With just over four minutes left in Saturday’s AFC Divisional Round game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, the moment the man was wondering had arrived.
Could young quarterback Bo Nix deliver in a big game when his team needed him most?
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Nix did it, and the Broncos are on their way to the AFC Championship Game after defeating the Bills 33-30 in overtime.
After a strong start to the game in which the young quarterback threw a pair of touchdowns in the first half to take a 20-10 lead into the locker room, Nix and the Broncos trailed by four, 27-23, late in the fourth quarter. This was the moment the NFL world had wondered about for weeks as the playoffs approached. Could the young quarterback take a step forward? Could Nix silence the skeptics at a time like this and prove he was the QB Denver needed him to be?
He complied.
The drive began with Nix throwing a dime down the right wing, after avoiding pressure from Joey Bosa, climbing the pocket and connecting with Courtland Sutton on the right wing:
As noted, it was Sutton’s first catch of the game.
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Shortly after he made his second. After two plays set the Broncos back, Denver faced 3rd-and-11 at its own 39-yard line with 3:19 left in the game. This was a pivotal moment in the contest and for Nix.
That’s when the QB launched an absolute rocket on this dig route to Sutton:
Following an injury timeout for center Alex Forsyth, Nix and Sean Payton let the clock run down to the two-minute warning, setting up Denver for a 1st-and-10 at the Buffalo 38-yard line.
A few plays later, Denver faced another third of a deficit and once again Nix moved the chains.
Only this time he did it with his legs:
Denver stopped the clock with just 61 seconds left after the run, setting up the Broncos with a 1st-and-10 situation at the Buffalo 26-yard line.
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That’s when Nix dimed Marvin Mims Jr. to give Denver the lead, with a beautiful shot:
Mims remained on the ground for a long time as he slid toward a camera after making the over-the-shoulder catch. It was also a brilliant call by Payton, who called a double-move route for Mims working against backup cornerback Dane Jackson, who had just entered the game for that play due to an injury.
Nix was 6-for-7 in the series, including two critical third-down conversions, just when Denver needed him most.
Josh Allen, of course, had some magic up his sleeve, as the Bills forced overtime with a field goal in the final seconds of regulation. But in overtime, the Broncos punched their ticket to the AFC Championship Game.
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The big play in overtime was Broncos defender Ja’Quan McMillan’s controversial interception, which ended Buffalo’s first possession, after the Bills forced a Denver punt, and gave the Broncos another chance. Nix connected with RJ Harvey on this short throw to get the Broncos offense moving:
Then came a series of penalties on Buffalo, including at least one rather questionable pass interference penalty, which put the Broncos in position for the game-winning field goal. But that field goal wouldn’t have been possible without what Nix did on Denver’s final drive of regulation.
Of course, there is a painful subplot to this story, literally and figuratively.
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Nix’s season ended tonight when the young quarterback suffered a broken right ankle on Denver’s final drive in overtime. The Broncos are moving forward, but they will take the field in the AFC Championship Game with Jarrett Stidham leading the way, not Nix.
But what Nix did tonight before that injury was exactly what Broncos fans and the rest of the NFL world were waiting to see. Nix rises to the occasion when his team needed him most.
This chapter of his story ends on a Saturday night in Denver, but he has more chapters to write and more moments to live.