Broncos Lose Bo Nix, but Gain a Franchise Quarterback in NFL Playoffs

Sports, like life, aren’t fair.

If they were, Bo Nix would get a chance to finish the season with the Denver Broncos after leading them to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and to the AFC Championship Game by outdueling reigning MVP Josh Allen on Saturday in a dramatic 33-30 overtime victory.

Instead, he broke his ankle late in the game and will be watching the rest of the way from the sideline.

It’s a major, perhaps fatal, blow to an incredibly promising Broncos season. That defense is Super Bowl-winning good, but the odds of Denver winning it all — or even making it to Santa Clara, Calif. for Super Bowl LX — took a serious hit when Nix went down.

Nothing personal against Jarrett Stidham, who will take over the reins from Nix, but his career ratio of eight touchdowns to eight interceptions does not inspire a ton of confidence, even if the Broncos will be hosting the winner of the Patriots.

The good news, though, is in the long term. This promising season ending this way for Nix is a bummer, but it doesn’t derail what has been a much better-than-expected start to his professional career.

In the QB-loaded 2024 draft class, the debate was mainly between Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye, who were taken with the first three picks.

Nix was firmly in that next tier with Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, even after an incredibly productive end to his career at Oregon.

When the dust settled, Nix was the sixth quarterback taken in the draft, going 12th overall to Denver. I can admit that I was a bit skeptical of him going that high, and I know I wasn’t alone in that line of thinking.

Of the QBs in the 2024 class, Nix is the only one who has led his team to the playoffs in both of his first two seasons. He’s also the only one to lead his team to a No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Some may say that’s more about his elite defense supporting him than it is Nix’s own accomplishments, but that’s not giving him his proper due for the role he’s played in this resurgence.

The Broncos hadn’t been in the playoffs since 2015 before Nix arrived, and he has taken them there in back-to-back seasons.

His 7,706 passing yards and 54 touchdown passes are more than any of the other quarterbacks taken in his class. He leads them all in rushing touchdowns (nine) as well.

In Saturday’s win, Nix joined John Elway as just the second quarterback in franchise history to throw three touchdown passes in a postseason win.

When things had really started going south Saturday — with Buffalo rattling off 17 straight points to take a four-point lead with four minutes left — Nix was the one who settled the ship, leading an electric go-ahead drive capped off by a perfect touchdown pass to Marvin Mims.

Nix continues to prove the doubters wrong. That will likely make watching the rest of the season play out without his involvement tough for him to swallow.

It could also serve as some serious fuel for him entering the 2026 season — not that he seems to need any more of that.