Denver, CO
Bill Belichick: Rookie Bo Nix And Denver Broncos Coach Sean Payton Look Like Perfect Fit
Former Oregon Duck quarterback Bo Nix is off to a hot start to his NFL rookie campaign. In his first two preseason games, Nix has stood out as a great option for the Denver Broncos as starting quarterback.
Nix is catching the attention of legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick. Belichick, who has won six Super Bowls and is now a football analyst, joined the Pat McAfee Show to discuss the duo of Nix and Denver coach Sean Payton.
McAfee asked: are Nix and Payton the perfect fit?
“Well, it looks like it,” Belichick said. “Sean’s a great quarterback coach, and he’ll have those guys ready to play, and he’ll tailor the offense around where the quarterback is…
In his two preseason games, Nix has pushed the ball downfield and looked comfortable in the pocket. Last Sunday in a 27-2 victory over the Green Bay Packers, the former Duck completed 8 of 9 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Nix’s experience is coming in handy in a complicated offense. The most experienced quarterback from the 2024 draft, Nix’s 61 career starts broke the NCAA record for most all-time by a FBS quarterback.
“Sean’s offense is a very fast offense,” Belichick said. “They don’t go no huddle, but they substitute fast. They call the play. They get up the line of scrimmage. And once the snap everything’s moving fast as fast as anybody in the league so there’s a lot of mental processing and decision making that has to take place in a hurry.”
Payton has yet to name a starting quarterback, as the competition rolls on between Nix and veteran Jarrett Stidham.
“I think you go with him when you feel like he’s ready to go,” Belichick said. “What I don’t think you want to do is put Bo in there, and then after three or four games, find out you need to take him out and put Spitt back in there and go that way. I don’t think that would work. I think that just creates a lot of confusion, and I really don’t think that’s what you want to do.”
“If you’re sure Bo Nix is the guy, then you go with him, but you don’t turn back.”
Nix and the Broncos have one final preseason game on Sunday vs. the Arizona Cardinals at 1:30 p.m. PT. Nix’s preseason stats are impressive. He has thrown 23-for-30 on 205 passing yards and two touchdowns. Nix has also ran for 29 yards and holds a passer rating of 121.5. The Broncos have scored points on six of seven possessions with the former Duck under center this preseason.
“(Nix) has delivered the ball well,” Belichick said. “He’s got it out on time. He sees the field well. He’s done a good job of taking care of the ball. He’s done a good job in the expenditure plays and making good decisions with the ball in his hands under some pressure. But, again, it’s against very vanilla defenses (in preseason).”
Nix, Denver’s No. 12-overall selection in the2024 NFL Draft is fresh off his best season yet. The 23-year-old broke the NCAA single-season record for completion percentage in 2023 at 77.45, completing a whopping 364 of 470 passes.
“That Oregon offense (last year) – whenever Bo was running it, it was like (snaps fingers) humming – like a tribute to him,” McAfee said.
MORE: Oregon Ducks Fall Camp: Starters Battling Injuries
MORE: LA Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh Updates Former Oregon Duck Justin Herbert’s Injury Status
MORE: Chip Kelly’s Ohio State Offense Radically Different Than His Oregon Ducks’ Blur Offense
MORE: Has Bo Nix Locked Up Starting Quarterback Job For Denver Broncos?
MORE: Oregon Ducks’ Troy Franklin Falling on Denver Broncos Depth Chart Amid Struggles
It’s called the Denver Polo Club, but it’s nestled in a rural part of Douglas County, and it’s working to make an old-world sport accessible to everyone.
“You drive into the gates, you really feel like you’re not in the middle of the city; you feel like you’re up in the mountains, you feel like you’re in a playground,” said Denver Polo Club owner Erica Gandomcar-Sachs.
Gandomcar-Sachs’s parents founded the club nearly 40 years ago, bringing teams and celebrities from around the world to Colorado.
Now, she wants to usher in a new era.
“We want to create like an old-world sporting club. Somewhere you can come and do falconry, you can play polo, equestrian sports, clay shooting, polo jumping, dressage, western, anything horse you can imagine; that’s what we want to create,” said Gandomcar-Sachs.
While Colorado isn’t much of an “old-world” destination, Gandomcar-Sachs believes there’s a market for polo.
“It’s modern-day cowboy. People come to experience the outdoors, horses, and just keep it a playground. We want to keep it open for everybody,” said Gandomcar-Sachs.
All levels are welcome, and you don’t need to have your own horse. You’re also welcome to just watch. Gandomcar-Sachs says you can customize how involved you are based on time and financial availability.
“All you have to do is show up, and we can provide everything else. Everything from helmet, mallets, we even have boots,” said Gandomcar-Sachs.
“It’s just a great atmosphere, great vibes here,” said polo amateur B Gottwald.
