If this is the last time Broncos fans see Bo Nix this preseason, he went out with a bang.
Denver’s rookie quarterback did nothing in his preseason debut at home on Sunday night that would change the assumption that he will secure the starting job and lead Sean Payton’s team in Week 1 in Seattle.
In fact, he has only reinforced his strong position in the race against Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson, albeit against Green Bay’s backup players.
Nix started in front of his home crowd, led two drives, scored ten points with the starting offense and crowned his evening with a touchdown pass to veteran receiver Tim Patrick.
The end result: 8 of 9 passes for 80 yards and the score, plus 12 rushing yards on three attempts and a 14-yard touchdown pass to Javonte Williams that was canceled because he narrowly crossed the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball.
If Payton makes it official and names Nix his starter, he may not play in the final game of the season on August 25 against Arizona at Empower Field.
If that’s the case, there’s an easy way to describe the former Oregon and Auburn star’s performance in two exhibition games this month: When Nix played, the Broncos moved the ball and scored points.
The 24-year-old led seven drives – five against Indianapolis and two on Sunday night. In one of them, tight end Lucas Krull caught a short pass and dropped the ball on the first play.
The other six drives included at least seven plays, produced multiple first downs and ended with points.
In order, they went as follows:
• 11 games, three first downs, three points
• 10 games, five first downs, seven points
• 1 game, no first downs, no points
• 7 games, four first downs, three points
• 10 games, four first downs, seven points
• 9 games, two first downs, three points
• 11 games, six first downs, seven points.
The last of these was also the prettiest. Nix helped jumpstart the drive with a 14-yard screen to Javonte Williams. Then on third-and-9, he calmly threw a 14-yard pitcher over the middle to Patrick, with whom he had a budding connection this summer. Nix scrambled for 10 yards to help Denver overcome a holding penalty and drove a 23-yard in-breaker to Courtland Sutton to set up first-and-goal.
Two plays later, he rolled to the right and hit Patrick again, leading to a 2-yard touchdown.
Nix’s record in two games: 23 of 30, 205 yards and two touchdown passes and six runs of over 30 yards.
In any case, Nix managed to continue his preseason no-sack streak into the following season when, in his only situation where he was under real pressure, he went into the pocket and gained half a yard.
More than the exact numbers, though, Sunday night and the last two weeks have brought clarity. No one knows how ready a new quarterback is for the real work of the NFL regular season. But Nix is ready enough that there’s no reason to wait to find out.
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