ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Bo Nix learned what it's like to be an NFL quarterback during the 2024 season, his rookie year. But now, 11 games into the 2025 season, Nix might be learning what it is to be the Denver Broncos' quarterback. And that's a position that can sometimes make for a difficult, frustrating and rocky ride.
Shortly after John Elway returned to the Broncos as their general manager a decade after his Hall of Fame playing career had ended, he was asked what was more difficult for him as a young player -- fulfilling the job as Broncos quarterback or having the job of quarterbacking for Denver.
"Having the job, no question," Elway said without hesitation. "You get here because of your abilities and you're confident those abilities are going to show through in games, but what it is to be the quarterback of this organization, with your play, your responsibility to your teammates, this city, you have it all when you're trying to make that throw to win a game. It's not for everybody."
Nix is the latest to take that position, and he has helped lead the Broncos to a 9-2 record after Sunday's 22-19 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. They are tied with the New England Patriots for the NFL's best record and have an eight-game winning streak -- their longest since 2012 -- behind an elite defense that's worthy of a deep playoff run.
But the Broncos' offense -- and specifically Nix's play within it -- has been a point of contention. Seven of Denver's nine wins have been by one score, and the Broncos have had to come from behind in the fourth quarter in five of them. Nix has been the league's fourth-quarter king so far this season, throwing seven fourth-quarter touchdown passes (tied for third in the league) while rushing for two more scores. But he has needed heroics because of uneven play during the first three periods.
The Broncos have consistently sputtered on offense. They have the second highest percentage of drives that end in three-and-outs in the NFL (28.9%), and Nix's inconsistent play is a factor there. He ranks 27th in the NFL in completion percentage (61.2%), four points lower than where he stood through 11 games as a rookie. He is 28th out of 34 QBs in NFL Next Gen Stats' completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) at minus-3.2%, just above rookies Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward and Dillon Gabriel.
That has created a rinse-and-repeat element to Denver's wins. The defense keeps the Broncos in games until Nix catches momentum in the fourth quarter to bring home the victory. There have been questions about whether that approach is sustainable, but both Nix and coach Sean Payton have bristled at the criticism after wins -- critiques most often directly aimed at Nix's play or Payton's playcalling decisions. Nix and the offense were even booed heartily by the home crowd in a 10-7 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10.
"People are always entitled to their opinions," Nix said Sunday night after the Chiefs win. "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.
"Everybody's always going to say something. For some reason, we're always going to be talked down upon, and that's OK."
That's part of the Broncos quarterbacking gig in a football-loving region that owns the NFL's longest sellout streak, dating to the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. Former Denver mayor Michael Hancock once joked that the Broncos' QB1 is the person "under the biggest microscope of anybody in this state."
Nix's teammates have been quick to defend him from much of what they see as unwarranted or uninformed criticism -- usually adding a nod to the Broncos' current record, their spot atop the AFC West standings or their proficiency in close games.
"If you talk s--- about Bo online, you're a coward," Broncos tight end Adam Trautman said Sunday night. "Absolute coward ... [Nix] blanks it out and we talked about it [last] week, we don't care what other people think, we know what we have in the building, what he's made of. ... So Dragonslayer69 with a Slurpee in his mom's basement, I don't give a s--- what he has to say, right? And Bo doesn't, either."
When asked about Nix's play in recent weeks, several league offensive coaches and personnel executives consistently pointed to Nix's footwork, which they say has been spottier this season than it was when he was a rookie. They also mentioned that Nix has more of a penchant for "fadeaway jumper" type passes, which at times impact his accuracy.
And multiple people said Nix appears to be uncomfortable with the pace of the offense, outside of the late-game drives when the team is in more of a hurry-up mode. They cited the delivery of playcalls from Payton to Nix, as the Broncos often substitute multiple players after each play.
"They're winning and he's been really good late in games, and that's all that matters -- I know that," a long-time quarterbacks coach said. "But big picture, I'd be concerned that they look hurried all the time even when they're not trying to play fast. I'm not there -- I don't know if they put more on his plate [than last year], but they look hurried, and not good hurried.
"And he plays that way after the snap sometimes, leaving-the-pocket-when-he-doesn't-have-to type thing. When he climbs [the pocket], it's not always looking for a play, it's more sudden, like 'Get me out of here.'"
Payton has consistently swatted away questions about tempo and substitution patterns, responding, "Here comes the tempo question, let's go," when it was broached after Sunday's game. He says he believes switching personnel groupings often is more challenging to defenses and stated a desire to continue to do so. He instead points to the Broncos' 55 offensive penalties (second most in the NFL) as his unit's biggest issue.
Payton was succinct when asked to assess Nix's play after the win over the Chiefs.
"He's outstanding," Payton said. "I think [Nix played] real well, he won. It's his job. He won against a pretty stingy defense that can give you problems."
The Broncos are where they wanted to be coming into the bye, as they would have the No. 1 seed in the AFC if the season ended today. But as Payton has often said to his team, "They'll play in bigger games." The team's offense, Nix specifically, will have to be better to make those bigger games a reality. Nix has said he's ready to face that challenge head on.
"Some say, 'If you're scared, go to church,'" Nix said. "If you're going to play this sport ... you can't really be intimidated or there's really no sense in going out there. If you don't believe you're going to win and eventually you get to the top, then I feel like you waste so much time throughout the week. But we work hard and we put together a great team to win games like Sunday."