The Denver Broncos dropped their season opener on the road against the Seattle Seahawks, and there is a lot of overreacting going on in Broncos Country and in the media world. Overreacting is just the way of things when it comes to football, but we have to actually dive into some reasons why these overreactions are exactly that.
What are the biggest overreactions we've seen after the Week 1 loss to Seattle? Let's dive into the top 3.
1. Bo Nix is going to be a bust
This was one of the most ridiculous overreactions I saw, and I saw it a lot. Everyone who hated Bo Nix before the 2024 NFL Draft has been looking for confirmation bias all offseason, and it's no wonder we just now are hearing from a lot of people. He's been impressive all offseason and throughout training camp and the preseason, and people in the media world are taking his first NFL start as an opportunity to absolutely crush him.
Was it a good debut from Nix? Not really. Nix certainly did his part to contribute to a poor overall performance with errant throws and a couple of interceptions. But his receivers and running backs also let him down. The Broncos didn't make plays around Nix and while he does have to be better about ball placement in certain spots, his receivers are NFL players who need to make plays.
Nobody was creating yardage after the catch and after watching the game back a second time, Nix's performance didn't look nearly as bad as many thought initially.
2. The Broncos are the worst team in the NFL
There have been a lot of people saying the Broncos are the worst team in the NFL this offseason, and they felt like the game against Seattle confirmed that.
It's funny that anyone would think this after watching teams like the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants in Week 1, but here we are.
The Broncos showed against the Seahawks that they are vastly improved on the defensive front, and the only reason why the defense really buckled there in the second half is that the offense struggled to sustain drive and really kept them on the field too long. We all wanted to see a win in the first week of the season but it doesn't always go that way. The reality is, a lot of people are clowning the Broncos for losing by six points on the road with a rookie QB making his NFL debut, which is ridiculous when you say it out loud.
3. Sean Payton is overrated as a head coach
Anytime the team loses, people want to find someone to be mad at. In this case, a lot of folks blamed Sean Payton, and that's not entirely unjustified. Payton played his part in the loss and took ownership of it after the game, but to say he's overrated as a head coach based on this game is ridiculous.
Let's give some time for his vision for this roster to play out. We saw a lot of good things from the Broncos against Seattle, especially in the pass rush department. It would have been outstanding to see them get a chance with the ball in the end of game situation but it wasn't meant to be.