MILE HIGH MONDAY: WEEKLY SPORTS NEWS
Nearly flawless game is a perfect bow on Bo Nix’s rookie season
Jan 6, 2025, 5:17 AM
The Denver Broncos are going to the NFL Playoffs! They beat the Kansas City Chiefs 38-0 in Week 18 to secure the No. 7 seed in the AFC, and Broncos fans spent Sunday night celebrating.
I like when the Broncos are in the postseason. It’s been too long, but this is what Broncos Country is all about.
I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep Wrangler TJ! The following is a result of those trips during the week.
Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.
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Bo Nix Almost Perfect
Every week it seems like quarterback Bo Nix gets better and better. Against the Chiefs, Nix was almost perfect. He finished the game with a team record of 89.7 percent passing, and he threw a whopping four touchdown passes. Nix was not just dumping passes off to win, but instead he was attacking the defense on all levels of the field and having great success.
Nix is a supercomputer. He makes mistakes, but he learns quickly from them. Last week against the Cincinatti Bengals, I felt Nix abandoned the pocket too soon on multiple throws. He did make some big throws while off platform, but when the pocket was clean, I felt he left too soon and made things more difficult for himself. Those mistakes were cleaned up against the Chiefs as he spent most of the game picking them apart from within the pocket.
His passes got there in a hurry on Sunday afternoon. Nix wasn’t just tossing moon balls up for his receivers to run under, he was hitting guys in stride and between defenders. I like the way the ball jumped from his hands. This starts with great footwork, and it continues with a clean delivery. His mechanics have been up-and-down this year, but against the Chiefs I felt he was right on point.
Devaughn Vele grabs the touchdown pass to make it 21-0 Broncos. That is Bo Nix's 28th touchdown pass this year, the second-most by a rookie in NFL history. Additionally, he now has 18 touchdown passes at home, the most by a rookie in NFL history.
— Tyler Gorse (@Tyler_Gorse_) January 5, 2025
Nix threw one more touchdown after that pass to Vele in the end zone. He finished his rookie season with 29 passing touchdowns, 19 of them at home. It’s a great start to his pro career, and one has to wonder what he can do as Nix continues to get better.
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Pay That Man His Money
Sutton and Nix have been a great combination this year. It didn’t take long for the duo to connect for a big play, one that earned Sutton a cool $500,000. During the offseason, Sutton was staying away from voluntary workouts as he sought a new contract. The Broncos did not give him a new deal, but they did put incentives in Sutton’s contract that would earn him another $1.5 million if reached.
Sutton got all his incentives. He already earned $1 million in bonuses by going over 500 receiving yards and 750 receiving yards. When Sutton went over 1,065 receiving yards, his final incentive was reached. It was a great move for Broncos head coach Sean Payton to ensure that Sutton got to those numbers.
He had 10 touchdowns last year with QB Russell Wilson, so there were some who questioned whether he would have similar chemistry with a new quarterback. While he didn’t get 10 touchdowns, Sutton did get eight grabs in the end zone. Add in his 1,000-yard season, the second of his career, and I think you can clearly answer that Sutton’s chemistry with Nix is stronger than it was with Wilson.
The play that got @SuttonCourtland over 1,000 receiving yards on the season.
📺: CBS
pic.twitter.com/lW1orLIKlQ— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) January 5, 2025
Sutton has one year left on his deal, but there might be an extension for him in the future. He’s connected with Nix so strongly that the Broncos would be wise to keep this combination clicking together for years to come.
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Sacks are a QB Stat
The Broncos offensive line has played good football this year. I can always tell when someone has not watched the team closely when I hear fans (or even some in the media) commenting on how poor the line play has been. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Broncos are a top pass-blocking unit in the league. Part of that is their play, and their skill in one-on-one blocking situations. Part of that is from Nix. The blockers are putting in the work, but Nix is also getting rid of the ball regularly on time and on target.
Ask any offensive lineman, and they will tell you that sacks are mostly a quarterback stat. The average time from snap-to-sack is 2.5 seconds, but the average time before release is 2.3 seconds. If a quarterback is dialed in and understands the offense, he will be getting rid of the ball before the best defenders can get to him.
I’ve been saying this and people think I’m just protecting OLines. I believe in today’s game play callers and quarterbacks have the majority of responsibility for sacks https://t.co/NZhFVmR6oU
— Mark Schlereth (@markschlereth) January 5, 2025
Protecting Nix will be priority no.1 in the postseason. That comes from the work up front on the line, but it clearly comes from the quarterback himself.