Denver’s win in Arizona on Sunday wasn’t just another check in the W column.
It was affirmation to fans (and analysts) that this team is on the right track and the signal caller is the right guy at the helm.
Of course, it shouldn’t have had to be that kind of message to Broncos Country because Denver was still 4-2 and second in the AFC West heading into the game.
But the bumpy road to those four wins had fans questioning.
And on Sunday Nix was the one bringing the answers.
The criticism of Nix the past few weeks has focused a lot on his decisiveness in the pocket and overall aggressiveness to make a play, many questioning whether offseason ankle surgery was still an issue (and one idiotic announcer suggesting he just wasn’t competitive and was disrespecting the position).
But when No. 10 ripped off a 62-yard touchdown run just minutes before halftime, clocking 19.9 mph in the process, he allayed a lot of concerns about both.
“Once you start running, you sort of turn into a running back at that point and you’re worried about an explosive play and maximizing the plays,” Nix said, noting that the man-to-man coverage gave him a lot of room to run. “At that point, we had a great opportunity to run a long way.”
Nix admitted that even though he’s never questioned his athleticism, he knows it often comes as a surprise to opponents that he can run so fast.
“It’s really nice,” he said of getting to show off his running capability this week. “I guess until people really see \[my speed\], they never really believe it.”
Zach Allen certainly believes. The defensive lineman goes against Nix every day in practice, so he knows what the QB is capable of.
“We see in practice how athletic he is. Bo is Bo,” Allen said. “We’re glad he’s our guy; when he’s making plays, he gets the whole team juiced up. So, (I’m) really excited for him.”
Nix also made a believer out of Broncos Country once again – and not just because of the long touchdown run. He managed the offense for four quarters, sustaining drives and completing passes all over the field to a host of receivers.
The offense finally looked legit instead of just fortunate.
“I felt that we played a good game offensively,” Nix said. “Still several things that we would like to get better at, but overall, we had a big win over a tough team on the road so it was really good for us.”
Head coach Sean Payton always says the two best friends of a quarterback are a great defense and a solid run game.
Until this week, the Broncos had really only had one of the two.
But with a little spark from the return of rookie running back Jonah Coleman, plus continued grinding from RJ Harvey and JK Dobbins, the Broncos finally put up respectable numbers in the run game – 159 yards total.
Even if you took away Nix’s 62-yard long run, the total rushing yards would still have been close to 100 on the day, which was a marked improvement on the season.
“He played well,” Payton said of the rookie running back. “The touches he had were explosive.”
Payton noted that getting more playing time has to be earned, and Coleman is certainly doing that. Averaging 6 yards per carry on his nine touches got the attention of his head coach.
“He looked really good,” Payton said. “Definitely have to get him more touches.”
While the defense didn’t have to win the game for Denver this week, the fact that it can consistently wreak havoc for opposing offenses is reassuring.
And this week it was the red zone stops rather than the turnovers being showcased.
The Broncos allowed the Cardinals just one score from the red zone out of five trips inside the 20.
“It’s huge,” said Allen, who was originally drafted to the Cardinals but picked up by the Broncos three years ago. “We invest a lot into the red zone (defense), so when we see success there, it means a lot. We’re excited about it.”
And so is the head coach, especially given the number of starters on the defense who were out nursing some injuries.
“Pretty impressive. You’re just thankful for the depth (and) those guys stepping up,” Payton noted. “A lot of guys played well.”
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