How Bo Nix's strange, viral quote perfectly encapsulates his 2026 season

Denver's offense ranks near the bottom of the NFL, but its history of wild second-half comebacks shows why Nix's strange comments hold some truth

Oct 14, 2026 at 9:35 am ET • 3 min read

The Denver Broncos are off to a 3-2 start this season, but it's been a pretty rocky 3-2 start if we are being honest. The offense ranks third-worst in the entire NFL, averaging just 269.0 total yards per game, and Sean Payton has already yanked play-calling duties away from new offensive coordinator Davis Webb.

The play-calling change didn't help on Sunday, as the Broncos struggled against the winless Los Angeles Chargers. Denver did escape SoFi Stadium with a 23-17 victory, but the offense put up just 224 total yards and converted one of 12 third downs while quarterback Bo Nix threw for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Nix doesn't look like a quarterback on the cusp of leading the Broncos to the Super Bowl nine months ago. He's completed 59.9% of his passes, which ranks 26th in the NFL, and his 188.4 passing yards per game rank 25th. While Denver added a deep threat in wide receiver Jaylen Waddle this offseason, Nix's 5.2 air yards per attempt are the fewest by a qualifying quarterback through five games since C.J. Beathard's 5.1 in 2018.

But Nix doesn't seem overly worried about it. During Tuesday's press conference, Nix was asked how he handles stretches when he's playing well and when he's not. What's his process like when it comes to moving on from bad plays? He offered a pretty strange response. 

"It's the same when I'm playing really good," Nix responded. "I think playing good and playing bad, it's a narrative, and I think it's honestly kind of something we make up. I don't think necessarily I'm playing any different than what I'm normally playing it's just every once in a while a ball will bounce this way or something will happen this way and we'll get a pressure on this look when we had somebody open, I had to throw it away and I wanted to hold onto it a little bit longer and the guy was open and next thing you know, statline looks different. We're talking about something completely different..."

Playing good and playing bad is a narrative? It's something we make up? How can that be true?

This is one of those strange cases where the messenger actually makes the message make more sense. Because we've seen Nix play "good" and "bad" football in the span of 60 minutes many times over the last three years. That's how the Broncos have the most comeback wins (15), second-half comebacks (12) and fourth-quarter comebacks (8) in the NFL since 2025. 

Take what happened in Week 3, for example. The Broncos were hosting Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams on "Sunday Night Football" and had an embarrassing first half, going down 16-0. However, like we've seen Nix and the Broncos do so many times before, they bounced back in the second half and scored a whopping 30 points to register another come-from-behind victory. It was Denver's third comeback win of 14+ points over the last two seasons, the most in the NFL.

Broncos Week 3 vs. Rams

	First half	Second half
Points	0	30
Opponent points	16	10
Nix total yards	57	136

So, did Nix play "good" or "bad" football vs. the Rams? It was both! It's not necessarily one or the other.

What has to be said is that the Broncos need to find a way to be consistent, because they would be a legitimate contender if they could play 60 minutes the way they usually play the final 30. Denver has the pieces to make a postseason run once again. Remember, if Nix hadn't injured his ankle in the divisional round vs. Buffalo, the Broncos had a great chance to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LX. 

Coach Payton has to find a way to get the most out of his offense, and he has a tough test ahead of him this week, as the Broncos welcome the Seattle Seahawks and their top-ranked defense to town on Thursday night.