Sean Payton will either fix Bo Nix or ruin him

Sean Payton and the Broncos are 4-2, but Nix is playing the worst football of his career, and the midday show says what happens next is up to the head coach.

The Broncos made it through their six-game opening stretch at 4-2. That’s a good record, but it hides a problem that is getting harder to ignore. Bo Nix is struggling, and he hasn’t shown signs of turning it around.

On Thursday night, Nix completed 17 of 27 passes for 107 yards in the 17-14 overtime win over Seattle. It was the second-worst passing game of his three-year career. Two of the three lowest air-yard performances of his career have also come this season. Denver keeps winning because of its defense and special teams, not its quarterback.

On a recent edition of “Dover and Cecil” on 104.3 The Fan, Cecil Lammey said the situation now comes down to two possible outcomes, and both depend on one person.

“There’s only two ways this thing goes with Bo Nix. And Sean Payton, you’re in charge of the way it goes,” Lammey said.

He started with the outcome Denver wants.

“The first way is you fix him,” Lammey said.

Lammey didn’t claim to know exactly what’s wrong. He gave two possibilities that point in opposite directions.

“You fix him, you get through to him. He either thinks he’s too good, or either thinks he’s not good enough. Whatever it is, get him right Sean,” Lammey said.

Both explanations fit what Broncos Country has seen this season. Joel Klatt argued that Nix wants to make big plays downfield so badly that he skips the easy completions, which could look like a quarterback who thinks he’s too good to take the short throw. Mark Schlereth pointed to Nix’s body language and said he looks like a player carrying too much, which sounds more like someone who doesn’t trust himself. Either way, Payton has to figure out which one it is and find a way to get through to him.

Then Lammey gave the other outcome.

“So Sean either fixes him… or ruins him,” Lammey said.

That’s a heavy statement, and Lammey didn’t soften it. Sean Payton drafted Nix, built the offense around him and staked much of his reputation in Denver on that choice. Payton is also back to calling plays after taking the job from Davis Webb four weeks into the season. If Nix doesn’t recover, it will be hard to separate his struggles from the coach running the offense.

Lammey said there isn’t much room left to fall.

“That’s the only way this goes. You either go up, because you can’t go anywhere, I mean this is as down as, it’s the worst Bo Nix we’ve ever seen. So it either goes up, or you ruin him,” Lammey said.

There’s some hope in that view. If this is the bottom, any real improvement over the rest of the season would show up quickly. Nix has bounced back before. He was the quarterback who led the Broncos to back-to-back playoff trips and kept making fourth-quarter plays. The question is whether that player is still there, and whether Sean Payton can bring him back.

Lammey admitted he doesn’t know how it will end.

“We have 11 games to determine what the outcome’s gonna be, and I don’t know what the answer is. I know what I hope it to be. But that’s all it is, is hope,” Lammey said.

Those 11 games will shape more than this season. They could decide whether Nix gets a long-term deal or ends up as another quarterback Denver moves on from. For now, Lammey is hoping Sean Payton can fix him.

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