Broncos QB Bo Nix torches Falcons, kicks rookie of the year campaign into high gear: “It’s clear he belongs here”

Six weeks ago, the Broncos might have gone three-and-out.

Six weeks ago, rookie quarterback Bo Nix might have let his feet get happy, might have tried to bail from the pocket or sailed a throw.

Six weeks ago, Sean Payton didn’t have a clear feel for how to can-opener an opposing defense with the players on his Denver offense.

Six weeks ago is a long time gone in Broncos Country.

Nix’s development — and his offensive rookie of the year campaign — shifted into warp speed Sunday when he completed 28 of 33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns and led the Broncos to a 38-6 blowout of Atlanta.

The result? Much needed for a Denver team coming off a brutal loss to Kansas City and trying to stay squarely in the AFC postseason picture.

The real impact? The Broncos have gone from thinking they had their guy, to being pretty confident, to playing like a team that believes it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“Our league, you’re learning each week and then pretty soon you’re like, ‘I belong here,’” head coach Sean Payton said of Nix’s development. “It’s clear he belongs here.”

What the No. 12 pick in April’s draft did to the Falcons on this day wasn’t just the best game of his career to date, it was among the most efficient games a rookie quarterback has played in franchise and league history.

“He’s him,” All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II said of Nix. “I told him, man, he’s trying to win MVP. It’s not even looking like offensive rookie of the year. It’s looking like MVP right now.

“It’s a testament to him. He puts the work in each and every week and it shows with his preparation.”

Nix joined Marlin Briscoe as the only Broncos rookie quarterbacks to ever throw for 300-plus yards and four touchdowns in a game. And he did it while completing 84.8% of his pass attempts, the best mark in franchise history for any quarterback with 30-plus attempts in a game.

“Every week he’s got better and that’s all you can ask for. There’s a reason we made him a captain,” defensive lineman Zach Allen said. “The way he approaches every day and the craft is really impressive. It’s good to be on his side.”

Nix showed glimpses Week 3 against Tampa Bay and resilience Week 4 against the New York Jets.

He showed competitive fire in Week 5 against Las Vegas and moxie last week at Kansas City.

He put the whole package on display against the Falcons.

It started on Denver’s third offensive snap.

Nix and Denver found themselves in third-and-9, which is never ideal and until weeks ago was essentially an automatic punt for this offense.

No longer.

Nix recognized man coverage after the snap when Atlanta’s safeties rotated, worked up in the pocket against an anemic Falcons pass rush and kept his eyes downfield.

Courtland Sutton, working out of the slot against former teammate Justin Simmons, ran an out-breaker and came open when Troy Franklin’s route led him right into Simmons’ path, creating a pile-up.

Nix fired for 16 yards and an easy conversion and after the game called it “the play of the game” offensively.

“They could have forced a three-and-out,” Nix said. “We come out and get man free coverage on third-and-long, Courtland gets open and we protect. We get the ball out and get a completion for a third-and-long. It is really hard to get third-and-longs in this league. Whenever you can find those, it’s always good.”

Denver never looked back.

They went right down the field and scored when Nix hit tight end Nate Adkins for a 12-yard score.

By the time his decimation of the Falcons had finished — Jarrett Stidham got the final 9 minutes, 3 seconds of game action — Nix had thrown subsequent touchdowns to Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin and Lil’Jordan Humphrey, completed passes to nine targets altogether and gone 9 of 10 for 96 yards and a touchdown on third and fourth downs.

“Those games are a lot of fun,” Nix said. “They’re what you work for. You play the game for experiences like that. I thought everyone had a great day. … Overall, we just played well. The offensive line is playing at a really high level. The sacks we have given up are on me. It is not like we are letting guys through and getting beat. Sometimes I get sacked on my own, but I think they’re doing a great job.

“We’re running and throwing the ball really well and it turns into that.”

Payton keeps coming up with wrinkles for Mims and Franklin. He identified Adkins as a regular on the field and the right guy to run the leak-out on the opening touchdown. He’s adjusting to life as a coach who uses three running backs instead of two. He’s relying more and more on a seventh-round rookie receiver in Devaughn Vele who plays like a veteran.

“There were just a number of things that we’re going to like when we watch the tape,” Payton said.

Most of it stuff that didn’t exist or had yet to come to fruition six weeks ago.

The Broncos already knew they had a top-flight defense, one really bad outing against Baltimore notwithstanding.

They already knew they had an upper-echelon special teams unit, one catastrophic snap against Kansas City notwithstanding.

What they haven’t known, truly, is just how much or how little room Nix and the Denver offense had for growth.

Since Week 5, Nix has completed 68.9% of his passes and thrown for 1,615 yards (7.4 per attempt) and 13 touchdowns against two interceptions for a 106.3 rating. He’s added 185 rushing yards and a pair of scores and also caught a touchdown.

More than that, he’s ascended into a place where teammates clearly believe Denver can win because of him rather than just with him.

“In this day and age, that’s everything,” Allen said. “There’s not a lot of teams that are winning without that quarterback position being set.

“So for us to have that guy and for him to hopefully continue to grow is going to be huge for us and we’re kind of seeing the benefits of it already.”

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