Rookie QB Bo Nix weathers a tough start and has Broncos in position to end a long playoff drought

DENVER (AP) - This figured to be a season filled with plenty of growing pains for the Denver Broncos and rookie quarterback Bo Nix.

Maybe early. Not so much now.

All Nix has done lately is win weekly awards and break franchise marks. He has put his team in position to end a long playoff drought and himself in the running for the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

The Broncos (8-5) hit their bye week in the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC. The late-season break couldn't come at a better time, either - a chance to rest up for the home stretch run as Denver tries to make the postseason for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50 to close out the 2015 season.

The week off arrives at an inconvenient time, too, simply because the Broncos have been rolling in winning three straight.

"A good week of rest, good week of just kind of (getting) a reset," explained Nix, whose TD passes (17), yards passing (2,842) and wins (eight) are the most in Broncos history for a rookie QB. "We're going for a playoff spot. We're going for longer in the season. So it's going to be good for us."

Denver currently has a 77% probability of making the playoffs, according to the NFL. Right out of the break, though, is a pivotal home game against Indianapolis (6-7), a team right on its heels.

"I think the guys are going to enjoy" the bye week, said Nix, who was selected the offensive rookie of the month for October. "But we're also going to be excited to get back and finish this thing out the right way."

For Nix and the Broncos, the season started out rough at 0-2. That included a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were relying on Justin Fields at the time as Russell Wilson - the QB the Broncos released in the offseason - was banged up.

Nix didn’t throw his first TD pass until Week 4.

The following week in a win over Las Vegas, there was a feisty sideline exchange between Payton and Nix. It seemed to galvanize their relationship.

"He turned and looked at me and said, 'I love you,' and I turned to him and said, 'I love you back,'" recounted Nix, who was the 12th overall pick out of Oregon and sixth QB off the board.

Payton referred to Nix as the movie character Ferris Bueller, explaining, "Ferris is kind of quirky and doing his own thing once in a while.”

Nix has closed the gap in the rookie of the year race. Washington’s Jayden Daniels remains the favorite, according to BetMGM, but Nix has the next-best odds.

His highlight moment may have been a 93-yard touchdown connection with Marvin Mims Jr. in a 41-32 win over Cleveland on "Monday Night Football." Nix was about 4 yards deep in his end zone on third-and-11 and lined a pass some 46 yards between defenders to hit Mims in stride as the receiver raced down the field.

It's not all “The Bo Nix Show." The defense has done its part, too. Linebacker Nik Bonitto has 11 sacks this season, becoming the first Broncos player to record double-digits since Von Miller (14 1/2) and Bradley Chubb (12) in 2018.

There’s also Pat Surtain II, who was the AFC defensive player of the month. The last time a Broncos cornerback earned that award was Pro Football Hall of Famer Champ Bailey in October 2006.

The defense, though, was put on notice by Payton after the Browns game. Payton wasn't pleased that Jameis Winston threw for a Browns-record 497 yards or that ex-Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy had a career-best 235 yards receiving. Denver was without Riley Moss (knee) and the defense did come up big with three interceptions, including a pair of picks returned for scores.

"We are going to look at a lot of things defensively that we would have done differently," explained Payton, whose team follows the Colts game with two on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati before hosting Kansas City. "I told them in the locker room that it was not pretty, and yet in the end we did what we had to do, especially late."

The Broncos recently made a roster move as they waived veteran receiver Josh Reynolds, who's been on injured reserve after breaking his finger in Week 5. It's an indication the Broncos have faith in a youthful receiving corps that includes Mims, Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin. There's also veteran Courtland Sutton, who has become Nix's go-to target. Sutton has 846 yards receiving as he tries to turn in his second 1,000-yard season (1,112 in 2019).

"We're a confident bunch right now," Sutton said. "We're playing aggressively. We're playing together. We're playing with a little bit of confidence and a chip on our shoulder. (We are) just trying to continue to prove not only to other people, but to ourselves that we have a really good football team."