Broncos vs. Commanders was the Bo Nix experience in a nutshell

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Denver’s quarterback keeps polarizing, and finding ways to play winning football.

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Whoever picks the music at NBC perfectly understood the assignment. During one particular segment on Sunday Night Football dissecting Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix’s 2025 season, the Fall Out Boy song “Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year” was playing in the background.

As far as production choices go, this is as good as it gets. Nix, after all, is one of the most polarizing QBs in the NFL today. On the one hand, he now has won 20 of his 29 career starts. On the other, he continues to play a statistically uninspiring brand of football.

In that sense, the Broncos’ 27-26 overtime win versus the Commanders was the Box Nix experience in a nutshell.

On paper, Nix did not stood out. The second-year passer completed 29 of 45 pass attempts for 321 yards with one touchdown and interception each as well as a fumble that he himself recovered. He posted a middle-of-the-road passer rating of 83.7 with 0.2 expected points added per play and a completion percentage of 3.8 below expectation.

However, when push came to shove, Nix — once again — delivered. Take his touchdown pass in the late first half:

With his team out of timeouts and the seconds ticking down, a sack would have been costly. And yet, Nix managed to maneuver around the pocket and buy enough time for wide receiver Courtland Sutton to get open. As he was taken down, he got rid of the ball and hit Sutton for a go-ahead touchdown.

It would not be Bo Nix if the rollercoaster did not go down as well, though. In the early fourth quarter, he threw an ugly interception to ageless wonder Bobby Wagner — a play that led to a Washington field goal and indirectly contributed to the game going to overtime in the first place.

Once there, Nix turned it on again. Starting at the Denver 24, he completed four straight passes for 71 yards, including a 41-yarder to Evan Engram that helped set up a Broncos touchdown to up by seven.

While the Broncos defense also played its part — the unit stopped Washington from converting what would have been a game-winning two-point try later in overtime — Nix yet again did what he was drafted to do. Lead his team to victory, eye-popping stats or not.

“I was told a long time ago by one of my many offensive coaches that pressure is a privilege,” the 25-year-old said after the game. “Not many people get to be in that opportunity. So, if it’s going to be me who gets this opportunity, I’m going to make the best of it. It doesn’t always go your way. Fortunately for us, it’s gone our way in these games.

“Last year, we were on the opposite end of these close ones, so I understand what it’s like to be on the other side of things. But you just got to keep moving on, and you got to have a belief you’re going to find a way. It didn’t look great for a minute, but we just found a way to get the next best play and, at the end of the day, score one more point than they did.”

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