The Denver Broncos practically had their Week 2 game won against the Indianapolis Colts. They forced the home team to nail a 60-yard field goal to win it, and they missed. However, an ill-timed leverage call made the Colts kick a 45-yard field goal, which was scored. Hence, the Broncos went from potentially being 2-0 to ultimately finding themselves at 1-1. Sean Payton took some responsibility for it.
According to the head coach who spoke with Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com, “We had a certain field goal block in the event of a game-ending field goal . . .But that’s on me in that situation.” He took accountability for not changing the call given the length of the field goal. “It’s not on [special teams coach Darren Rizzi], it’s not on Tillman. A 60-yard field goal attempt is different . . . The alignment got wrong and the [officials’] call was correct.”
A 60-yarder is extremely difficult to hit, not many can do it. Shrader, the Colts kicker, is entering his second year in the NFL and hasn’t missed yet. He’s scored 14 out of 14 field goals and 14 out of 14 extra points. However, he had never attempted a field goal of 50+ yards. In fact, if the leverage call didn’t get flagged, the kick went very wide.
Is Bo Nix suffering a sophomore slump?
Even if they lost on an anomaly, one thing is for sure, Bo Nix is not looking like the guy who finished last season guiding the Broncos to the playoffs. He has struggled in both games and even threw an awful pick in this game that gave the Colts the chance to come back.
Nix has thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions. While he played better against the Colts than he did against the Titans, Nix is not showing the level he had in 2024.
What’s next for the Broncos?
The Broncos will visit tough divisional opponents in the Chargers next week. Then, they face the Bengals without Joe Burrow, which is good news for them. They start October by visiting current-champs Eagles.
This team has the NFL playoffs as its goal, so it can’t be trading away games. The AFC West is a merciless division with four very good teams, all vying for a postseason appearance. Hence, there is no room for error.