The Denver Broncos (4-2), fresh off a victory over the Seattle Seahawks, are maintaining much of last season's success, but they are doing it largely in spite of their starting quarterback, Bo Nix.
Nix has seemingly regressed in every phase of the game this season, from making the right read on passing plays to being almost completely ineffective as a runner. Whether this has to do with defenses catching up to him, not being fully recovered from the broken ankle he suffered this past January, or something else, it's plain to see that he's not playing well.
One of the most troubling traits Nix has exhibited this season is almost an unwillingness to throw the ball down the field.
There are 701 qualified QB seasons through 6 games in the past 20 years
2026 Bo Nix ranks 701st out of 701 in average pass length (4.9 air yards per attempt) His avg pass was thrown behind the line of scrimmage in the 2nd half on Thursday
— Doug Clawson (@doug_clawson) October 16, 2026
Then there are plays like this one, which just lack awareness. The leader of your football team cannot do this.
Since 2014, teams leading with 6:00 or less left in the 4th quarter have run 16,178 offensive plays, including 4,347 dropbacks.
— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) October 16, 2026
Last night, Bo Nix became the only QB to run out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage on one of those dropbacks. pic.twitter.com/ke2TUtht7E
Stats like this next one may seem like cherry-picking, but it's still a fact. It becomes harder and harder to defend this kind of play and the only way you can do it successfully is by saying the team is still winning.
There have been 155 qualifying QB starts in the NFL this season.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) October 16, 2026
Bo Nix's performance last night ranked 151st in dropback success rate.
His Week 5 start against the Chargers ranked 153rd.
On the season, he ranks 31st out of 31 QBs.
Nix is not even a threat to push the ball downfield right now, which should make him even easier for defenses to defend. How much longer can this continue? In addition, Nix has the lowest intended air yards in a season in the last five years.
Lowest average depth of target this season
— PFF (@PFF) October 16, 2026
(min 100 attempts)
Bo Nix 6.3
Kyler Murray 7.0
Cam Ward 7.1
Geno Smith 7.2 pic.twitter.com/Uhysx3pmf4
But perhaps just as impressive is this statistic, particularly when you look at some of the names on the list and how they have fared. Nix wins games, regardless of the reason.
Bo Nix has the best career record in NFL history in games with 6.0 yds/att or less (13-3, .813 win pct).
— Doug Clawson (@doug_clawson) October 16, 2026
All other active QBs have a .283 win pct in starts with 6.0 yds/att or less pic.twitter.com/u6afWFP9NI
The big question will be whether or not Nix can improve his overall play or if the Broncos can continue winning games in this manner. It is very reminiscent of a couple of successful Broncos seasons: 2011, also known as "Tebowmania," and 2015, the year the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 despite Peyton Manning being a shell of his former self.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: These stats show how bad Bo Nix has been in Year 3 (and the Broncos still win)
