Nix does something no Bronco had done since Manning

Bo Nix had a mic-drop moment on his first regular season as a pro — and for that, the NFL gave him his second AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

By earning the honor for his efficient, 4-touchdown performance against the Kansas City Chiefs, Nix became the first Broncos player to win a pair of AFC OPOY honors since Peyton Manning did so during his record-smashing 2013 campaign.

Nix also collected the seventh player-of-the-week trophy on offense, defense or special teams for the Broncos this season. This is also the most for the Broncos since 2013, when the team corralled eight such awards.

He opened the game by completing 18-consecutive passes, the most by any quarterback to open a game in club history.

“Bo is — he’s been like that, Mr. Consistent kind of this whole year,” defensive end Zach Allen said.

Nix finished the season with 29 touchdown passes, the second-most for a rookie in NFL history. His 34 total touchdowns — including 4 on the ground and one on a catch in Baltimore — is third-highest in NFL annals, behind only Justin Herbert (2020) and Cam Newton (2011).

The rookie surprised much of the league, but not the Broncos.

“I think we all came out of training camp knowing that this guy was going to be pretty special,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “And it was moments of, ‘Hey, you threw a pick at practice’ or did something at practice that he didn’t like and made sure it was corrected for the next time he did it.

“Bo is a very, very prideful guy. He’s very proud to be the quarterback of our team. And with that comes a great responsibility of being on task, being the guy that can’t make the mistakes. And he’s learned so fast throughout the whole [season].

“… And the thing that you love about Bo is who he is, and it gives you so much confidence in what he’s going to become.”

The best part for the 2024 Broncos is that what he already is was good enough to make them a playoff team.