Quarterback Bo Nix’s second start was a lot like his first for the Denver Broncos – a tight loss that turned on a few plays as Denver’s rushing attack struggled and third-down conversions were hard to come by for the Broncos.
But after Denver’s 13-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, Broncos coach Sean Payton thinks the rookie still has what it takes to lead the team.
“I think he’s got the right makeup and personality,” Payton said. “Look, he was running around, he’s competing. There’s some pressures. There’s a missed protection late in the game. Those are frustrating things. I said this a week ago: We need to be better around him. Listen, this guy, he’s been through it. It’d be different if he hadn’t.”
A former Pinson Valley High School star, Nix started for three seasons at Auburn and two at Oregon before joining Denver as the 12th selection in the NFL Draft on April 25.
Nix said the 0-2 start hadn’t shaken his confidence.
“I got good confidence,” Nix said. “I think I’ll continue to get better and look in the mirror and see what I can do and evaluate myself.
“I think it’s important to look at it from a bigger perspective. Football’s just a game that we come out here and have fun playing. We make it a very big deal because sometimes it is. There’s a lot of people out there anticipating the game and the atmosphere and wins and losses. But I think it’s important to keep good perspective and not making football your whole, entire life because you play it long enough, it’ll fail you over and over and over. It’ll knock you down, it’ll beat you up. The value of playing the sport is just like life – sometimes you just got to keep taking hits and keep taking hits and eventually you’ll figure it out and get back on your feet and move forward. My confidence is bigger than football. It’s bigger than wins and losses.
“Now don’t make a mistake about it: I’m going out there competing my tail off trying to win every single game for this team behind me because they deserve it. But I feel like the confidence level is going to continue to build the more and more you play.”
On Sunday, Nix completed 20-of-35 passes for 246 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions as Pittsburgh limited the Broncos to two fourth-quarter field goals by Wil Lutz.
Denver converted two of its 12 third-down snaps into first downs.
“I thought they had a good plan, and they executed well,” Nix said. “They just got to the ball and tackled, and we had a hard time getting to third-and-manageables again. But we can’t keep making that excuse. We got to start playing better, I think, and it starts with me, and it goes to the rest of the squad.”
For the second game in a row, Nix led the Broncos in rushing yards, with 25 on four carries. Three Denver running backs gained 39 yards on 15 rushing attempts on Sunday.
After Lutz’s second field goal with 1:54 to play, Denver decided against an onside kick and didn’t get the football back until nine seconds remained in the game. Nix completed a pass for a 15-yard gain, but his long throw from the Broncos 34 was intercepted on the final snap.
The other interception likely was more damaging to the Broncos’ chance to win.
Nix had back-to-back completions for 26 and 49 yards to move Denver to the Pittsburgh 7. But the scoring threat ended when rookie cornerback Corey Trice Jr. picked off a Nix pass in the end zone with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter to keep the Steelers ahead 10-0.
“That falls on me,” Nix said. “That was just a bad decision. Can’t have that.”
In Nix’s NFL debut, he completed 26-of-42 passes for 138 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions and ran five times for 35 yards and one touchdown in a 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 8.
“I think I took a good step,” Nix said after Sunday’s game. “Sometimes good steps don’t turn into wins, though, so it’s a long process. It’s a tough league for a reason, and we just got to continue to, as a crew, as a group, find ways to get better.”
Denver plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at noon CDT Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