Gottwald first tried out polo at the club four years ago, and now he can’t get enough.
“We usually play with two pros on a team and two amateurs. It’s four on four. The game today was really close in the first half, and then the other team played a little bit harder and executed their plays a little bit better, and hats off to them; they played a good game,” said Gottwald.
Gottwald even brings his young daughter, Gracie, to play.
“Oh yeah, she’s got her own mallet; she’s playing,” said Gottwald.
He encourages anyone who likes team sports or horses to give polo a try.
“Anybody who’s been a rancher, anybody who’s ridden horses, everybody should play polo,” said Gottwald.
“Polo, to me, when you’re done playing, you’re emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted,” said Gandomcar-Sachs. “That teamwork and that connection between you and your horse and you and your teammates, that’s what I fell in love with.”
Gandomcar-Sachs hopes more people will try the sport, as she works to make the Sedalia club an old-world destination for the entire metro area.
Ticketed events at the Denver Polo Club start at just $35. The final “Sunday Funday” for this season will be September 15. It will be the last time the public can attend as spectators, but players will continue until the end of October. For more information and a schedule of events, visit denverpoloclub.com.
Denver, CO
Broncos Postgame Notebook: Denver’s defense prevents Packers from scoring in stout performance
DENVER — After scoring 27 points during Sunday’s preseason game against the Packers, Denver’s offense looks to be building positive momentum ahead of the 2024 season.
But the Broncos’ defense arguably stole the show on Sunday, as the unit recorded two key takeaways and kept the Packers from scoring in Denver’s 27-2 win. Green Bay’s only points came via a safety late in the third quarter.
Coming off of a strong defensive performance last week against Indianapolis and a promising joint practice with the Packers on Friday, Head Coach Sean Payton said he is encouraged by the consistency the defense is showing.
“We played the run well at Indianapolis and then we came back off that game,” Payton said. “… [We’re] just kind of stacking these practices and building confidence. We had two takeaways. I think we scored 10 points off of them. We didn’t win the penalty battle, [but] we won the turnover battle. I’m encouraged.”
These two takeaways came from players who made their presences felt in last week’s win over Indianapolis. Defensive back Keidron Smith recorded his second interception of the 2024 preseason, while outside linebacker Jonah Elliss saw his consistent pressure pay off with a strip-sack and fumble recovery.
“I like his energy,” Payton said of Elliss. “… He’s someone that it’s not just one rush plan. He plays with passion and again, I’m encouraged with the rookie class. A number of these guys have a chance to contribute, and we’ll just keep working with him. It’s good to see his progress. He got a lot of snaps tonight.”
Several veteran players also made an impact on Sunday. Defensive end Zach Allen recorded a sack, while outside linebacker Nik Bonitto applied pressure that contributed to Elliss’ strip-sack and fumble recovery.
Bonitto said that there is a noticeable difference with this year’s defense and is eager to see the new energy continue to translate to on-field performance.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that just want to prove something,” Bonitto said. “… A lot of these guys have been waiting [for] their time to play, so it’s been good to have them on our team.”
Safety P.J. Locke is also encouraged by the effort he sees across the board from Denver’s defense, and he believes the sky is the limit for the hungry group.
“I think we can go as far as we want to go,” Locke said. “It’s all about confidence. … Our job as leaders, the older guys, is to let the [rookies] know … we can really do something.”
DENVER LOOKING TO ‘CLEAN UP’ PENALTIES
While Payton said that “there were a lot of positives” from Sunday’s win, he noted mistakes that the team will need to avoid in order to find success this season.
“We had enough penalties for three games, and we’ve got to get a lot of that cleaned up,” Payton said.
Denver committed 13 penalties for 120 yards on Sunday, and the Broncos will look to clean up their play ahead of the 2024 season.
“The penalties are tough because whenever you are moving the ball [and] moving it well and then you have a penalty that brings it back, it’s hard to overcome that,” quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. “This league is too good, the players on the opposite side are too good [and] the coaches are too good. Whenever it’s second-and-15 or first-and-20, it’s always hard to bounce back from that. We’ll definitely look at it and see what we can do to get better.”
Is it time to Bo-lieve?
First game in two years at @EmpowerField.
Touchdown. 🥹#GBvsDEN x @Tpstreets pic.twitter.com/JHeiIpTpxQ
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) August 19, 2024
After getting the start in the Broncos’ season preseason game, rookie quarterback Bo Nix connected with Tim Patrick for a 2-yard touchdown pass Sunday against the Packers.
The score gave Denver a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.
Nix, 24, started the game strong, completing 8 of his first 9 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. He also has three carries for 12 yards. He connected with Javonte Williams for a 13-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, but it was called back after replays showed that Nix was past the line of scrimmage before making the pass.
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