Like Tim Tebow, the Broncos' Bo Nix is ​​always easier to appreciate than explain

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The Oregon Duck looked like a fish out of water.

Bo Nix couldn't contain himself. His throws were as slippery as the ball in his right hand and fell strangely in all directions.

Has he considered putting on a glove since he became the first NFL quarterback since 1991 to complete three passes and record negative yardage in the first half?

“I didn’t,” Nix told the Denver Post as the locker room emptied and the smoke cleared from Club Dub’s celebration of a surprising 10-9 victory over the New York Jets. “I’ve never worn one.”

That's the thing with Nix. He feels comfortable in his skin. He knows who he is and what he can do, even if the game he loves mocks him. He reminds me of Tim Tebow. In a good way.

Through four games, Nix was easier to appreciate than explain.

On a rainy, wet and miserable Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, Nix made the idea of ​​the forward pass seem like a foreign concept. Tebow once won a game in Kansas City in 2011 with two completions. Nix won Sunday when he didn't complete a pass beyond the line of scrimmage until the third quarter.

He's not Tebow. Let's be clear. Tim's favorite receiver was the floor, which left those who actually ran jealous and confused. Nix scores with receivers, but the distance was tight for long stretches in Seattle and against Pittsburgh and the Jets. Or even worse.

But surprisingly, surprisingly and consistently, Nix does not manage to lose his self-confidence.

“He won’t bat an eyelid. He doesn't flinch. It doesn’t matter what the situation is,” said right-back Quinn Meinerz. “We know the pieces will take care of themselves. We will all continue to do our jobs. None of us care about the statistics. I never knew he had negative seven yards passing. All we care about is winning.”

This is where the Tebow comparison comes into play. Tebow always thought he would pull out a win, even as the offense sputtered, wavered and stumbled for 58 minutes.

Nix also has unwavering mental strength. He's centered, a 24-year-old who's grown beyond his years. And like Tebow, Nix is ​​deeply religious. Scripture tells us that faith is believing in what cannot be seen.

Nix clearly remained blind to the odds that were stacked against him. The Broncos trailed 6-0 midway through the third quarter. Nix was 8 for 19 for 16 yards. Denver had converted on a third down.

The Broncos defense showed a cowboy mentality while the offense continued to roll together fluidly. Nevertheless, there was no panic in Nix. There should have been drops of sweat running down his face and pterodactyls fluttering in his stomach. But when it seemed like there was only a narrow path to an upset – a pick-six, a scoop-and-score or a special teams touchdown – competence showed up.

Facing third-and-11 from his own 24-yard line, Nix stood firmly in the pocket and delivered a 29-yard strike to Courtland Sutton. I could practically hear him exhaling from the press box six stories above the damp turf.

“You get back there, you let it develop, you rip it out and trust that he's going to get it done,” said Nix, who completed 12 of 25 passes and wasn't sacked for the second straight game. “And he actually gets there. It almost turned the field around.”

The turning points in this game were more like NASCAR tracks and brought us back to the starting line. But that completion was the moment the offense showed it was capable of doing just enough.

Five plays later, Nix made personal history by recording his first touchdown pass – an 8-yard lob to a wide-open Sutton in the back of the end zone. Nix and Sutton combined for one of the strangest statistics of all time. Sutton caught three passes for 60 yards. Six other players caught nine passes for zero yards.

There are only ugly losses. There are no ugly victories.

“Three cities, two wins, that’s wild,” left tackle Garett Bolles said of the Broncos’ trip through Tampa Bay, Sulfur Springs and East Rutherford. “It doesn’t matter what it looked like. We made it.”

And that seems to be the lesson of Nix as the lead in The Rookie. There were more scribbles than Picasso. However, Payton trusts him. On Sunday he said with a straight face that he thought Nix “played well” and pointed to the miserable weather for the miserable numbers.

“I wish you could go to dinner with him,” Payton explained of the boy he sees behind the scenes.

Nothing wasn't finished. When given the opportunity to run out the clock, he left the gnarly defense to make a final stand, which resulted in Greg Zuerlein missing his 50-yard field goal.

Two scoring drives won't win many, if any, games in the future. In one of them, Nix completed two passes. He had no possession of the ball at the start. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio and Tim Tebow? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

It doesn't make any sense. And that's okay. A quarter of the season, that's Bo Nix.

Passing Grade: Where Bo Nix's performance historically ranks among the Broncos' winning quarterbacks

How rare is it for the Broncos to win a game when their quarterback performs like Bo Nix did on Sunday in New Jersey? Consider this: In the franchise's 65-year history, the Broncos have won only six times when their starting QB threw for 65 yards or fewer while attempting 15 or more passes, and three of those came in the AFL. Here's a look at each one:

Originally published: September 29, 2024 at 5:50 p.m