Losing by three points in a low-scoring game that would have sent the team to the grandest stage of them all, the Super Bowl, is a tough pill to swallow.
After a dominant 14-3 season, that was the Denver Broncos' situation. Denver lost 10-7 to the New England Patriots in the American Football Conference Championship in a defensive battle that saw the Broncos produce just 181 total yards of offense. If it wasn’t bad enough, the loss occurred in front of the Denver faithful.
The Broncos probably wouldn’t have been in that situation had starting quarterback Bo Nix not broken his ankle during one of the final plays against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC divisional round. The aftermath that came with the injury is another story, but the Broncos were forced to move on and start backup QB Jarrett Stidham.
Stidham led a great second drive that included a 52-yard pass to wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. to set up a six-yard touchdown pass to WR Courtland Sutton to open the scoring. Unfortunately, after the scheduled first-15 plays, Stidham looked lost and had no answer for the Patriots’ defense.
Following the loss, most fans on social media believed that the Broncos would have won that game if Nix was playing. We will never know, but the team more than likely would have done much better offensively with Nix on the field.
Nix underwent surgery a couple of days after the win over the Bills and it was a successful surgery with his recovery timeline being 12 weeks. Not only is Nix fully cleared, but he’s further along in his conditioning than he usually is.
“Not only is Broncos QB Bo Nix a full go for the team’s offseason program with zero limitations, fully recovered from ankle surgery – he’s actually further along than he typically is in his offseason conditioning program, per sources,” NFL insider Jordan Schultz wrote on X Wednesday.
Despite having some struggles with footwork, Nix had a solid second season in the NFL and even led the league in passing attempts (612). Head Coach Sean Payton emphasized the passing game much more in the second half of the season and it showed in Nix’s passing numbers.
He was eighth in passing yards (3,931), tied-ninth in passing touchdowns (25), 15th in QB rating (58.3), 25th in completion percentage (63.4), 26th in passer rating (87.8) and threw just 11 interceptions. Not the best numbers, but certainly not the worst for a dual-threat QB.
Nix rushed for 356 yards and five touchdowns on 83 carries with one fumble lost, so he was also a large contributor to the running game. Losing Nix was a brutal blow and had to have a huge impact on the locker room leading up to the AFC Championship, but the hope is Nix is stronger now and will be able to lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl in his third season.