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Sean Payton is very pleased with Bo Nix after the rookie quarterback led the Denver Broncos to a 33-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Payton praised Nix for not putting the offense in “harm’s way” during this stretch of three wins in their last four games.
“When you watch him play, you don’t feel like you’re in harm’s way,” Payton said. “Again, he’s tough to sack. He made a lot of plays with his feet. Man, he had some close, big-play opportunities, but there’s a confidence as a play caller you get that allows you to be more aggressive. So we wanted to tonight and came out with that mindset.”
Nix didn’t have a perfect game against the Saints, and there were plenty of rookie moments to nitpick. He had a throw early in the first quarter that fell incomplete between two wide open receivers.
Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell
Bo Nix had two wide-open receivers on that first down and split the difference pic.twitter.com/rVEWhK16jQ
There were also two dropped interceptions by Saints defenders, including one that could have easily been returned for a touchdown.
Overall, though, Nix has found ways to make the offensive successful. One of the biggest things has been Payton taking advantage of his legs in the running game. The 24-year-old had a career-high 75 rushing yards on 10 carries against the Saints.
Nix’s three rushing touchdowns are tied with Josh Allen for third among all quarterbacks. He’s also fifth in rushing yards by a quarterback with 255.
If you want to go back to the nitpicks, Nix’s yards per carry (5.4) is almost as high as his yards per pass attempt (5.6). But he also entered the game leading all rookie signal-callers with eight big-time throws.
After throwing four interceptions in his first two games, Nix has just one turnover in the past five games. He has yet to fumble the ball this season.
The Broncos have scored at least 26 points in three of their last five games. They only had three games with at least 26 points during the entire 2023 season.
Nix’s ability to run Payton’s offense combined with a defense that ranks third in the NFL in points allowed per game has made the Broncos (4-3) at least an interesting team to watch in an AFC that currently only has seven teams with a winning record.
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