The Broncos won Thursday night, beating the defending Super Bowl champions in overtime. But victory comes with a big asterisk; Denver’s offense is still not good enough. As Prime Video’s Ryan Fitzpatrick put it after the game, quarterback Bo Nix isn’t good enough. “Bo Nix is not playing competitively,” Fitzpatrick said, growing more animated as he went on. “It’s almost disrespectful to the quarterback position how he’s playing quarterback right now… He doesn’t have confidence in his coach, he calls a screen play on third-and-eight… Now they’re in the locker room, they’re excited. They won. He’s not playing competitive football right now… I can only imagine how Sean Payton feels. I mean, Sean Payton, [offensive coordinatpr] Davis Webb, everyone who blocks for him. He is not competing at this time. And that’s something he’s been concerned about for the last two years. I don’t know if he’s still hurt. I don’t know what’s going on. But it’s not good enough. It’s effort.” Later in the postgame show, Fitzpatrick had another chance to elaborate on his critique of Nix. “Well, there’s no fire and no passion,” Fitzpatrick said. “And that doesn’t mean you have to be yelling at guys on the sideline or inspiring in the huddle. You can do it with your game too. And I just don’t see it. And I just think he needs to be sat down and told that being a quarterback in the NFL is something very special. And now he takes it for granted. He is. And there are a lot of guys who have played this game and they look at it and think, ‘That’s garbage.’ That effort is garbage. That’s not a quarterback in the NFL. We deserve better.” For the game, Nix completed 17 of 27 passes for 107 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. His passer rating was 71.1. Denver’s offense gained only 168 yards. Seattle gained 353. It remains to be seen if Payton will have anything to say publicly about Nix’s play. Payton may have some important things to say privately, and if the problems continue, who knows what will happen? Because Nix is In his third season, what comes next will be critical. Nix will be eligible for a second contract after the season and the Broncos’ eventual options could be to pay him market value or move on.
