On the heels of the Denver Broncos' 38-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons, rookie quarterback Bo Nix was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. He passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns, completing north of 80% of his passes and becoming the first rookie ever to notch that trifecta in an NFL game.
Nix was also named the FedEx Air & Ground Player of the Week. For his efforts in the previous game, which was a last-second loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, he was named Rookie of the Week. And that came in the immediate aftermath of earning Offensive Rookie of the Month for October.
It's been one accolade after another for the Broncos' sensational rookie first-round pick. But not everyone is willing to give Nix his flowers.
CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso is impotently trying to throw cold water on the Nix inferno raging in the Mile High City. Instead of handing out what should have been an obligatory A+ to Nix for his off-the-charts, never-happened-before performance vs. the Falcons, Trapasso gave him a... B-.
"This was one of those unusual quarterback performances that, individually, didn't match the statistics. Sean Payton did an exquisite job scheming to combat the Falcons defense in this blowout win. However, I must give Nix credit for operating efficiently within Payton's game plan. He mostly threw with accuracy, but a large chunk of the rookie's production came on screens or throws to completely wide open receivers. Two of his touchdowns were on screens, and another came when a tight end leaked out after blocking and there was no one close to him in coverage. This was a positive outing, but Nix himself did not orchestrate this impressive throttling of Atlanta," Trepasso wrote.
So, if it's Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, or Drake Maye throwing a touchdown pass off of a screen, we're not going to mention it or hold against them as a passer in the grades. But if it's Nix, drafted No. 12 overall and not in the top 3 as those quarterbacks were, well, gosh darn it, it's as if those screen-pass touchdowns shouldn't even count. Am I right?
Chalk it up to another case of Nix Derangement Syndrome, I guess. Just give the kid the credit he deserves.
Nix took what the Falcons defense gave him, and then some, and along the way, he made several excellent throws, including a thread-the-needle strike between defenders to Devaughn Vele (on third down) over the middle and an awesome back-shoulder to Courtland Sutton on a broken play of sorts that also moved the chains.
Payton said on Monday that there were some Nix plays he saw on film that made him want to "scream" at the quarterback, but that's a head coach maintaining a high standard of expectation for his young passer, not a critique. And I'd bet money that Trapasso couldn't possibly guess which plays they were.
To quote Payton, let's not enshrine Nix "in Canton" quite yet. But outlets like CBS Sports should stop the transparent mission to torpedo Nix's Offensive Rookie of the Year stock after he skyrocketed in the odds. Daniels is still considered the betting favorite, but Nix has moved into the No. 2 position.
Nix has the momentum and a very favorable remaining schedule, while Daniels has cooled off dramatically since his hot start to the season. Those who put a few bucks on Nix to win ORoY before the season started are staring down the barrel of what could be an enormous payout.
On the season, Nix has passed for 2,275 yards and 14 touchdowns, with six interceptions. He's completing 65.5% of his passes and stands with a QB rating of 89.3 through 11 games.
Nix has also rushed for nearly 300 yards and four additional scores and even caught a touchdown pass. That gives him 19 total touchdowns, easily the most among the rookie quarterbacks this season.
Next up for Nix is a trip to Allegiant Stadium (where the Broncos have never won) to take on the Las Vegas Raiders. After winning Rookie of the Month, Nix has turned in back-to-back stellar performances against plus-.500 opponents, so expect him to keep riding the momentum wave against the same two-win rival that he defeated in Week 5.
