TAMPA — Bo Nix‘s first NFL win came in dominant fashion on Sunday as the Denver Broncos waxed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-7.
In his third career start, Nix looked like the player Sean Payton hoped he would be when the Broncos used their 12th pick in the draft on the signal caller.
“I say this, and I mean this,” the head coach said after the Broncos’ win on Sunday, when asked about Nix getting his first career NFL win. “It’s so important, and I include myself and the offensive coaching staff – it’s our job to paint a perfect picture for this player. And if we do that, and we used to say that about whoever is under [center] – our job as coaches, as receivers… we have to paint the picture, and when we do that, this guy is going to be something.”
“This guy is going to be something.”
Payton isn’t afraid to put high expectations on the 24-year-old rookie. And this isn’t the first time then head coach has spoken very highly of Nix.
Minutes after the Broncos drafted the Oregon signal caller, Payton made it clear that Nix was their quarterback in the draft. Additionally, Adam Schefter tweeted on draft night that Payton felt as strongly about Nix as he did about Patrick Mahomes coming out of college.
On Sunday in Tampa, Nix took a positive step in proving Payton and the Broncos right.
Nix led scoring drives on six of nine drives — not including the final drive in which the Broncos drained the clock — to a season-high 26 points against a defense that was averaging giving up only 18 points per game entering Sunday.
For much of the game, Nix put the offense on his back and carried them through the air and on the ground. Until Tyler Badie broke a 43-yard run in the fourth quarter, Nix was not only the team’s leading passer, but he was also their leading rusher.
Through the air, the rookie finished 25-of-36 for 216 passing yards and wasn’t sacked a single time.
“We had protection, we had a real good plan relative to getting in and out of some audibles. Bo handled it very well,” Payton said, praising his quarterback. “We were going to have answers if it came.”
On the ground, Nix was the team’s second-leading rusher, racking up 47 yards and a touchdown on 5.2 yards per carry.
After a difficult 0-2 start to Nix’s career and the Broncos’ season, there were questions about the rookie’s confidence. The head coach never bought into the idea that Nix’s confidence had dropped.
After Sunday’s win, Payton slammed the door shut on even entertaining the idea that Nix’s confidence has ever wavered.
“No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, stop, stop, it’s fitting your narrative. Stop,” the head coach said, interrupting a reporter who was asking if Nix was more confident on Sunday than the two weeks before. “Kid’s been confident. Kid’s been through Auburn, he’s transferred. He’s won and won and won and won and honestly, I haven’t seen him flinch. We all get a little bit more confident with a win, but I say that respectfully. He hasn’t flinched. We had a good plan. The players did a good job and certainly he had more fun than he did in prior weeks.”
The head coach left no doubt about how he feels about his rookie quarterback.
In his 18 months as the Broncos’ head coach, Payton hasn’t always had his quarterbacks backs.
But since Bo got to town, the head coach has always had his back and never wavered in his confidence in the rookie. Sean Payton made that clear once again on Sunday after Bo Nix got his first NFL win.
