Bo Nix is not in good company three weeks into the season

Bo Nix is supposed to be the answer for the Denver Broncos at the quarterback position. After a stellar rookie campaign in which he helped lead the Denver Broncos to the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade, the expectations for him and his team were high heading into his sophomore campaign.

There were questions surrounding a potential sophomore slump throughout the offseason. Former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and current Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud both suffered from a second-year slump after posting phenomenal rookie campaigns, and through the first three weeks of the season, it seems that Nix is heading in that same direction.

There’s still plenty of time for Nix to fix things and turn his season around, just like he did last year. For now, the stats show that he’s been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Numbers don’t lie.

Among quarterbacks who have played at least 100 snaps this season, Nix has the seventh-worst total EPA (-6.31) and EPA per play (-.05), along with the third-worst rushing EPA (-5.47). His 37.61% success rate ranks above only Tennessee’s Cam Ward and Cleveland’s Joe Flacco as well. He’s doing all this with the third-best sack percentage in the league at 2.83% thanks to a very talented offensive line. When the offensive line does let some pressure make its way to Nix, he’s struggled mightily, as he’s 8-for-20 with 54 yards and two interceptions against the blitz. That ranks 31 out 0f 31 among qualified quarterbacks in the league.

The whole world saw him miss Marvin Mims Jr. and Courtland Sutton on two deep passes that would’ve changed the entire complex of Sunday’s loss against the Los Angeles Chargers. He has looked sped up at times and hasn’t set his feet on a few throws where he had an extra tick to do so. There have also been a plethora of plays in which he’s gotten off his progression too quickly to hit the checkdown while longer-developing routes get open in the secondary.

Denver gets LA into the exact look they want, Chargers do a good job taking away the double move, Bo Nix doesn't work the full progression and misses a wide open Marvin Mims. pic.twitter.com/JuQJOPy1oH

— Frankie Abbott (@FrankiesFilm) September 22, 2025

Plays like this are honestly more concerning than the misses deep. Denver is running flood on 3rd and 8, Sutton breaks open on the corner route but Bo already is checking down. If he progressed to his backside the dig from Sherfield is breaking open too. pic.twitter.com/bsakLmn1HE

— Frankie Abbott (@FrankiesFilm) September 22, 2025

These are the little things that many people thought Nix would have cleaned up this season. Even with one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, it still appears that his clock in the pocket is sped up too much and is causing him to rush his process — which hurts the offense in turn.

Again, the season isn’t over for Nix. He got off to a poor start last year and still ended up throwing for the second-most passing touchdowns by a rookie in NFL history. However, many people in Broncos Country aren’t pleased with the fact that his name is constantly popping up alongside the likes of Russell Wilson, Bryce Young and Joe Flacco to start the season, advanced stats or not.

Nix has a good chance to get back on track next week when the Bengals come to town for Monday Night Football, as Cincinnati has allowed the eighth-most passing yards per game in the league so far (240.7), and are coming off a blowout against the Minnesota Vikings in which they let up 48 points and Carson Wentz looked like his prime self after not playing meaningful snaps since 2022 (the two Week 18 games he played in for the Chiefs the last two seasons were not meaningful).

Nix’s coach said that he thought he was throwing the ball accurately on Sunday, and still has plenty of confidence in his young signal caller. The burden is now on the 25-year-old to go out there and right his wrongs as soon as he can.

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