Mark Kiszla: Bo Nix and Denver defense have nasty habit of choking in the clutch
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – In the NFL, where championship rings are won by stone-cold closers, these squeezably soft Broncos always be folding.
Need I remind you?
You already know this sad two-minute drill.
With the game on the line, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix doesn’t yet know how to win.
And this overhyped Denver defense can’t get a big stop.
When victory should’ve been no less than a 90 percent certainty, the Broncos blew a touchdown lead Sunday against the Chargers with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and lost 23-20 on Sunday.
“We’ve got to find a way to finish,” Denver cornerback Pat Surtain II said while standing in a visiting locker room that was filled wall-to-wall with sad Charlie Brown frowns.
For the second straight week, the Broncos hopped on a painfully long plane ride back to Colorado after being walked off by a field goal as the final seconds of the game expired.
Well, ain’t that a kick in the teeth?
Again.
Only seven days earlier, the Broncos stumbled over their own feet on the way to slamming the barn door shut on the Colts in Indianapolis.
Oops, they did it again.
“When it counts the most,” Denver outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper said, “that’s when we have to be at our best.”
Instead, these Broncos fold.
More than an accident, it’s becoming an annoying trend.
For all his poise and promise as a young NFL quarterback, Nix can’t win the big ones.
With this woulda-shoulda-coulda loss to the Chargers, who have taken early command of the AFC West by opening the season with three victories against their division rivals, Nix’s record as Denver’s starting quarterback in games decided by seven points or less fell to 2-8.
Forget that dumb penalty on a 60-yard field goal by Indy and the fact that when the going gets tough, smart NFL offensive coordinators take dead aim at Denver cornerback Riley Moss.
The biggest problem for the Broncos so far this season?
Same as it has been since Peyton Manning retired.
It’s the quarterback.
Nix badly misfired on one, two, or three TD throws against the Chargers, depending on how generously you scored it at home.
“Looks like the common thread,” said Nix, reviewing the missed downfield shots that could’ve been daggers, “is just being a step too far and not hitting them.”
In a league ruled by QBs, if the Broncos were getting better play in the clutch from Nix, they would be undefeated.
“He missed no throws,” insisted Denver running back J.K. Dobbins, calling Nix “a great quarterback.”
While we all can appreciate having a teammate’s back, the Broncos won’t escape the 1-2 hole they’ve dug for themselves to start this season by being delusional
Nix isn’t bad. He’s mediocre.
We all know what a truly elite NFL quarterback looks like.
Joe Burrow. Lamar Jackson. Josh Allen.
They are top-five QBs in this league that have made the Denver defense look ordinary in the not-too-distant past.
Should we add Justin Herbert to the list?
He threw for 300 yards and a touchdown to Keenan Allen that tied the game at 20 points apiece with 2 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. That’s the kind of clutch play that might actually make laid-back L.A. finally wrap its arms around the Chargers.
But let us not forget. After blowing the lead, Denver got the football back with an opportunity for redemption. How many times did Broncos Country watch John Elway put his signature on winning time?
With everything on the line, Nix had a chance to walk like a hero.
Instead, he choked on the moment. Nix badly overthrew a wide-open Courtland Sutton on a deep pass down the left sideline, forcing Denver to go three and out on the Broncos’ final offensive possession.
Herbert responded by hitting all four of his passes to lead the Chargers down the field to set up a game-winning, 43-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker as time expired.
“We play in a very competitive league,” Sutton said. “I had somebody outside the realm (of football) ask: ‘Are there any easy games in the NFL?’ And I told him: ‘There aren’t any.’”
So I asked Sutton if consecutive losses to the Colts and Chargers by a total of four points were a stark reminder of the fine line between success and failure in the NFL.
“Is that a question?” Sutton replied.
“Or are you answering your own question?”
We all know the answer.
In a league where there’s little or no margin for error on the road to the Super Bowl, these Broncos have repeatedly shown they aren’t yet good enough to win the close ones.
