Bo Nix — Week 1: Twelve of Seventeen, Then Five of Eleven
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Tuesday, Sep 15
Nix completed 17 of 28 throws for 131 yards, one touchdown and one interception, took four sacks, and scrambled once for three yards; his nine third-down throws produced one conversion. Before halftime he was 12 of 17 for 98 yards; after it, 5 of 11 for 33, in a 31–10 loss to the Chiefs.
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Seven to nothing, Chiefs, three 53 left in the first quarter, first and 10 at the Kansas City 19. Bo Nix threw deep left to Evan Engram for the touchdown. +2.4 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 6.1 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the biggest swing on any Denver pass or run all night. It was also the longest completion Denver had all night, and the only one that went for more than 13 yards.
The line: 17 completions on 28 throws, a hundred 31 yards, one touchdown, one interception, four sacks, −14.4 expected points on 32 pass plays — thirtieth of 32 teams this week. One scramble, three yards on third and 16, and no designed run — the other rushing attempts credited to him were an aborted snap he fell on and a kneel. Before halftime it was 12 of 17 for 98 yards; after it, five of 11 for 33. The interception came on Denver's first possession: third and 11 from the Denver 34, deep middle for Courtland Sutton, picked off by Mansoor Delane and returned to the 46, −5.2 points of win probability. The sacks were three yards on the first snap of the game, five yards with a minute 33 left in the half, six yards with a fumble out of bounds on second and nine from the Kansas City nine, and nine yards with a lost fumble on third and 16 late in the third. A fifth sack, with five 18 left in the game, was reversed on review into an incompletion. On third down he threw nine times, completed four, and converted one; the Broncos converted two of 12, tied with Atlanta, and only Cleveland did worse this week.
The ball went six times to Pat Bryant, five each to Sutton and Engram, four to RJ Harvey, three each to Adam Trautman and Jaylen Waddle, once to Troy Franklin, and one throw was credited to no receiver. Engram's five came out at +4.1 expected points, the most on the team; Sutton's five were worth −4.8, Waddle's three −4.3. 19 pass plays before halftime and 13 after, against six designed runs before and six after, plus the aborted snap.
Back in June the preview leaned watchlist on Nix — the sixteenth quarterback at pick 104, off a broken ankle in January — and named two things to watch: whether he was a full participant when camp opened, and the designed-run rate in September, because the ground scoring was the swing vote. Monday put a zero in the second column: no designed runs, one scramble. The passing was the larger problem — a hundred 31 yards was the fewest of any team this week, and the second half was five completions. One game does not undo a QB7 season, and it came against a defense that stopped 10 of 12 third downs. The designed-run count is the number to watch next. The Broncos are home to the Jaguars on Sunday the twentieth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Bo Nix's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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