Bo Nix's Season Ends with Brilliant Denver Broncos Win Over Buffalo Bills

The Denver Broncos just beat the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in overtime.

It's the highest of highs that Broncos fans have experienced in 10 years, since Super Bowl 50.

And mere minutes after the exhilarating win, Sean Payton explained his starting quarterback Bo Nix is done for the season with a broken ankle.

Bo Nix's season ends with a broken ankle in win over Bills

Bo Nix broke fractured his ankle on either the roll-out sack or on the kneel-down in overtime against the Bills.

"On the second-to-last play in overtime, Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle," Payton told reporters. "He's scheduled to have surgery Tuesday of this week to put him out for the rest of the season."

Here's the first play:

Here's the kneel-down:

Bo Nix #broncos

The kneel down was the second to last play of OT, which is what is reported to be when he was injured.

You can see him get hit after kneeling down, appears in pain as he’s walking off the field. Absolutely heart breaking for Nix and Denver. pic.twitter.com/1cqDibGfca

— Tom Christ, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT (@FantasyInjuryT) January 18, 2026

No matter which exact play the injury occurred, it's incredibly bad news after quickly following the elation of beating the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in overtime.

Bo Nix played an amazing game in the win

The Denver Broncos were supposed to lose to the Buffalo Bills. Not only were the Bills the favorites immediately after their win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but even after the line moved 3 points into Denver's favor, many pundits still took Buffalo over the Broncos.

And yet, Denver and Bo Nix outplayed Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

Before the game, I said the quarterback who ran the best could determine the outcome of the game. Allen ran for 66 yards, more than Nix's 29, but Allen also fumbled the ball three times and lost two of them.

In all, the Broncos defense forced five turnovers and sacked Allen three times.

The defense was dominant.

On the flip side, Nix wasn't sacked a single time, and threw one interception, the Broncos only turnover on the day.

Not only that, but Nix was efficient enough. He went 26-46 (56.5%) for 273 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 INT.

Allen went 25-39 for 282 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles.

It was one of his worst playoff games ever.

While I asked if Nix was a franchise quarterback earlier in the season, I think he's proven he is.

And Nix rose to the occasion.

Now he's done for the season. It's unfathomable, and yet the truth.

Denver Broncos will start Jarrett Stidham in the AFC Championship Game

The highest of highs,
The lowest of lows.
It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times,
It was
January 17, 2026.

The Denver Broncos just won their biggest game in franchise history since Super Bowl 50 nearly 10 years to the day.

Not only did Denver beat the Buffalo Bills, who had Allen in a year when Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson were all out of the playoffs, but they did so with offensive execution.

Now, Bo Nix is out of the playoffs, too.

In what was a legacy-building game for Nix—and a legacy-dashing game for Allen (he was awful)—Nix was injured.

Jarrett Stidham, the Broncos backup quarterback, will now start in the AFC Championship Game for Denver.

That's a massive, unsurmountable injury. Going from Nix to Stidham.

Why?

Stidham hasn't taken a single snap for the Broncos in the entire 2025 season, Denver's the only team in which that's true.

Stidham also didn't take a single snap in the 2024 season.

Denver was the only team in the NFL in which the starter took every single snap from center the last two years.

All to say Stidham hasn't thrown a regular season pass in two years with the Broncos.

"He's ready," Sean Payton said of Stidham. "I said this at the beginning of the season. I feel like I've got a 2 that's capable of starting for a number of teams. And I know he feels the same way. So watch out. Just watch.

"He's experienced, he's played in games," Payton continued. "Here we go."

Who is Jarrett Stidham?

Jarrett Stidham is a 6-year NFL veteran who's gone 1-3 as an NFL starter, with the Denver Broncos in 2023, and Las Vegas Raiders in 2022.

In Denver, Stidham finished the 2023 season going 1-1 as the Broncos starter, throwing for 496 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Good for an 87.7 passer rating.

But that was two years ago, in games that didn't matter.

He will be inserted into the AFC Championship Game against either the New England Patriots or Houston Texans (game at 1 p.m. MT on Sunday) next Sunday, Jan. 25.

The Broncos offense, which hasn't been great overall, nor domineering in the run game, will have to lead on the run to win their next game to make Super Bowl LX.

One very small silver lining is J.K. Dobbins may return to the team next week. The injured starting running back has been out with a foot injury since Week 10.

But, Denver is behind the eight ball. They're between a rock and a hard place. They're screwed.

Can Stidham win them the AFC Championship?

Sure. Yes.

But it's going to be an extremely long shot.

Denver now has to hope the Houston Texans beat the New England Patriots because the Texans are a defensive-first team much like the Broncos.

And Denver already beat Houston earlier this year in and 18-15 grind-it-out win.

That's a team the Broncos could possibly beat. And the type of game Denver could win.

The Patriots have a great offense—although they looked very bad in the 16-3 win over the Chargers in the Wild Card round—and there's no way Denver can win a shootout.

As of 9 p.m. MT on Saturday, it looks like the Seahawks are going to walk to the win over the 49ers, up 41-6 in the 4th quarter. If the Broncos do somehow win the AFC Championship Game, beating the Seahawks or Rams (if they beat the Bears) would be an even more extremely long shot.

For now, enjoy the win, Broncos fans. If you still can.

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