The Denver Broncos have an offensive consistency problem. Specifically, their offense has been consistently offensive for long stretches during games, and this trend finally peaked against the Las Vegas Raiders last week.
The fan base has decided that quarterback Bo Nix is the entire problem, so the race to fix Nix is officially on. Everyone has answers, and they include options that are both sensible and nonsensical (e.g., replacing Nix with backup QB Jarrett Stidham). Coach Sean Payton is the guy tasked with making the fix, though, and he has a different solution in mind.
“We got to keep working with his clock,” Payton said of his quarterback in an article written by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, “because it gets quick. There’s someone open, and there’s some throws he’s going to want to correct.”
Save the time-related clock jokes—there’s a serious strategic element to this for Payton. He thinks Nix’s ability to avoid sacks is something that’s critical to Denver’s winning formula, and he’s got a point. Sacks derail drives, and the Broncos sack differential rate of +35, which is the best in the league by a lot.
Nix has thrown 91 passes under pressure, according to Pro Football Focus, and he’s hit just 42 of those throws, which ranks 24th out of 33 qualified quarterbacks. He’s near the bottom of the league in other pressure stats, including passer rating and yards per attempt on those throws.
The eye test verifies that in spades. Nix often looks jumpy in the pocket when Denver gets in these inconsistent offensive stretches, and Payton is playing the long game when it comes to correcting this particular quarterback problem.
“I think it’s a plus and a minus,” Payton said of Nix’s fast-ticking internal clock. “I’ve said that before. I think one of his great strengths is not taking sacks, and so the clock in his head is relative to that sense of urgency.
“I think there is a fine line of No. 1, the depth of route. Is this a longer developing play, a seven-step drop, a five-step drop, a three-step drop — and what should be the appropriate time (to deliver the ball)? I think that’s a much easier problem to correct than the latter, which is taking the sacks and, historically speaking, has proven to be much more difficult to fix.”
Payton doesn’t have much time to fix this, especially not with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to town. The Broncos’ playoff picture is about to come into a much sharper focus, and the clock is clearly ticking.