Nothing grinds my gears quite like a professional athlete claiming that all the narratives we prestigious bloggers toil away at shaping in the Mines of Blog Moria are "made up." Negative? Sure. Petty? Occasionally. Mean spirited? I try not to be, but there are bad apples. But made up? Man, it's usually not made up.
I don't mean to start a fight with Bo Nix's PR team, and based on his wording, I'm not even sure that's what he means. In any case, Nix has not been playing well in the 2026 NFL season. In fact, Bo Nix has never really played well in his NFL career; he was basically a mid-level starter last season on an excellent team, and that's what he is this year. He's 22nd in total EPA, 21st in EPA per play; his completion percentage has dropped and he's thrown six touchdowns to three interceptions. His team is 3-2, and it could easily be worse.
We don't make stuff up. We react to things we see, experience and hear about. That's the job. I saw some data that told me that Bo Nix wasn't playing very well, which happened to match what my eyeballs told me, which was that Bo Nix wasn't playing very well. The most damning number is his average depth of target: 5.81 yards, dead last by a mile. He's already dealt with a playcaller change from Davis Webb to Sean Payton, and things didn't appreciably improve. He's basically running a short-yardage gimmick system and has been unable to produce much of anything down the field.
Bo Nix is not playing at the level required for the Broncos to contend
Quarterback play in the NFL is not one thing, but ideally the guy under center can effectively run the offense and doesn't hurt the team in the process. Nix did that in 2025, and looks like he could perhaps do that in 2026;Â the problem is that the offense isn't itself very effective. The Broncos are 24th in EPA per play, down from 10th in 2025. I don't necessarily think that's Nix's fault, but something is upside down here in Denver and Nix hasn't thus far been able to fix it. That's job number two of the NFL quarterback: fix the problems and elevate the offense.
Nix's inability to improve the unit he's running is thus Denver's main issue. They have invested in receiving talent since last year, have an elite offensive line and no major holes left to fill. They're out of excuses for a middling attack, and Nix's play has simply been their main limitation.
It's a limitation I think Sean Payton and the coaching staff understands, and one they work around with their playcalling. Perhaps Nix is right when he says, "I don’t think necessarily I’m playing any different than what I’m normally playing," but that level still isn't good enough. Is this really all there is to his game? Or is there more, a dynamic Nix that can move out of the college-y system that he played in for, like, 15 years? There might be, but I haven't seen it yet. And I'm not sure the Broncos are contenders until I do.
Add us as a preferred source on Google