The Broncos won Thursday night, beating the defending Super Bowl champions in overtime. But the victory comes with a big star; Denver’s offense continues to not be good enough.
As Prime Video’s Ryan Fitzpatrick said after the game, quarterback Bo Nix isn’t good enough.
“Bo Nix is not playing competitively,” Fitzpatrick said, growing increasingly animated as he went. “It’s almost disrespectful to the quarterback position the way that quarterback is playing right now. . . . He doesn’t have confidence from his coach, he calls me a screen play on third-and-eight. . . . Now they’re in the locker room now, they’re excited. They won. He’s not playing competitive football right now. . . . Peyton, (offensive coordinator) everybody that’s holding him back right now.
Later in the postgame show, Fitzpatrick was given another opportunity to elaborate on his criticism of Nix.
“Well, there’s no fire and there’s no passion,” Fitzpatrick said. “And that doesn’t mean you have to yell at the guys on the sideline or cheer on the huddle. You can do it with your game, too. And I just don’t see it. And I just think he needs to sit down and they need to tell him being a quarterback in the NFL is a very special thing. And now he’s taking it for granted. And now he’s taking it for granted. You think, ‘This effort is garbage that we we deserve better.”
For the game, Nix completed 17 of 27 passes for 107 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 71.1. Denver’s offense gained just 168 yards. Seattle won 353.
It remains to be seen if Payton will have anything to say publicly about Nix’s play. Payton may have some pointed things to say privately — and if the issues continue, who knows what will happen?
Because Nix is in his third season, whatever comes next will be critical. Nix will be eligible for a second contract after the season.
And the Broncos’ eventual options could be to either pay him market value or move on. Bot that every team wants to kick the can or pay a mid-level contract to a guy who drops into the “average” category. To consistently win and chase championships, having a franchise quarterback guy is critical.