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Following the Denver Broncos‘ 34-30 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts, head coach Sean Payton was understandably bombarded by Bo Nix questions. Nix made his Broncos debut, and although he didn’t start the game at Lucas Oil Stadium, he played resoundingly well, protecting the ball, moving the chains, and putting points on the board on four of his five possessions.

Sacks were conspicuously absent from Denver’s first offensive showing of 2024. Regardless of which quarterback was on the field, the Broncos didn’t allow a sack, and after surrendering 52 sacks in 2023 with Russell Wilson as the primary starter, the improvement was palpable.

Payton was very pleased by how quickly his trio of quarterbacks got rid of the ball, and the implications on 2023 and Russ — which is ancient history albeit — aren’t good.

“Listen, ball (is) out. I like the timing, the tempo of when we’re releasing it,” Payton said post-game on Sunday. “That was a big issue for us a year ago with the minus plays. We were towards the back—back half of the league—I think fourth.  So, I was pleased with the timing of what we were doing throwing the ball. It’s important.” 

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If you believe that sacks are a quarterback stat, then you can’t fault Payton for mentioning it. Of course the offensive line plays a huge role in pass protection, but a perusal of Wilson’s career stats show how sacks have been a statistic theme that’ve followed him for years. His career average for sacks is 48 per year.

Timing and efficiency are hallmarks of Payton’s offense, traditionally, and those aspects were glaringly absent from his 2023 iteration with Wilson under center. Alas, that wasn’t a good quarterback fit for Payton — so much so that he and the Broncos willingly absorbed an $85 million dead-money hit to the salary cap to move on from Wilson.

Nix’s emergence will hopefully help exorcise the demons of Payton’s frustrations from a year ago. Wilson landed on his feet in Pittsburgh, and the Broncos will actually get to see him again quite soon when the Steelers come to Empower Field at Mile High for a Week 2 matchup in the regular season.

Nix definitely flashed in his Broncos debut, completing 71.4 of his 21 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown, with a 102.3 QB rating. He put 20 points on the board in just under two quarters of play, which has Broncos Country champing at the bit for Payton to bite the bullet, and name Nix the starter.

“Yeah, pleased,” Payton said of Nix post-game, before dishing on all three Broncos quarterbacks. “All three of those guys, I thought, did a good job.” 

Nix’s resilience and avoidance of sacks and “minus” plays was one of Payton’s big draws to him. Those traits, combined with his football IQ, leadership acumen, accuracy, completion percentage, and general statistical production, led Denver to invest the No. 12 overall pick in the former Oregon Ducks star.

The rookie first-rounder will start preseason Game 2 next Sunday vs. the Green Bay Packers. Depending on how Nix, Stidham, and Zach Wilson perform, the expectation is that Payton will make his decision on QB1 following the Packers game, and use the third and final preseason game to determine who is QB2 will be.

The farther the Broncos get from the disastrous Wilson era, the less fans will hear about comparisons to last year. But for now, that football trauma seems to still be quite fresh on Payton’s brain.

And for good reason.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Sean Payton hates sacks.

He doesn’t just dislike them. The Broncos head coach cannot stand them.

Not only that, but he puts most of the blame for sacks on the quarterback rather than the offensive line.

It’s a major reason he grew frustrated with Russell Wilson a year ago — Wilson was sacked 45 times in 15 starts — and it’s one of the trends he’s liked in his quarterback group so far this summer.

The first preseason game Sunday at Indianapolis showed more of the same for Jarrett Stidham, Bo Nix and Zach Wilson. They combined to drop back 41 times against the Colts on Sunday afternoon and didn’t take a sack.

“It’s all about knowing where your outlets are, knowing when you’re hot, having a good feel for the pocket and it’s just being on time,” Nix said after Denver’s 34-30 win. “Being in rhythm, if your No. 1 or No. 2 isn’t there, get to No. 3 in a quick manner. I always say I feel like I can take a three(-step) drop, hitch and throw and get the ball out without them physically being able to get to me. It’s all about a quarterback’s timing and offensive line did a great job today keeping us up.”

The group finished 29-of-41 passing for 279 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Here’s a closer look at each’s outing, in order of appearance.

Jarrett Stidham

Possessions/snaps:  2/11

Stat line: 3-of-7 passing, 37 yards, interception

Drive results: Punt, interception

Highlight: Stidham hears “checkdown” taunts from defensive players in practice when he drops the ball off to backs and tight ends, but he played aggressive Sunday. The sixth-year QB hit Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick back-to-back for 27 total yards on his first two throws.

Lowlight: The interception, but it wasn’t Stidham’s fault. Samaje Perine had the ball hit him in the chest, pop up and then in an attempt to corral it, he batted it right to Colts safety Kenny Moore II.

Analysis: Stidham looked good but had four offensive penalties from veterans around him on his two drives and then got unlucky on the interception. He got a fraction of the snaps the other two got on this day. Sean Payton said afterward that will balance some next weekend against Green Bay. A question in the interim: Do Stidham and Bo Nix split reps with the No. 1s in the joint practice against the Packers? Or is it Nix the whole way from here out?

Bo Nix

Possessions/snaps: 5/36

Stat line: 15-of-21 passing, 125 yards, TD, three carries for 17 yards

Drive results: Field goal, touchdown, fumble, field goal, touchdown

Highlight: It looked like Nix’s opportunity to run the two-minute drill was wasted when Lucas Krull fumbled on the first play of a drive, but Denver got the ball right back after a Keidron Smith interception. Then Nix went to work, completing 4 of 6 passes for 41 yards plus a 29-yard defensive pass interference on a pass up the left side for rookie Devaughn Vele. The two-minute operation drew praise from head coach Sean Payton and veteran receiver Courtland Sutton.

Lowlight: The fumbled snap with Luke Wattenberg gets a red flag here for two reasons: One, Nix has had issues a handful of times through the first couple weeks of practice. Two, he hardly played from under center the past two years at Oregon. Payton expressed a willingness to tailor the offense to whoever gets the starting job — perhaps more shotgun and pistol are in the cards if Nix starts Week 1 — but you’ve got to be able to play from under center without worry about ball security.

Analysis: Nix continued on the path he’s been traveling through training camp. Some mistakes here and there. Ball placement that doesn’t completely abandon him but occasionally wavers just enough to make a difference. Overall, though, there’s no reason to be unimpressed with how Nix played. He was in rhythm, threw the ball down the field and showed the ability to play from the pocket or outside. A long way to go and a lot to learn, but arrow up.

Zach Wilson

Possessions/snaps:  5/32

Stat line: 10-of-13 passing, 117 yards, three carries for minus-1 yard

Drive results: Fumble, touchdown, punt, touchdown, end of game

Highlight: The best part of the outing for Wilson was just his ability to play efficiently and confidently. On a putaway drive late in the game, he found rookie running back Blake Watson up the right sideline for 33 yards.

Lowlight: It was a steady outing for Wilson, whose day got off to an unfortunate start when Audric Estime fumbled and the Colts returned it for a touchdown. No major issues, though. The biggest question, really, is if Wilson will get a real chance against non-fringe roster guys against Green Bay or Arizona.

Analysis:  Wilson played against reserves, obviously, but if he continues to stack good days and play aggressive while limiting mistakes the rest of the preseason, the roster picture gets interesting in a hurry. The 2021 No. 2 overall pick clearly has talent and seems to be benefiting from the structure and stability in Denver’s offensive and quarterback meeting rooms. It’s too early to say he’s a transformed player, but the early returns on this project warrant further investment.

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Originally Published: August 11, 2024 at 4:36 p.m.