Bo Nix played like a QB who felt the pressure from his head coach

Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix wasn’t sharp on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

Heck, Nix was the first one to admit it after the game.

He said he was “too aggressive” and has “got to be smarter than that” when talking about a pair of interceptions. Nix also had a fumble during a day that won’t go on his career highlight reel.

It wasn’t a good outing for Nix or the Broncos offense.

That was the bad news. The good news is Denver prevailed, riding an unbelievable defensive performance to a 1-0 start after defeating Tennessee by a score of 20-12.

It’s a lot more fun to learn lessons in wins than in losses.

But watching Nix play, something couldn’t be ignored. He looked like he was trying to be perfect and wanting his teammates to be as well. Bo Nix was animated, even barking at people at times. He, quite frankly, looked stressed on the field.

Now, why would that be?

There are a plethora of potential reasons, but one surfaces top of mind. Head coach Sean Payton put a ridiculous amount of pressure on Nix this summer, and he played like a quarterback with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“He’s going to be one of the top four or five quarterbacks in the league the next two years,” Payton told Yahoo’s Charles Robinson in early August. “That’s what we’re seeing right now.”

Come on, coach. What was the upside in saying that?

Did Payton think it would motivate Nix to mix him in with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow?

Bo Nix doesn’t need that. He’s competitive enough as is, wanting to be great and win Super Bowls, regardless of the outside noise. The problem is Payton made this inside noise.

The comments took Broncos Country by storm. Nix and several of his teammates were asked about them during media sessions throughout training camp. Not to mention, Payton also told Robinson in the same article he thinks Denver can win a championship this year.

And generally, when a trophy is lifted, the quarterback has an awful lot to do with it. Bo Nix knows that — anyone who plays or watches the game knows that.

There are obvious exceptions, the Super Bowl 50 champion Broncos being one of them. An all-time great defense helped Peyton Manning, at the very end of his career, hoist a Lombardi Trophy. But don’t discount Manning’s leadership and experience in helping get that done.

Nix might have the leadership, but he doesn’t have the experience yet. He’s played 19 career NFL games if you count the one-and-done against the Bills in the playoffs a season ago.

Yet Payton wants to group him with the elite QBs in the league very soon.

That was a mistake. Nix is only human and of course he heard the chatter and probably even read the article. He tried to fill those massive shoes on Sunday and it simply didn’t work.

Bo Nix looked like he was playing too fast and trying to make the perfect throw every time. It bit him on a couple of tosses. Heck, the Titans dropped at least one more chance for another interception. Honestly, the Broncos were lucky to emerge victorious.

Payton can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, but he did have Nix’s back postgame. That’s a good step, although the head coach probably needs to sit the quarterback down this week and remind him this is still a growing process. Perhaps, Payton should even tell Nix the comments took it a step too far.

That might relax him as Denver heads to Indianapolis to face a Colts team that was a surprise big winner in Week 1. This game suddenly doesn’t look as easy as it did 72 hours ago.

For now, the Broncos can breathe a sigh of relief that they’re 1-0. For Nix, it’s a good reminder to just be himself, because that guy was good enough to win 10 games a season ago.

However, the version we saw of Bo Nix this past weekend won’t sniff that win total. It needs to get fixed in a hurry.

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