Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has plenty of haters out there, and to some extent that’s understandable. It’s been easy to criticize Nix when the Broncos offense stalls out time after time against bad teams, but on Sunday Nix delivered consistently without a running game against quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. 

And yet the hate persists. In a piece written by Jeff Howe of The Athletic, he states, “Nix doesn’t operate out of the pocket with timing and processing speed like Brees did. Not yet, at least.”

More hate from Howe: “The Broncos rank 17th in points, 13th in total yards, 17th in passing yards and 21st in net yards per attempt. More or less, they’re average across the board.”

Howe also points out that Nix could really take off in future seasons if he improves his pocket presence and the Broncos add players who can get yards after the catch. For now, however, Nix is a “conundrum,” as evidenced by his conclusion. 

“On the other hand, the scheme fit still looks a little funky. The dramatic ups and downs on offense could doom the Broncos in the postseason. And if there’s something to the “square-peg, round-hole” theory with Nix and the scheme, it’s fair to wonder if there’s a cap on the offense’s potential.

That’s the conundrum.”

Time for a reality check here. If these comments came against a tight game against a bottom feeding team, that would be fine. But Payton was playing Nix’s efforts against his all-world defense, and the lack of a running game put extra pressure on the Broncos quarterback. 

We’re not saying Nix is perfect here—far from it. He’s clearly still developing, and there are occasional stretches where it really shows. 

But Nix gets it. He understands what Payton’s trying to do, and the quarterback is learning to think in lockstep with his coach. He didn’t seem to fight Payton nearly as much when the goal was to simply possess the ball and take time off the clock to put more pressure on Mahomes. 

The real test of all this will come after the bye week. The Broncos have a pair of road games against a couple more of those bottom feeders, specifically the Washington Commanders and the Las Vegas Raiders. The Broncos need to stop playing with their food in those contests if they really want that top-seed bye, especially given how brutal their schedule gets in the four final contests after that.