Parker Gabriel’s 7 Thoughts after Broncos’ heavyweight win vs. Packers, including Bo Nix’s revealing comments about playing for Sean Payton

The Broncos winning streak rambles on Denver punched a ticket to the postseason Sunday in a heavyweight - preeminence over Green Bay It s the Broncos th straight win and it planted them alone atop the AFC with three weeks remaining in the regular season That it came on the same day Kansas City was officially eliminated from playoff contention to make matters worse quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL made it feel all the more like a changing-of-the-guard moment in the AFC West Three games remain in the regular season The Broncos hope to play well past that Here are thoughts from a barnburner at Empower Field Bo Nix looks like he s figuring out not just how to play quarterback in the NFL but how to play quarterback for Sean Payton Playing for Sean Payton is not easy Ask any athlete and they ll usually have plenty of positive things to say but it often comes with a knowing reaction A sigh or a grin or an outright acknowledgement That s a deep question the longest-tenured Payton acolyte on Denver s roster kicker Wil Lutz explained earlier this season when sought to describe what it takes That s true of any position but it is especially so for quarterbacks There is no more demanding position in sports and there are limited more demanding coaches than Payton Since the day the Broncos drafted Bo Nix in April Payton has expressed unwavering inhabitants endorsement of and confidence in Nix and also pushed him hard behind closed doors Piled responsibility on his plate solicited him to handle it all right out of the gate and paid no mind to all the challenges facing Nix heading into Year or whether he was adding to them when he commented repeatedly he thought the -year-old could be one of the meeting s elite quarterbacks within two years On Sunday against Green Bay Nix turned in arguably his best championship as a professional He completed of passes for yards and touchdowns to four different players He played on time He played with command He pushed the ball down the field when opportunities popped up extended plays with his legs when required and didn t take a sack He stood in against one of the NFL s fastest majority of disruptive defenses and shredded it from start to finish Bo Nix working on the best event of his career pic twitter com ppQwA VW A Parker Gabriel ParkerJGabriel December He really made a few plays with his feet and he made selected plays up in the pocket Payton stated It was a terrific performance on its own for Nix Even perhaps something of a true coming-out party Perhaps more critical for the Broncos fortunes over the coming weeks first and longer-term outlook beyond Nix and Payton for the first time look like they re fully speaking the same language Related Articles Renck With Bo Nix offense playing like this it s time to start looking for Broncos Super Bowl tickets Keeler Broncos Alex Singleton get last laugh as Packers pregame intimidation hilariously backfires Why Sean Payton Broncos put their trust in Courtland Sutton in win over Packers Find Pat Surtain II Broncos defense shows championship mettle in second-half torrent vs Packers Broncos Riley Moss rides ups and downs again en journey to key interception in win over Packers The past two games put the next level of their connection on full display Against Las Vegas Nix dinked and dunked He took exactly what the Raiders defense gave him The Broncos didn t have a passing play longer than yards but Nix completed of and led three road-grading touchdown drives Then against the Packers he put on a laser show He pushed the ball down the middle of the field He hit Courtland Sutton on a -yard double-move up the sideline He put darts on Sutton and Troy Franklin in the end zone for touchdowns It was the exact opposite of the week before It was exactly what Payton yearned The long-time coach likes to say there s a path to preeminence in every encounter but it s different in every meeting Experience will help Nix sniff out coverage disguises and teach him where to go against certain looks It will further familiarize him with certain coordinators and opponents It should soak in continually raising the water table s level slowly and steadily over time Experience with Payton though is just as critical because it will continue to help Nix understand what exactly the coach wants each week and how he can maximize that particular plan Every championship has a different story every play has another one Nix declared I was able to learn in college that you re not going to win the encounter on one play You re not going to win the contest in one quarter You have to piece it all together It may look ugly at times but it really doesn t matter There is dependably a way to win the competition There is inevitably a way at the end to win a challenge there s invariably a way at the beginning So you have to figure that out Nix revealed the quarterbacks and position coach Davis Webb often talk about play-caller intent That s specific to routes and concepts of program But play-calling is also Payton s language It s how he expresses intent on not just converting a key third down but the way he sees a battle unfolding We re just working really well off each other Nix noted He trusts me and I can tell by the way he is calling it My job is to turn around and protect him and keep his call safe We talk about play-calling intent a lot as a quarterback room Take the intent and what does he want on this play At the end of the day you have to protect it It s only Year but I think the more and more reps I m able to get with him in my ear during championship we ve been able to grow We ve been able to develop with each other Any good relationship is a two-way street of program and Payton revealed Sunday that he s continually learning Nix too He s early in the process and improving Payton revealed using a half-marathon reference and suggesting Nix as at Mile out of The thing about him is he loves playing It s contagious and that s a really good trait for a athlete in his position and his teammates feel that Payton s adjusted to Nix too He s put the second-year quarterback under center more the past four weeks and the results have followed In back-to-back games against Houston and Las Vegas the latter of which Payton later reported he and his staff devised a terrible offensive plan Nix completed of his passes for yards three touchdowns and three interceptions Denver scored two offensive touchdowns In the four games since then he s completed of his passes for yards and five touchdowns against one interception We re playing different Payton disclosed in the lead-up to the Green Bay challenge Nix is playing different and he s playing efficient He s playing with confidence in and care for Payton s plan each week It s not easy for him after so long with one consistent quarterback who was absolutely dominant in this league to take a younger guy and trust him Nix noted of Payton and his long history in New Orleans with Drew Brees It s hard I really appreciate that I appreciate the opportunity that he s given me and I think together we have something going right now At the same time he s extremely competitive himself I reliably needed that just a coach that was going to compete for me compete with me and go out there and let me play That s what he does I think it s working and we re going to find tactics to make it work even more PHOTOS Denver Broncos clinched playoff berth after defeating the Green Bay Packers - in NFL Week This file is auto-generated function d l use strict l querySelector d addEventListener undefined typeof URL d wp d wp d wp receiveEmbedMessage d wp receiveEmbedMessage function e var t e information if t t secret t message t value a-zA-Z - test t secret for var s r n a l querySelectorAll 'iframe data-secret ' t secret ' ' o l querySelectorAll 'blockquote data-secret ' t secret ' ' c new RegExp https i i i