The Denver Broncos advanced to the AFC title game after defeating the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in OT in the Divisional Round at Empower Field at Mile High on Saturday.
That’s the good news.
However, there is some bad news for the Broncos.
“Not good news,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “On the second-to-last play in overtime, [QB] Bo [Nix] fractured a bone in his right ankle. He’s scheduled to have surgery Tuesday of this week, which will put him out for the rest of the season. ‘Stiddy’ (QB Jarrett Stidham) is ready to go. It was the second-to-last play before he threw the pass to [WR Marvin] Mims. Birmingham [Ala.] is where he’ll have the surgery with Dr. [Norman E.] Waldrop. I don’t really think there’s any other questions. In other words, this just is what it is. We felt like it’d be best to just tell everyone now.”
Without Nix, who completed 26-of-46 passes for 279 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception on Saturday, Jarrett Stidham will get the start. The last time Stidham started an NFL game was in 2023, and the six-year veteran has never started a playoff game.
Despite that, Payton has confidence in him.
He’s ready,” Payton said. “I’ve said this at the beginning of the season, I feel like I have a [No.] 2 [quarterback] that’s capable of starting for a handful of, a number of teams. I know he feels the same way. So watch out. Just watch. He’s experienced, he’s played in games. They’re different-type players to some degree, and yet they’re both… They’re very close friends, as with [QB] Sam [Ehlinger]. It’s a tight room. Sam will be our [No.] 2, and here we go.”
Back to Nix, he had an outstanding season for the Broncos. The second-year quarterback led Denver to an AFC East title and the best record in the AFC. After the win, Payton had nothing but glowing words for his quarterback.
“I’ll tell you what, the one thing about it,” Payton said. “He’s such a strong, faith-based guy. He was sitting in the hallway with his family, and I went over, and we’re all talking to him. He knows that God has a plan for him. He said he had one in high school, and then he said he had one at Auburn. I said, ‘I didn’t realize that.’ I said, ‘If I would have known that, I wouldn’t have drafted you.’ (Laughs) He’s a tough cookie. I said, ‘Listen. I believe you’re the second quarterback in Year 2 to take your team to a Championship game, and the first is [Chiefs QB Patrick] Mahomes. This team all year has lost key players, and we’ll rise up for the next challenge, and we’ll go from there.”
You have to feel gutted for the Nix and the Broncos, but they will host the AFC title game. Anything is possible, but getting to the Super Bowl just got a little tougher for the Broncos.
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