With the Denver Broncos now on the bye, they've got a chance to rest up, get away for a little bit, and also assess the roster and how they want to attack things over the final six games of the regular season. It's a near-guarantee that Denver is in the playoffs again, and the first overall seed in the AFC is well within reach as well.
Thanks to a clutch quarterback, elite defense, and strong coaching, the Broncos have won nine of their first 11 games and are again tied for the best record in the NFL. Right now, though, they have a tiebreaker over the 9-2 Patriots.
Denver simply has to keep winning, and that has proved to be doable this year. Well, now that the Broncos are on the bye, they can really dive into the things they want to improve on both sides of the ball, and with running back JK Dobbins set to miss the rest of the regular season, and probably more, Sean Payton has to confront this obvious truth with Bo Nix and put it into motion.
Bo Nix's legs are a weapon, and they need to be used more
Entering Week 12, Bo Nix leads the NFL with 387 passing attempts, so the Broncos have been a pass-heavy team this year. However, they were able to run the ball quite well with JK Dobbins, and his absence for what appears to be the rest of the regular season is going to hurt.
Denver could address the position on the free agency market, but nothing seems to be imminent, and with the Broncos clearly in the thick of a major playoff race, being able to run the ball is not only going to be more important, but it's now likely going to be harder with Dobbins out.
We got a glimpse of just how good Bo Nix could be as a runner in 2024, and it's actually been a surprisingly encouraging part of his game. He ran for 430 yards and four touchdowns in 2024. That came out to an average of 25.3 yards per game.
Thus far in 2025, Nix has rushed for just 213 yards, which is only 19.4 yards per game. If you ask me, this is inexcusable, as his legs are a huge weapon, and we've seen that many times during his career. It was a run from Bo Nix himself that set the Broncos up to walk-off the Houston Texans, and his legs were a huge reason why they beat the New York Giants.
I believe these final six games are a perfect opportunity to unleash Bo Nix in this regard, as they are surely going to need a spark in the run game, and even if this looks like five, six-yard games on first and second down, those types of plays are the ones that extend drives.
Bo Nix's legs are too good to not use more. This is an obvious truth that Sean Payton has to confront.