If Bo Nix struggles in the elements, the Broncos will be in trouble

Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix had his struggles against the New York Jets on Sunday.

And that might be an understatement.

Nix had a brutal first half in a steady rain at MetLife Stadium. He went 7/15 for negative-seven yards through two quarters. Yes, Nix completed seven passes and somehow sent the Broncos backwards before the team went to the locker room.

Luckily, the rain settled down in the second half and Nix was able to get to 60 yards for the game. Most importantly, he led a long touchdown drive, finding Courtland Sutton in the end zone and helping Denver escape with a 10-9 win.

But just because the Broncos won doesn’t mean we can ignore the elephant in the room. Nix looked awful in the rain. What happens when it snows?

Yeah, it’s way too hot for the first day of October, but the Broncos will play in the elements at least a few times a year. Heck, perhaps the most heartbreaking loss in franchise history came to the Baltimore Ravens when it was 13 degrees at kickoff. Rahim Moore couldn’t judge a Joe Flacco fling at the end of the game and Peyton Manning’s first season in Denver ended in sadness.

The point is that if Nix can get the Broncos where they want to go, which is eventually back to the playoffs and beyond, he’s going to play cold / wet / windy / foggy / snowy games in December and January.

The rookie didn’t pass his first test.

Nix appeared to be shot-putting the football, unable to get a grip on it and looking beyond awkward in the process. It’s not like he played college football at Miami, he was up at Oregon the last two years. Eugene gets an average of 46.15 inches of rain per year. The young man has clearly played in tough conditions before.

So, what was that against the Jets? It certainly wasn’t pretty. At least Nix owned it after the game, saying he knew he needed to get going in the third quarter.

“At that point it didn’t matter if the weather cleared up. I had to go out there and contribute and be efficient and find ways to get us in the end zone. Find ways to win the game at that point,” Nix told reporters on Sunday.

And to his credit, he did that. Nix was the thrower of the only touchdown of the day, as the Broncos defense kept future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers out of the end zone.

“We were talking on the sidelines, it’s not going to be a picture perfect game when the weather’s like that,” Nix said. “You’re going to have some grit, some toughness to pull that out and that’s what we did.”

But it also stopped really raining.

It’s a little curious Nix never wore a glove. Some QBs aren’t comfortable with one on their throwing hand, but Nix couldn’t have possibly looked more uncomfortable. His throwing motion wasn’t going to get worse with a glove.

Head coach Sean Payton should’ve approached Nix and asked him to try one out. If it was that bad in the rain, what’s it going to look like in a blizzard in December or January?

Again, the Broncos won, but that shouldn’t let us dismiss the obvious. Nix needs to be able to play in miserable weather. At some point in his career, the team will travel to Kansas City in December. Can you imagine if the AFC West is on the line and Nix can’t perform because it’s freezing at Arrowhead?

Victories are nice. But ignoring lessons that should be learned in triumphs is a mistake. Payton needs to get with Nix and have a serious talk about how he can play better the next time the Broncos take the field in a storm.

Because what we saw against the Jets wasn’t good enough. And that will inevitably be a problem down the road.