Payton Takes Subtle Shot at Russ After Bo Nix’s Impressive Debut

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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