Bo Nix, the new starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, has been that quarterback this season. His impact has been huge in charging the team towards an outstanding 9-2 start. Nix is best known for his late-game heroics. He has the claim to be the CFL’s “fourth-quarter king,” with seven touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of games. His leadership has been sorely needed by the Broncos in darker days. He’s guided them to seven one-score wins, five of which have needed gutty comebacks in the fourth quarter.
Even with the team’s success, Nix’s performances have resulted in inconsistent and mixed critical reception. His completion percentage is just 61.2%, 27th among NFL signal-callers. To further illustrate how much he’s struggled, he currently sits 28th in CPOE at minus-3.2%. This inconsistency is due to a number of reasons. Sometimes this affects his accuracy because it’s a different kind of passing style with fadeaway jumper throws. On top of that, Nix’s footwork has already looked lost in 2022, needing more overall polish than during his freshman campaign.
The Broncos most recently had to overcome some serious adversity in a closely fought contest with their AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10. Even with a fortunate 10-7 win sucked out, Nix and the attack were greeted by booing by the home fans. This sharp response underscores just some of the burdens he carries as his team’s QB.
To his credit, even while throwing up the interior defenders, Nix has recognized the blowing winds of the outside criticism.
“They’re always going to say what they think. … At the end of the day, you just got to block it out. You can’t involve yourself with what’s outside the building because if you do, it’ll just bog you down, get you distracted, and you start worrying about things you shouldn’t be worrying about.”
His dogged determination to stay true to playing the game instead of playing the media is part of what makes him so determined in the first place.
Teammates have come to Nix’s defense in light of the lobbying against him. They argue that their unprecedented winning record is indicative of the tremendous impact he has already made. Tight end Adam Trautman reiterated those sentiments with a forceful defense of his quarterback, saying,
“If you talk s
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