The Denver Broncos had an incredible 2025 season that nearly culminated in a Super Bowl appearance largely because of quarterback Bo Nix.
The Denver Broncos were confident that quarterback Bo Nix would be a difference-maker when it drafted the Oregon Duck 12th overall in the 2024 National Football League draft, and he took a major leap during the 2025 season.
The Broncos went 14-3, won the American Football Conference West division handily and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. Denver came up just short of the Super Bowl, losing 10-7 in the AFC Championship to the New England Patriots, but were without Nix for the win-or-go-home contest.
Nix suffered a broken ankle in the final moments of the divisional round against the Buffalo Bills, leading to backup QB Jarrett Stidham to get the start against the Patriots. Stidham hadn’t completed a pass in two years and didn’t fare well against his former team, completing 17 of 31 passes (54.8 completion percentage) for just 133 yards, one touchdown and an interception.
Had Nix been available for Denver, many speculated that the Broncos would have been able to overcome New England and advance to face the Seattle Seahawks. Nix was quite good for the Broncos despite having some footwork issues in the pocket, showing maturity in a critical area.
After running back J.K. Dobbins suffered a season-ending injury in Week 10, Denver asked Nix to pass the ball a lot more – he ended up leading the NFL in passing attempts (612) and tied Most Valuable Player Matthew Stafford with the third-most completions (388).
He completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 3,931 yards (eighth), 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, leading to a 15th-best QB rating (58.3) but a 28th-best passer rating (87.8).
Nix was excellent when he had a clean pocket to work with, but his production took a hit when he was pressured, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).
“His 89.3 clean-pocket passing grade ranked seventh among qualified quarterbacks, while his 28 big-time throws trailed only Matthew Stafford,” PFF’s Mark Chichester wrote Monday. “Nix paired that aggressiveness with strong ball security, posting a 5.8% big-time throw rate that ranked sixth at the position and a 1.9% turnover-worthy play rate that tied Josh Allen for 11th.”
Nix was among the league’s best when the offensive line held up, but the drop-off when defenses got through to him was third-worst this season.
“Nix's 44.3 passing grade under pressure ranked 27th among qualified quarterbacks, creating one of the largest clean-pocket-to-pressure gaps in the league. His big-time throw rate fell from 5.8% to 3.3%, his turnover-worthy play rate more than doubled and his yards per attempt dropped from 7.2 to 4.5.”
That’s a dramatic change in efficiency, and it’s a clear area needing improvement in Nix’s third season. Only Geno Smith and Joe Flacco had worse drop-offs in passer grade when under pressure; while Flacco is a legend, this is not the company Nix wants to be with.
If he can progress while under pressure, Denver is in a great position moving forward and should have sustained success in the future.
