Two Key Elements Broncos can Build On from Bo Nix's Ugly Day vs. Jets

Bo Nix struggled in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but there were two key elements to build on.

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix pass vs. the New York Jets. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

It wasn’t pretty on Sunday for Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Amassing just 60 passing yards on 12-of-25 passing (48% completion), Denver’s 10-9 victory over the New York Jets felt more like something out of the Tim Tebow era of incompetent passing than what Broncos Country probably expected out of the 12th pick in this year's draft being coached by Sean Payton.

The Broncos were able to pull out the victory, but more so thanks to one of the best defenses in the NFL through the first quarter of the season.

The weather in East Rutherford, New Jersey, undoubtedly played a large role, specifically in the first half. It wasn’t just Nix that was struggling on Sunday. On the opposite side of the field, future first-ballot Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was coming off of an outstanding performance last Thursday night (281 yards and two touchdowns to zero interceptions), also struggled mightily.

Rodgers was obviously impacted far less by the elements and put up more positive plays on Sunday, eventually tallying 225 yards and completing 57.1% of his passes. Still, it was a slop fest all around at MetLife Stadium.

While Nix’s total output on Sunday was less than stellar, he did turn it around after a historically inefficient first half. Again, the elements played a factor, but this is football, and Nix plays in an open-air stadium — this will not be the last time he'll have to deliver in adverse weather conditions.

Going 7-of-15 for -7 yards in the first half through the air looks like a stat line that a quarterback at, like, New Mexico State would put up against Alabama on the road — not that of an NFL passing attack.

Nix had a very poor game overall on Sunday statistically, but he did enough to help Denver win the game. The first half was absolutely brutal, but in the second half, he hit some big throws down the field to gain chunk yards and move the Broncos offense enough on one excellent drive to score a touchdown — his first NFL passing score. Leading the team on an 87-yard drive to find the end zone and going 3-of-3 on third downs when Denver had been 0-9 to that point in the game was enough.

Key Elements

Two key standouts from Sunday about Nix’s performance, despite the lack of many positives, was the rookie quarterback’s attitude and body language on the field, as well as his ability to avoid negative plays on the field. For many rookie quarterbacks struggling as much as Nix did on Sunday, it would have been enough to go into a shell and spiral out of control.

It would not have been shocking after so many issues throwing the football had Nix tried to do too much, hold onto the ball too long, and make a game-changing negative play by giving it away to the other team.

Nix never appeared to be down in the game as his body language appeared consistent. Yes, his mechanics in the dropback passing game indicated some level of franticness. Still, he never appeared completely frazzled out there on a day when hardly anything was going well for the passing game.

When Payton was asked post-game whether he had lost any confidence in Nix he retorted with a “heck no.”

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The appearance of Nix's calm and collected demeanor, when things were going so poorly, will surely be an asset to his teammates going forward, as there will be plenty of adversity and struggles for the Broncos to face ahead.

Most impressively, though, Nix avoided the catastrophic plays on offense that helped the Broncos battle for field position and forced the Jets have to earn their yardage and nine total points. On the day, Nix threw zero interceptions and also wasn't sacked.

Zero sacks, in contrast to Rodgers taking five on the other side, is notable and a testament to Nix as much as Denver’s defense. Sacks are very much a quarterback stat as that of an offensive line metric.

While there were not too many positive plays from Nix on Sunday, his ability to avoid sacks and protect the football was enough to help set up the Broncos defense to pin its ears back and win on Sunday. A game like Nix had yesterday won’t be enough to get it done in most instances in the NFL, but it worked for the script against the Jets.

The Takeaway

The Broncos will have to find a way to be more consistent in passing the ball as the season marches on, but perhaps playing in horrible weather conditions against a strong defense on the road will be an outlier compared to future performances. Regardless, Nix's unwavering, consistent body language on the field, even-keel display of confidence, and consistent knack for avoiding big negative plays is something to continue to build on and was enough to win a gutsy one on Sunday.

After an 0-2 start, the Broncos went 2-0 on the road on the East Coast and are right back in this thing.

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