Spelling out what Bo Nix has to fix in order to eliminate the slow starts

The Broncos are 2-1, and both wins took a lot out of their fans. Denver needed 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points to beat Jacksonville 20-13. A week later, they trailed the Rams 16-0 at halftime before winning 30-26.

Those comebacks say a lot about the team’s character. They also aren’t something you can count on every week.
On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, Mike Evans asked Schlereth to put himself in the head coach’s shoes.

“What’s Bo’s role in these slow starts? You get to role play, you’re Sean Payton. How would he answer it?” Evans asked.

Schlereth started with how Nix processes the field.

“You can’t predetermine where you’re gonna throw the ball, you got to read out the coverage, and you got to throw it to the right guy. Right? Through your progression. And then he’s got to hang in the pocket a little bit more,” Schlereth said.

He then pointed to the habit he’s seen most often early in games.

“He’s got to operate from the pocket a little bit more. Not get spooked out of there. His eyes are dropping occasionally, he’s looking at the rush, and taking his eyes off the coverage. And so, he’s gonna have to be a little bit more patient in there,” Schlereth said.

That ties together much of what Denver has dealt with this season. When Nix looks down at the pass rush, he loses track of the coverage. That leads to rushed decisions and bailing out of pockets that were still clean. Late in games, with the clock forcing him to act, he seems to play with more freedom. Early in games, he can look like he’s thinking too much.

Schlereth came back to the same point.

“And then read your progression out. Just don’t predetermine where you’re gonna throw the football,” he said.

He was careful not to put all of it on the quarterback.

“There’s plenty of fingerprints on why they have slow starts. And it’s from a schematic standpoint, from an execution standpoint, just from a mental assignment standpoint. So you look at all three of those things, those are the things that are costing them early in games,” Schlereth said.

That puts some of the responsibility on Davis Webb’s opening scripts, on the offensive line and on everyone else in the huddle. Nix’s part is still clear: keep his eyes downfield, trust the protection and go through his reads.

Against Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers on Sunday, falling behind early could cost Denver the game.

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