If the Denver Broncos are going to win Super Bowl LX, they're going to have to do it without starting quarterback Bo Nix. Nix suffered a fractured ankle that will require surgery late in the team's 33-30 overtime win against the Buffalo Bills.
Jarrett Stidham is now the quarterback at the helm for the AFC Championship Game, at the very least.
After the Broncos' win, Payton broke the news to the entire media world that Nix would be out indefinitely with surgery upcoming. But he was also emphatic in the message he sent regarding Stidham going forward.
Sean Payton has unwavering confidence in Jarrett Stidham to lead Broncos
"Stiddy is ready to go...He's ready, he's ready. I feel like I've got a two who's capable of starting for a number of teams, and I know he feels the same way. Watch out, just watch.''
- Sean Payton (via ESPN)
What's really crazy about this whole ordeal is the fact that Stidham not only did not throw a single pass in the 2025 season, but he also didn't throw a single pass in the 2024 season. The last time we saw Stidham on the field for the Broncos was late in the 2023 season when he took over the starting job from Russell Wilson.
The good news is that Stidham knows the offense as well as anyone. The bad news is obviously that the Broncos are now going to have to win without Bo Nix, who has obviously been a primary reason why the team has been able to win so many games this season. It just doesn't feel right, after Nix helped the Broncos earn the #1 seed in the AFC and reach the AFC Championship Game, that he won't be on the field to help them any further.
Football can be a cruel game sometimes.
Broncos Country is stuck in an absolute whirlwind of emotions right now with the team advancing to the AFC Championship Game for the first time in a decade, while the news of Bo Nix's injury lingers like a dark cloud over it all.
Nobody knows what we're going to see from Stidham in the AFC Championship Game, so Sean Payton's emphatic confidence is, at the very least, reassuring.
The way Nix played at the end of the. game against the Bills carries a lot more weight, knowing what we all know now. It'll be up to Stidham to prove Sean Payton right and keep this special season going for the Broncos.