\n<\/p>\n
Sports, like life, aren\u2019t fair.<\/p>\n
If they were, Bo Nix would get a chance to finish the season with the Denver Broncos after leading them to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and to the AFC Championship Game by outdueling reigning MVP Josh Allen on Saturday in a dramatic 33-30 overtime victory.<\/p>\n
Instead, he broke his ankle late in the game and will be watching the rest of the way from the sideline.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a major, perhaps fatal, blow to an incredibly promising Broncos season. That defense is Super Bowl-winning good, but the odds of Denver winning it all \u2014 or even making it to Santa Clara, Calif. for Super Bowl LX \u2014 took a serious hit when Nix went down<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nothing personal against Jarrett Stidham, who will take over the reins from Nix, but his career ratio of eight touchdowns to eight interceptions does not inspire a ton of confidence, even if the Broncos will be hosting the winner of the Patriots.<\/p>\n The good news, though, is in the long term. This promising season ending this way for Nix is a bummer, but it doesn\u2019t derail what has been a much better-than-expected start to his professional career.<\/p>\n In the QB-loaded 2024 draft class, the debate was mainly between Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye, who were taken with the first three picks.<\/p>\n Nix was firmly in that next tier with Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy<\/a>, even after an incredibly productive end to his career at Oregon.<\/p>\n When the dust settled, Nix was the sixth quarterback taken in the draft, going 12th overall to Denver. I can admit that I was a bit skeptical of him going that high, and I know I wasn\u2019t alone in that line of thinking.<\/p>\n Of the QBs in the 2024 class, Nix is the only one who has led his team to the playoffs in both of his first two seasons. He\u2019s also the only one to lead his team to a No. 1 seed in the playoffs.<\/p>\n Some may say that\u2019s more about his elite defense supporting him than it is Nix\u2019s own accomplishments, but that\u2019s not giving him his proper due for the role he\u2019s played in this resurgence.<\/p>\n The Broncos hadn\u2019t been in the playoffs since 2015 before Nix arrived, and he has taken them there in back-to-back seasons.<\/p>\n His 7,706 passing yards and 54 touchdown passes are more than any of the other quarterbacks taken in his class. He leads them all in rushing touchdowns (nine) as well.<\/p>\n