Not if the Broncos fashion themselves as contenders. Not if the Broncos want to be playing meaningful games in December.
In a game designed for him to meet the moment, Nix met the mat.
Nobody was good on the Broncos offense — not the receivers, not the running backs (though they were more underutilized than underwhelming), not the tight ends, not the offensive line. Definitely not first-time offensive coordinator Davis Webb.
Nix insisted Thursday that the Broncos were not as bad as they looked and offered an example of what went well.
“I thought we did a really efficient job getting in and getting out of the huddle. We didn’t have movement issues. We didn’t have cadence issues. We did a great job in communication,” Nix said. “I think going on the road in a hostile environment, I thought we handled the noise and the elements pretty good.”
The admission was well-intentioned, but stunning. It was the equivalent of Lewis Hamilton saying his Ferrari had an amazing paint job and good pit stops, but left out the part where the F-26 model crashed into a retaining wall.
The Broncos offense was a disaster. There was no good part.
There are no moral victories when the Super Bowl is the goal. The kitchen in the Broncos’ fancy $175 million headquarters serves flavored water with B vitamins, not Capri Suns with orange slices.
We can all agree that the Broncos were bad on Monday. What made it so unusual is that Nix made things worse. He fumbled three times, one fewer than all of last season. He threw an interception on the first possession that set the tone for a night when he was indecisive and reactionary.
For two seasons, Nix made up for Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie. He covered for Troy Franklin and a rash of block-first tight ends. He made the offensive line look like a fortress in pass protection by getting rid of the ball quickly and avoiding sacks.
That is why he earned the description of franchise quarterback, of a player worthy of $55 million per season on his next contract.
Monday we saw none of that.
It is no reason to panic because it was the opener. But it would be foolish to disregard it completely because something was clearly off.
It began with the first play. If Nix throws the ball to Jaylen Waddle for a long gain as the receiver makes a tackler miss, perhaps the Chiefs defend the Broncos more predictably. Instead, he took a sack and threw a pick on the initial possession, setting the stage for a public shaming.
It is on Nix to prove it was an outlier, that he picked a bad night to have a bad night. Now, the challenge is harder. He must bounce back at home like a human trampoline against the only team that beat the Broncos in Denver last season.
First, let’s be clear on why things looked so awful.
Coach Sean Payton and Webb ran an offense that we did not see over the summer. In August, the Broncos appeared poised to run the ball with more frequency and authority. It is why they brought back J.K. Dobbins. It is why they drafted Jonah Coleman.
And against the Chiefs, nothing.
Oh, the backs were fine. Webb just forgot about them. They had 11 carries for 54 yards. Kenneth Walker III rushed seven times on the Chiefs’ first drive.
The scary explanation for the 10-point performance is that the Broncos are not as good as they think they are, and the Webb-Payton experiment was an unnecessary risk.
The more digestible one? Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo outsmarted them, as Webb basically admitted Friday, saying, “he did a good job of showing things he hadn’t shown before in many, many years.”
The good news is that Webb was not looking for an out or an excuse. He pointed the finger in the mirror, a promising development after he put Nix in position to fail.
“It was not good enough. I am not proud of the results. I have probably five play calls I would love to have back,” Webb said. “Execution, penalties, just not what you wanted to start with considering we had a good camp and we felt like we had a good plan going in and it just didn’t time up well.”
Don’t mistake this as an alibi for Nix.
Remember when Payton said one of Nix’s superpowers was navigating chaos? Against the Chiefs, he completed two of 10 passes for 5 yards and fumbled twice when the pocket collapsed. He was 15-for-18 with a clean pocket.
Were the pressure issues — 45% on dropbacks — the result of a terrible performance upfront, misreads by Nix on audibles, lack of execution, a combination of everything? There is no way the NFL’s best offensive line should look like it did on Monday.
But Nix, in my opinion, contributed to it.
He did not look right.
My biggest concerns after his ankle surgery were twofold: would he retain his mobility, and drive his throws with purpose? He did not run on Monday. Even Mahomes, nine months removed from ACL surgery, took off for the goal line without thinking.
Nix finished with three attempts for two yards. That won’t work. What makes him special is his ability to make plays off script. He is not ready for the Matthew Stafford life.
Did he not trust his health? Just wasn’t feeling it?
Same goes for his throwing. For Nix to be effective, his feet and mind must be in sync. That allows him to fire his fastball on the black. He did not let it eat, as they say. There was some trepidation, indecision.
Maybe it was first-game-back anxiety, complicated by the noise and the Chiefs’ surprising alignments.
Nix carries more weight of the franchise than any player. But understand, he needs help. He requires the run to set up the pass. Or perhaps against the Jaguars, the pass to set up the run.
Watching the game and listening to Nix and Webb, the hope is that their Sunday plan matches their words. That there will be a sense of urgency — “I (learned) that If you have a play you like, don’t wait to shoot it,” Webb said — while also establishing an offensive identity.
For now, Kansas City is a mulligan. But it might be the only one because the reality is clear.
Nix cannot be bad or there is no good path available to the postseason.
