The Denver Broncos defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-13, resulting in their first winning season since 2016. While the score indicates a relatively comfortable outing, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix had a rough game, throwing three ugly interceptions. If it weren’t for Colts running back Jonathan Taylor celebrating a little too early, fumbling the ball out of the end zone for a Broncos touchback, and Denver’s defense creating five turnovers, this team might have found itself at the loser's table.
After the game, Courtland Sutton was pressed at his locker about Nix's up-and-down day, which sent the Broncos wideout into a passionate rant. Suffice it to say, Sutton did not appreciate the boos in Broncos Country he heard at Empower Field at Mile High.
“Bo's been having a great season," Sutton said via Denver Sports' Andrew Mason. "It's actually funny you say that because, obviously, the fans are the fans, but hearing the people in the stands behind us talk bad about him when he's having a little rough patch is disheartening because, obviously, I know the fans [are] gonna be the fans, but it's like 'Bro.' Like everybody's screaming his praises of Offensive Rookie of the Year and how he can be and how he should be in these conversations. He has a couple of bad series, and all of a sudden, people are badmouthing him behind us. I think it's so 'BS,' but we have the utmost confidence and faith in him."
Sutton blasted the media and fans attending the game for bashing his quarterback, and that’s the fire and passion we’ve seen with the culture change that head coach Sean Payton has brought about. Nix didn’t have a good game, but people forget that he had a 13-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio from October through November, winning Rookie of the Week honors through Weeks 10-12, Offensive Player of the Week in Week 11, and Offensive Rookie of the Month for October.
Sutton and Nix work to pick each other up on the sidelines if one of them has a lackluster series. It's the mark of a strong QB/WR bond growing between them. Sutton had a stinker of a game himself, with a bad drop.
"He and I had a couple conversations on the sideline when I wasn't playing the way I was supposed to be playing," Sutton said. "I wasn't making the plays that I know I'm capable of making for him and the offense. He and I know that I know what he's capable of. He knows what I'm capable of, and we know that we can continue to lean on each other. We continue to lean on other guys on offense. Nate [Adkins] getting into the end zone today, us being able to run the ball and do those things. Everyone contributes in the way they can contribute. We all have so much—the utmost confidence and faith—in Bo, and it's not going to waver because of a couple of balls that didn't go the way we want him to go. He's a great quarterback, a great leader.”
In the end, Denver came out of Sunday with a win. A hallmark of a great team is 'winning ugly' in games that start out on the wrong foot.
