The Denver Broncos have had an up-and-down season so far. The Broncos won convincingly against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday to improve to 6-5 on the season, and are sitting in the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC as things currently stand.
A large part of the up-and-down season the Broncos are having has been due to the play of rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Nix has struggled mightily at times and also shown flashes of why Denver selected him in the first round of the NFL draft.
Nix was dominant on Sunday, completing 28-of-33 passes for 307 yards to go along with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton was candid on his thoughts of Nix’s performance this season.
“I think repetition is where it begins,” Payton said, according to Pro Football Talk.
“The more and more you rep a certain play or a certain scheme, the more and more you get comfortable with it. You kind of know where all the answers are relative to — Bo said something that was real sharp yesterday.
“We send in a play for a certain defense, and you get another defense. The better plays have an answer versus more of the defenses. As he gets comfortable with where those answers are, then you can expand on it. The same thing the other way around. In other words, there’s certain plays we’re going to have up each week that we’re going to window dress.
“I just think it’s a gradual [process]. I can’t look at one game and say, ‘That was the game.’ It’s a gradual process of confidence both in what he’s comfortable with and then confidence in what the others around him can do with it. It’s kind of something that is ongoing.
“Honestly, I don’t think that ever really — there’s no conclusion to it. You’re always tinkering. You’re always looking for new ways to get a third-down conversion, but I’ve been real impressed with the speed at which he’s been able to adapt to this league.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Nix adapts as the season wears on and the stakes continue to rise.
