Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is embracing the “let it rip” mindset.
The Broncos are 3–2 and have already seen a gauntlet of Super Bowl contenders in both conferences. But the offense is still the lagging indicator, due in large part to Nix underperforming. Head coach Sean Payton challenged Nix after their win Sunday to play with confidence, and Nix said Tuesday that he is trying to stop overanalyzing situations and deal with each play as it comes.
“I think just making it simple, making things one, two, three, and let’s play fast and let’s roll,” Nix said. “I think sometimes I can have a tendency of overanalyzing and overthinking things, and that’s when I’m not at my best. I want to have all the answers and get everything right and it’s just too difficult, 11 guys moving on defense, it’s tough to always figure it out. But I do think I can make the game simpler and just get back to one, two, check down, that sort of thing, and making sure my reads are on point.”
Nix has seen a marked decline in statistical output from last year. In 2025, he finished eighth in the league in passing yards with 3,931, and was tied for ninth in passing touchdowns with 25. But through five games in 2026, Nix is 21st in yardage with 942 yards and tied for 19th in scoring with six TDs.
The reason for the decline is largely because Nix simply hasn’t been taking shots down the field. In the Broncos’ Week 5 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Nix attempted just one pass over 20 yards, which was completed. In Week 4’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, his longest depth of target was a 25-yard incompletion, but it was one of just three attempts over 20 yards, all of which hit the turf.
In fact, Nix’s average depth of target is just 5.81 yards, which ranks 44th in the NFL.
After the win Sunday, Payton implored Nix to play free and with confidence.
“We as coaches, like I’ve said to him, I said, ‘man, you’re the guy we wanted here. Let’s go,’” he said. “And [he’s] done a ton of things well. But I think there’s a lot that goes into that. It’s important that—you know in that old TV series ‘The Bear,’ where they just said, ‘let ‘er rip.’ I want him to make sure that, hey, let ‘er rip.”
One of the reasons Nix hasn’t done that is because he’s faced off against three of the NFL’s top 10 pass defenses in the past three weeks: the second-ranked LA Rams in Week 3, the eighth-ranked 49ers in Week 4, and the sixth-ranked Chargers last Sunday. He will face the top-ranked passing D on Thursday when the Seattle Seahawks visit Mile High.
“That’s honestly, really and truly, the biggest battle right now is like, [I] want to be aggressive,” Nix said. “And then you see Seattle and you’re like, ‘Well, this team is causing the most turnovers in the league,’ and then you’re like, ‘OK, well, I can’t put my team in a situation where I’m turning the football over and putting our defense in a bad spot, giving them a short field.’
“And at the end of the day, it’s like, who cares? Why would I go out there worried about throwing an interception? Why would I go out there trying to throw every football 50 yards down the field? Just play the play. If the play’s there, hit it. If it’s not there, check it down, run, throw it away, punt. Who cares? That’s the play that I was dealt.”
Nix said he is trying to remind himself not to play hero ball, and if he likes his read but still throws a pick, just accept the reality and move on. He is also not going to heave the ball downfield every play, but check it down and move on, he added. Whatever play he is dealt, he wants to operate in the moment.
