Bo Nix Wilted Under Pressure in Denver Broncos loss to Jaguars

The Denver Broncos were dismantled by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 34-20 loss on Sunday, and Bo Nix wilted under pressure as he was at the forefront of the loss.

As goes Bo, so go the Broncos.

Nix turned the ball over twice, giving the Jags the turnover battle, and he was thoroughly out-played by Trevor Lawrence. And this time, the offense couldn't be carried along by the defense; missed tackles and blown assignments led to the lopsided loss.

Bo Nix regressed to his mediocre self

Nix had been playing great football—and probably his best game ever to beat the Packers—but when the Broncos needed him to be elite again against Jaguars, he was merely mediocre and turned the ball over twice.

Playing quarterback in the NFL isn't an easy job. He has to understand where every one of his players are, all while knowing where the defenders are going to be, too. It takes an immense amount of brain power, and then he has to use his physical abilities to throw a football to the right guy, in the right location.

Nix started the Jaguars game off well. He was 7-10 through the Broncos first three drives and was doing everything Denver needed of him to win. He mixed short, intermediate, and deep passes—including the beautiful completion to Evan Engram for 33 yards—and pushed the team into scoring range twice.

Unfortunately, Wil Lutz doinked a 45-yard field goal and the Jaguars answered with a touchdown.

But Nix and the Broncos answered with his fadeaway rainbow throw to Courtland Sutton for a touchdown.

It was such a good throw, we didn't even notice the poor mechanics as he threw it off one foot. But it was a harbinger of things to come.

Down 4, near the end of the first half, Nix threw behind Pat Bryant on an easy, short out route that would have given the team a first down in Jacksonville territory. That punt allowed the Jags to quickly move downfield and put a field goal on the board to extend their lead to 7 at halftime.

The Broncos are a second half team, right? Not on Sunday.

Nix was sacked on the team's first drive, but RJ Harvey took off for 38 yards and a touchdown on a spectacular run. It was all tied up, 17-17.

Unfortunately, Lawrence and the Jags moved the ball with the help of a questionable roughing the passer "bodyweight" call and a ticky-tack pass interference in the end zone. They regained the lead when he ran the ball in.

It looked like this would be a back-and-forth game all day long. But Nix faltered in the third and late fourth quarters.

Denver went four plays and punt. Jacksonville took four plays to score a touchdown.

Parker Washington made Riley Moss and Talanoa Hufanga miss tackles, which is saying a lot because both have been great tacklers on the edge this year, and the Jags receiver went 63 yards on arguably the play of the day.

Now down 14, with 3:56 left in the 3rd quarter, Nix started to fall apart.

He regressed to running from a clean pocket, as Moose Johnston astutely pointed out. It was the first time since early November that we'd seen him revert to his rookie (and early season) ways.

Then, after a first down to seemingly gain some momentum, Nix held the ball too long on an RPO with Jaleel McLaughin. The QB wanted to take it but left it in the running back's belly too long, confusing him and causing the backbreaking turnover.

Denver's defense bailed Nix out, holding the Jags to a field goal. But on this Sunday, the Broncos QB didn't have any fourth-quarter magic.

He continued to look rattled, scrambling for whatever yards he could get instead of operating the offense efficiently. There were bright spots—like the 48-yard bomb to Troy Franklin—but there weren't enough of them. Denver's offense got stymied at the 3 yard line; Sean Payton elected to kick the field goal down 17 instead of go for a touchdown.

After a timely 3-and-out by the defense, Nix was relentlessly pass rushed—throwing a wild shovel pass incomplete to Tyler Badie on 3rd down—and threw the game-sealing pick too far inside of Pat Bryant, 11 yards deep. It was 4th and 2, but Nix seemingly panicked and forced the throw.

"Should have gone probably to the field," Nix said of the pick. "In that situation, you have to force it and [I] should have forced it somewhere else, not there.”

On the drive after the interception, Nix was rushed and wandered out of bounds before throwing the ball away, setting up a 4th and 10 instead of 4th and 3.

Injury was added to insult when Nix desperately threw a ball to Bryant late and the wideout was crushed, his head whipping before he hit the turf and had to be carted out on a straight board. Luckily, Bryant had feeling and use of his extremities after reaching the hospital.

Nix was anti-clutch vs. Jags

As clutch as he's been all season long, with 5 4th-quarter comebacks and that brilliant overtime drive vs. Washington, Nix was anti-clutch on Sunday.

In the 4-minute offense before the half, Denver was forced to punt when Nix missed Bryant on a gimme. They'd been brilliant in those situations all year long.

And in the fourth quarter, their four drives went like this:

• Field Goal
• Interception
• Downs
• End of Game

When it was all said and done, the Broncos quarterback set a new career-high with 352 passing yards. But he only threw for one touchdown and turned the ball over twice and his passer rating (81.2) was the lowest in five games. He didn't make winning plays when it mattered most, while Trevor Lawrence did. As I previewed, the better QB won the game.

When the Broncos threw the ball on 3rd downs, Nix went 5-11 with a touchdown and sack; the team went a mere 5-14 (35.7%) on 3rd downs on the day.

“There were a number of things watching the tape that were disappointing," Payton said on Monday. "Guys [were] trying to do more than what they’re supposed to do, and I think that it comes back to the simple fundamentals of what’s the read, what’s the progression, what’s the route depth, what’s the protection and not trying to create or do more than what’s on the table. There were plenty of opportunities in that game, and we didn’t take advantage of them.”

It's hard to read this quote as about anyone other than Bo Nix, and maybe some of the receivers. The quarterback is the one making reads and progressions, he was definitely one of the guys trying to do too much.

Why Sunday's poor performance from Nix is concerning is the Jaguars are one of the toughest teams Denver's faced this year, and the Broncos lost. They were out-played in all three phases, as Payton said Sunday night.

"They beat us tonight," Payton explained of what he told the team in the locker room. "They beat us good in all three areas, and it starts with me."

When the brightest of lights shine again on Nix, he's got to step back up and play like he did against the Chiefs, Commanders, and Packers.

Denver faces a terrible Chiefs (6-9) on Christmas Night, a team who lost backup quarterback Gardner Minshew to a torn MCL and lost to the Tennessee Titans yesterday. That's a must-win if the Broncos want the No. 1 seed. It's a chance for Nix to get right before a huge Week 18 tilt against the Chargers.

The Broncos are 0-3 vs. LA during Nix's career and, unless Denver wins vs. Kansas City and the Chargers lose to the Houston Texans—which could happen—that Week 18 game will be for the division.

And the pressure will only ratchet up from there, in the postseason. In his one playoff game, the 31-7 loss to the Bills last year, Nix went 13-22 for 144 yards and 1 TD, and the team went 2-9 on 3rd downs.

Throughout his career, Nix has usually be fantastic when the pressure is highest, both at the end of halves and at the end of games. And he finally found consistency in the previous four games. So, it's certainly a possibility Nix will get back in the groove.

It will be Merry Nixmas in three days, and Denver Broncos fans are all hoping he'll bring a shiny new win, and not another lump of coal.

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