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Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterNov 17, 2024, 09:10 PM ET
- Jeff Legwold is a senior writer who covers the Denver Broncos and the NFL at ESPN. Jeff has covered the Broncos for more than 20 years, joining ESPN in 2013. He also assists with NFL draft coverage, including his annual top 100 prospects. Jeff has been a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Selectors since 1999. He has attended every scouting combine since 1987.
DENVER — After what their rookie quarterback did to the Atlanta Falcons Sunday to keep the Denver Broncos in the AFC’s playoff race, some Broncos players said the team’s five-letter rookie quarterback just might have a future with a coveted three-letter award.
Bo Nix, whom the Broncos selected No. 12 overall in this past April’s draft, had career bests in passing yards (307), touchdown passes (4) and completion percentage (84.8%) in the Broncos’ 38-6 demolition of the Falcons at Empower Field at Mile High. The win moved the Broncos to 6-5 and keeps them in the AFC playoff race.
“He’s him,” Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II said. “I told him, ‘Man, you’re trying to win MVP, not even looking like Offensive Rookie of the Year right now, it’s looking like MVP.’ Just a testament to him. He puts the work in.”
Nix, who had no touchdown passes and four interceptions over the first three games of the season, has thrown 13 touchdown passes in the past seven, and nine over the past four. After being last among the league’s starters in completion percentage during the first month, he has had three games with at 73% or better in the past four weeks.
He did not throw an interception Sunday. It was his fourth game in the past five without a pick, and his seventh of the season.
It all enabled the Broncos to bounce back from last week’s potentially soul-crushing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, when the potential winning field goal was blocked on the final play.
“He’s certainly settled in — third down, red zone, there are a lot of things he did really well [Sunday] night,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. ” … It’s our league; you’re learning each week, pretty soon you’re like, ‘I belong here.’ And it’s clear he belongs here.”
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The win also completed the Broncos’ stampede though the NFC South. Four of Denver’s six wins have come against the crossover division on their schedule this year by a combined score of 125-37 over Tampa Bay, Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta.
The rookie’s two highest passing totals of the season — 284 yards against the Panthers and his 300-plus game this week — have come against NFC South teams.
“Those games are a lot of fun,” Nix said. “They’re what you work for, they’re why you play the game, instances like that. I thought everyone had a great day. … I think everybody on this level can feel like they belong. … Each week, like Coach said, I find ways to get better.”
The Broncos now need to get down to AFC business, and AFC West business in particular, in the weeks to come to stay in the playoff chase. Denver entered and exited Sunday as the No. 7 team in the AFC race.
As Nix finds an increasing comfort level in the offense and Payton learns which parts of the playbook make the most sense for the rookie to run, the Broncos face the closing stretch with six AFC games left on the schedule. That slate includes Indianapolis and Cincinnati — two teams immediately behind them in the AFC playoff stack at the moment — with three division games left as well: at the Raiders next Sunday, at the Chargers on Dec. 22 and against the Chiefs in the regular-season finale.
“You feel like you’re in good hands,” Payton said of Nix. “He’s smart with the football. … He’s got that ability to create, and all the while protect the football.”
“Our team is headed in the right direction,” Nix said, “and we just have to continue finding ways to play like we did [Sunday]. … Sometimes you wake up ready to roll. It’s a blessing to be in my spot, in my shoes.”
