Bo Nix doesn’t hold back after heartbreaking Broncos loss — points to the one issue they must fix moving forward
The Denver Broncos lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2. Immediately after the game, quarterback Bo Nix pointed out the one area they need to improve.
The Denver Broncos lost heartbreakingly to the Indianapolis Colts after a costly and controversial leverage penalty, which allowed Indy another try at the game-winner.
Immediately after the contest, quarterback Bo Nix spoke to the media about the defeat and what the team needs to do moving forward to be successful. Nix was poised with his responses, feeling the weight of the brutal loss.
“From the get-go, they were, even their post-high man, their free safety was over him,” Nix said. “That was clearly their plan; they were going to try and take away the gimmes, take away his normal throws, which is why guys like Troy (Franklin) and Pat (Bryant) had big days. They take away one side, we’re able to hit it on the other side.”
The quarterback offered one area that the team must be better at moving forward, and it’s all about the offense, and one of their top weapons in Courtland Sutton — Indianapolis made an effort to lock down the No. 1 option for Denver’s offense.
“We gotta find a way to get Courtland the ball because he’s one of our better players,” Nix said. “Whatever it may be, just gotta get him his touches. We got him his targets, I gotta do a better job of getting the touches for him, getting him his catches. I felt that today, too, something we gotta look at when they clearly try to make a point to take him away, we gotta be able to counter.”
First half success against the Indianapolis Colts
Nix and the offense looked sharp in the first half, working off some of the rust that was apparent in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans. Denver started off with a heavy rushing attack. The game started with three runs for Denver as they were hoping to set the tempo early. Nix complimented the game plan and what the team was able to accomplish in the early stages of the matchup
“I thought we ran the ball well. Our o-line did really well, came out the game three straight runs, ran it right at them,” Nix said. “I thought our backs ran the ball well; we were able to get first downs on the run game, that was really good to see. I think that just opened up a few other things on those longer drives, and when it looked like we were moving down the field, it was really smooth because of the run game.”
Part of the success on offense was due in large part to rising star Troy Franklin making an impact in the contest. Franklin finished his day with eight catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. All offseason and training camp, there were rumblings about Franklin taking the important next step in the offense in 2025, and despite the loss, Broncos Country has to be excited about his future in the league.
Nix offered nothing but high praise for his former Oregon Duck teammate, letting the world know that it was the hard work Franklin has put in throughout practice that has seen him ascend on the offense.
“He played well, he was everywhere. Played with great effort, it goes to show just from his practice, he practices really hard,” Nix said. “He shows up every day, he gets his timing down, he runs, and he shows up and he just practices really hard. So it’s good to see him have a day like that. I’ve seen that from him for as long as I’ve known him, and he’s starting to do really well for this organization. He’s starting to look like his college self again. Happy for him, it all goes to his work. He’s working really hard, he’s practicing really hard, and it showed up in the game today.”
Last-minute defeat is going to sting for the Denver Broncos
Nix was asked about the loss specifically and the emotions behind it all. It’s clear from the signal-caller’s response that the team understands they need to be better, and it’s something they’re going to try and clean up moving forward. Costly mistakes late in the contest were the deciding factor.
“It’s tough, I felt like it slipped away from us, got away,” Nix said. “We made errors at the end that cost us. It started with my turnover, and I felt like that’s where we kinda lost a little bit of our momentum. Lost the chance at at least three points there when you’re already in the red zone, if not a touchdown, if I just hit that pass. But other than that, we played well for three quarters, but we gotta finish in the fourth against a good team like that.”
While Nix did bounce back in the contest, he had a costly interception late in the contest that helped swing the momentum back into the Colts’ favor. To end his press conference, the quarterback discussed the difference between good and great teams in the NFL, and how Denver can use this to fuel them to great things.
“It’s tough, you could talk about my interception, you could talk about the field goal, you could talk about a missed opportunity on one of the drives we went three and out,” Nix said. “We could have gone out and gotten points; it’s a whole game that comes down to a few key moments, and unfortunately, we had some negative key moments tonight. We gave ourselves every chance to win the game, and then at the end, we just shot ourselves in the foot. Good teams bounce back from that, and great teams don’t do that; they don’t beat themselves. We’re growing and developing, we’re still molding as a team, we’ve got a long season ahead of us, can’t let this loss turn into two.”
Denver will look to bounce back in a tough divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. The quarterback said all the right things after a tough loss; all eyes will be on the team to see how they rebound from this in their upcoming contest.