Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix doesn't care about the perception that he's not playing well at the start of the 2026 season.
"Playing good and playing bad, it's a narrative and I think it's honestly kind of something we make up," Nix said Tuesday, via The Denver Gazette. "I don't think necessarily I'm playing any different than what I'm normally playing."
In five starts since returning from last year's season-ending ankle injury, Nix has completed 59.9 percent of 162 attempts for 942 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions, 5.8 yards per attempt, 6.0 air yards per attempt, and a -0.14 EPA per dropback. His completion rate, TD percentage (3.7), yards per attempt, air yards and EPA are all trending at career lows. Those aren't narratives; they're facts.
In last Sunday’s win over the Chargers, Nix went 16-of-27 passing for 123 yards with a TD. Only one completion went for more than 13 yards (a 34-yarder to tight end Evan Engram in the first quarter), and only two passes had double-digit air yards. Again, not narratives. Facts.
It's a narrative that Nix is holding back the offense by consistently taking short throws, missing on the few deep throws, and struggling to navigate pressure behind an offensive line that has stunningly struggled early this season.
Nix can push back against that sort of discussion.
"Well, that's honestly and truly the biggest battle right now because it's like we want to be aggressive, want to be aggressive, want to be aggressive and then you see stats and see, well, this team is causing the most turnovers in the league," Nix said. "And then it's like, well, OK, I can't put my team in a position where I'm turning the football over and putting our defense in a bad spot and giving them a short field."
On the flip side, Nix knows that he just has to take the game as it comes.
"At the end of the day, it's like, who cares?" Nix said. "Why would I go out there worried about throwing an interception? Why would I try to throw every football 50 yards down the field? Just play the play and if the play's there, hit it. And if it's not there, check it down, throw it away, punt. Who cares?
"I just have to remind myself not to play hero ball."
Whether the blame goes on Nix, the blah play-calling from either head coach Sean Payton or OC Davis Webb, the pedestrian running game, the mediocre blocking or all of the above, no one who has watched the Broncos offense through five games would mistake them for a well-oiled, explosive machine.
Entering Thursday night’s game against Seattle, Denver's offense ranks 26th in points, 30th in yards, 26th in yards per play, 25th in pass yards per game, 25th in rush yards per game and 27th in third-down conversion rate. Facts.
For Nix and the Broncos, all that matters is wins. So far, they've managed to earn more W's than L's despite the offense still finding itself.
"We're sitting here at 3-2 and we're having a good start to our season," Nix said. "There's things we want to clean up, there's things we want to fix. We're leaving some things out there on the field but we're finding ways to win like we did last year. I feel strongly that we're going to continue to do that, so the most important thing is winning, obviously."
