Bo Nix Silenced Doubters In Week 3

Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix was effective in Sunday's blowout 26-7 Week 3 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nix completed 25-of-36 passing attempts for 216 yards, zero touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The dual-threat signal-caller added 47 rushing yards and a score to his offensive totals. It was by far the best showing of his short career to date.

Nix was extremely accurate. The former Oregon standout completed 25 passes and more than 69.4% of his attempts. Nix also displayed a willingness to push the ball further down the field after previously tying for the sixth-lowest yards per attempt (3.3) since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger in Week 1.

Nix was athletic and elusive as a runner. The Broncos used a first-round selection on his services partially due to his ability to create opportunities off-script. On this rep, Nix turns a would-be sack and potential turnover into an explosive gain.

Nix’s rushing touchdown opened the scoring. The playmaking quarterback faked a play action on 3rd-and-2 inside the 5-yard line and won the corner for an easy touchdown. As a passer, Nix completed all four of his attempts on this drive for 70 yards. He started red-hot and carried that momentum for all four quarters.

This throwing compilation highlights two of Nix’s most impressive completions. Note the perfect ball placement to Courtland Sutton’s back shoulder near the sideline on the first throw. On the second completion, Nix quickly identifies that Josh Reynolds sheds his defender at the line of scrimmage and he places the ball in a bucket over his wideout’s shoulder. These are confident throws he was not attempting in Weeks 1 and 2.

Nix went from completing 59.7% of his passing attempts in Weeks 1 and 2 to the aforementioned 69.4%. His yards per attempt increased a whole yard from 5.0 to 6.0. Nix's passer rating also went from 51.0 to 85.0. 

Nix's time-to-throw was also more efficient. It went from 2.79 seconds in Week 2 to a seventh-best 2.57 seconds in Week 3, according to Next Gen Stats. Nix was making quicker, confident decisions while pushing the ball deeper.

NGS also had Nix at 16.7% in their "aggressiveness" metric. It's the ninth-most aggressive result among qualifying quarterbacks across Week 3 heading into Monday Night Football. It's an advanced stat that tracks tight-window passing attempts, defined as a defender being within one yard or less when the pass is attempted. It's an encouraging result for Nix given how timid he was in Weeks 1 and 2.

Using Nix's completion probability on every play, Nix completed 4.3% of his passes above expectation. Nix's Expected Points Added (EPA) per play was 0.22, and 10.4 overall, per RBSDM. Those are elite results in EPA. His average depth of target (aDoT) was also an acceptable 7.1.

Nix arguably played the best game any rookie quarterback has played this season on Sunday. He was accurate, confident, aggressive, efficient, athletic, and decisive. Nix showcased terrific growth against the Buccaneers. Perhaps the early-season concerns were premature.