Given the Denver Broncos current nine-game winning streak, you’d think quarterback Bo Nix has passed every possible test to establish himself as a franchise quarterback. Nix has done it all when it comes to derring-do comeback wins, and now it’s time to focus on nailing down the number one seed for the playoffs.
But that’s not quite completely true. The number one seed part sounds right, but Nix faces a strangely different test this week against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Think back to the last time these two teams met. It was a 10-7 Broncos win that featured some of the ugliest offensive football you’ll ever see, and in many ways it was a typically nasty-looking Thursday night game.
But Nix hasn’t led the Broncos to many laughers throughout this strange win streak. Denver’s 44-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8 sort of qualifies, but other than that you’d have to go all the way back to Week 4 and the 28-3 pounding the Broncos gave the Cincinnati Bengals to find a comfortable win.
That’s the challenge for Nix this week: Lead the Broncos to a comfortable victory based simply on the inequities between these two teams.
It’s not a huge ask. The Raiders have been pushovers for just about every recent opponent, save for the Broncos in that Thursday night game.
This is Nix’s chance to show that he can lead Denver to a comfortable, easy game. No last minute offensive heroics. No defensive stands. No dangerous detours into overtime, where disasters can and frequently do occur.
Nix and the Broncos have been questioned for their lack of consistency, and this is also a chance to change the narrative. Their record-setting streak has been fun to watch, but if the Broncos are going to become a number-one seed, they need to step up and play like it.
The defense will almost certainly do its job. They have been for weeks, and it seems almost certain that Raiders quarterback Geno Smith is going to have a bad day. Las Vegas has all sorts of problems protecting the quarterback, and that isn’t going to miraculously change this week.
It’s also a chance for the Broncos to show that they can a ground game going now that running back J.K. Dobbins is likely out for the year. It’s also a good chance for fellow running back RJ Harvey to show that he can carry that ground game, which is something Denver will need going forward.