Throw Bo, throw?
No. No. No.
Run, Bo run.
On Thursday Night Football, the Denver Broncos made it look easy in the Big Easy – by running the football. Behind a dominant offensive line, 88 soul-crushing yards on the ground from Javonte Williams and 75 rushing yards from Crazy Legs Bo Nix, the Broncos beat up on the now 2-5 Saints.
No, the Saints aren’t good. In fact, they’re downright awful, more banged up than just about any team in the NFL. But Thursday’s Broncos win still provided one, major takeaway: If the Broncos can be a run-first team, everything works better. It was the first game that Sean Payton stuck to a “run-first” philosophy, and the sneaky-athletic Nix was more than in the mix.
“We actually were going to come out early, mix in the run and the read option,” Payton said after the game.
The read option?
That’s a play that was rarely part of Payton’s arsenal in New Orleans (unless Taysom Hill was behind center, of course).
Right there in front of Drew Brees, on Drew Brees Night, Payton’s signal caller ran it right down the Saints throat like he was Lamar Freaking Jackson. In Brees’ 20-year, hall-of-fame career, he had 16 seasons in which he rushed for fewer yards than Nix had on Thursday night. If Payton ever saw shades of Brees in Nix, 7.5 yards per carry likely wasn’t the vision.
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
Payton’s great Saints teams always had balance but were highlighted by Brees’ uncanny passing abilities. Payton, like any great head coach blessed with a hall-of-fame quarterback, will always fall into the “coach or quarterback?” debate. Like Bill Belichick with Tom Brady, Mike Shanahan with John Elway and someday Andy Reid with Patrick Mahomes, there will always be those suspicious of the coach if not given the benefit of the quarterback. By accepting the Denver job and taking on the project of developing a young Bo Nix, Payton has certainly flung himself into such a barstool debate.
Nix may ultimately have the ability to process the game as Brees once did, but whether his arm and computer can ever sinc up is still very much to be determined. If they can, Payton will look like the genius he’s often believed to be. If they can’t, Brees’ impact on the coach’s career will look more and more significant. Back at his old stomping grounds, in front of his old quarterback, Payton wanted to win far more than he wanted to prove that Nix was the perfect draft choice.
Anyone watching the Broncos this season has made the distinct observation that Nix is far more athletic than expected. For a guy who slung it all over the Pac-12, it’s Nix’s legs that have stood out in the NFL. Regardless of what kind of offense Payton wants to run (eventually), even he hasn’t been oblivious to Nix’s fancy feet.
Here you go, Bo. Go. Just go.
Did the Broncos just become a physical, running team?
“We are building. We are figuring it out,” Payton mused from the depths of the SuperDome. “I will say this respectfully to the question, we are working on how to win that game. You don’t say this is how we are going to play regardless. Based on who we were playing tonight, that what we feel we had to do to win that game. It might change a week from now.”
Will it? Should it? Will Payton return to the pet project of proving to everyone that Nix might be the best gunslinger in this year’s draft? Or will he take a note from his own playbook on Thursday night?
Bo Nix may turn out to be one heckuva passer, but last night, he and Williams toted the rock all the way to an easy win.
Sean Payton’s Broncos sit at an unexpected 4-3. If they’re to make a legitimate playoff run, they’ll need to do it on the ground.
