Ryan Fitzpatrick rips Broncos' Bo Nix after ugly 'TNF' game: 'He's not playing competitive football right now'

Fitzpatrick called it 'almost disrespectful to the quarterback position'

Oct 16, 2026 at 9:42 am ET • 2 min read

After another ugly outing from Bo Nix, Amazon Prime analyst and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ripped the Broncos' quarterback, calling his performance "almost disrespectful to the quarterback position" and "not playing competitive football." The rant, which came after a 17-14 Denver win over Seattle, clearly caught fellow analysts Tony Gonzalez, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman by surprise.

Nix went 17 for 27 for 107 yards, an average of 4.0 yards per attempt. He did not throw a touchdown or have a turnover.  The zero turnovers were key, considering the Seahawks had three, including two Sam Darnold interceptions, one of which set up Wil Lutz's game-winning field goal in overtime. Still, it was ugly.

"Now they're in the locker room right now, they're excited, they won -- he's not playing competitive football right now," Fitzpatrick said, his voice rising.

"I can only imagine how Sean Payton feels," he continued. "Sean Payton, Davis Webb, everybody that blocks for him. He's not competing right now, and that's something he's hung his hat for the last two years. I don't know if he's still injured, I don't know what's going on, but it's not good enough. It's effort."

For what it's worth, Payton's locker room speech included praise for the team for finding a way to win and avoiding turnovers.

The Broncos finished with a measly 168 yards, their fewest in a win since Week 1, 1983 -- John Elway's first start. Denver is currently 31st in yards per game and 32nd in yards per play this season but has a 4-2 record after Thursday's win, a remarkable testament to the defense.

Ryan Fitzpatrick's two biggest issues with Bo Nix

Fitzpatrick specifically pointed to two issues with Nix's performance.

"First of he guy doesn't want to throw the ball," Fitzpatrick said. "He's throwing to the flats, he's throwing behind [the line of scrimmage]. That's fine. But he has no trust from his coach, he calls a screen play on third and 8. Just run up and let the clock keep going. What does he do? He throws it away, Seattle gets the ball, they have a timeout."

Nix's average pass went 3.0 yards downfield Thursday, a stunningly low number. His furthest completion downfield was 8 yards, and he's averaging 4.9 air yards per attempt. That's not just the lowest in the NFL; it's the lowest by any player through six games in the last 20 years.

Fitzpatrick's other issue -- and the one where the competitiveness comes in -- came in overtime.

"He's got two chances to be competitive, the last one being a designed run for him to run, make somebody miss and get a first down for your football team," Fitzpatrick said, his voice rising to a yell.

After Darnold's interception, the Broncos ran RJ Harvey (5 yards) before a Nix scramble (3 yards) and then the Nix keeper, where he gained nothing. Luckily for Nix, Lutz drilled the 53-yarder. It will go down as a game-winning drive for Nix. But much like the rest of the night, in Fitzpatrick's opinion, Nix's performance overshadowed the final result.