepared for and what we wanted.
And we just didn't execute, and then we were behind. I don't think we did a lot of good consistently."
The Broncos get Jacksonville next, with Sunday’s game set for 2:05 p.m. MT on CBS.
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