After the preseason debut against the San Francisco 49ers, the starting offense for the Denver Broncos had left a sour taste in just about everyone's mouths. The offense didn't look crisp against the 49ers' backups, and while it's easy to excuse it as the first preseason game, you certainly expected (and hoped for) more.
Especially from quarterback Bo Nix. Nix missed a couple of longer throws to Troy Franklin and Courtland Sutton and also throwing the ball away on a corner blitz by the 49ers that resulted in a safety.
Nix needed to bounce back in a big way against the Arizona Cardinals, and he looked so good in the joint practice between the two teams that Sean Payton isn't even going to play him in the second week of the preseason.
Bo Nix lit up Arizona Cardinals in Broncos joint practice during training camp
Bo Nix’s best day today. Sharp as nails.
— Cody Roark (@CodyRoarkNFL) August 14, 2025
Run game struggled to get anything today, which was biggest concern.
It's not ideal to hear that the running game struggled a bit out there in joint practice, but for Bo Nix to have a bounce-back practice is music to everyone's ears. And not only did he just go out there and have a great practice, he was spreading the ball around and getting it done in situational work.
Whether it was 7-on-7, 11-on-11, move-the-ball, or red zone work, Nix was dominating at practice. He hit all of Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele, and Evan Engram for big touchdowns and had multiple big throws to Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin.
Nix going out there and carving up the Cardinals is a great sign, and he didn't just impress the media in attendance. Cardinals defensive players were talking about it after practice, and linebacker Mack Wilson gave an amazing quote:
Bo Nix was making no look passes in Broncos-Cardinals joint practice, according to Cardinals defender Mack Wilson.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) August 14, 2025
“Bo, you can tell, he definitely made the Year 2 leap”
🎥 @RyanGreeneDNVR pic.twitter.com/NC3e1pfSLr
That year two leap is something Sean Payton talked about after practice as well. He noted how the second-year leap for players is a very "real" thing, whereas the second-year slump or "sophomore slump" is more like "Bigfoot". In other words, it's not something he believes in.
Nix had thrown interceptions in practice recently, which Payton brushed off and joked that people were charting "like hurricanes". Everyone who's been to Broncos OTAs and training camp has noted how fantastic Nix has looked this offseason and how much confidence he's got going into year two.
It was likely only a matter of time before we really started seeing the fruit of his hard work, and against the Arizona Cardinals, you know he practiced well because Sean Payton met with the media for an extremely extended period of time.
The best is likely yet to come.