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The Denver Broncos have now won 13 of their 15 games this season through the 2025-26 NFL divisional playoffs when trailing at some point. Bo Nix set a record with 12 regular-season comeback victories as their starting quarterback. He also led the league in game-winning drives with seven, increasing that number to eight in Saturday's 33-30 overtime thriller over the Bills.
Unfortunately, near the end of that latest game-winning drive, coach Sean Payton revealed that Nix suffered a broken ankle, which will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. Barring a miracle free-agent signing before next Sunday's AFC championship game against the Patriots or Texans, the Broncos will need to rely on top backup Jarrett Stidham.
What to know about Jarrett Stidham
Stidham hasn't thrown a pass for the Broncos, regular season or playoffs, in the past two seasons. He started two games for Denver in 2023, the year before the team drafted Nix. His sole purpose at the end of that season was to give Payton a way to bench Russell Wilson and save the team some money.
Before then, the 2019 fourth-round draft pick of the Patriots started two games for the Raiders in 2022, filling for a lame-duck Derek Carr. He's been sacked 14 times in 4 starts. He's got an above-average arm and above-average mobility, but he in many ways is anti-Nix an NFL QB afterthought with his lack of any kind of big-game experience for a winning team.
So far, Stidham's greatest asset as a No. 2 is the fact he was behind the durable Nix, until that ill-fated last snap against the Bills.
Why the Broncos can't replace Bo Nix with any other QB, either
Immediate reactions included wondering whether Philip Rivers, who came out of retirement for the Colts, could be an option—but his active-roster status with that team rules him out. Social media pundits even joked about 49-year-old Peyton Manning pulling a Rivers and suiting up again for his final NFL team.
Did anyone see Rivers play for the Colts in three of their final four games? They had little chance of beating three playoff-bound teams—the Jaguars, 49ers, and Seahawks—despite a couple of misleading close final scores. The Broncos will be stuck with Stidham and will have to hope for the best, which is a tough ask given the defenses of New England and Houston.
To think the Broncos, with their 2025 top-seeded team under Payton, could win with any QB other than Nix is a massive disrespect to him. Nix outlasted and outplayed “Playoff” Josh Allen, beating the Bills QB at his own clutch comeback game. He made more of those huge fourth-quarter plays that had been the signature of his sensational yet under-appreciated second season.
What happened to Nix is unfortunate and rare: an essential NFL player getting hurt at the end of an inspiring performance. The Broncos have a solid defense and a variety of talented young players, but the reason they’ve defied the odds has been the uncanny timely play of Nix.
The defense didn’t slow down Allen much. The running game was virtually non-existent, leaving Nix as the leading rusher, despite facing the Bills’ AFC-worst run defense. Nix’s relentless playmaking and toughness, with only one mistake, allowed the Broncos to survive and advance.
The Broncos are not the Seahawks, who could get by without a turnover-prone Sam Darnold if healthy, thanks to their dominant defense and effective run-oriented offense. Seattle likely would still beat San Francisco in Saturday night’s NFC divisional playoff game even if Darnold had missed time with an oblique injury.
Stidham is well-paid as a backup, but that doesn’t mean he will suddenly deliver in the system the way clutch, strong-armed, athletic Nix could. Even considering a 44-year-old like Rivers to save the Broncos is unrealistic.
The injury to Nix is devastating because he has meant everything to the Broncos this season and was about to be even more appreciated for it. Now there’s little Denver can do to recover—except take comfort in knowing Nix has many more special playoff games ahead in his young career.
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