Sean Payton and Bo Nix engaged in an animated sideline conversation during the third quarter of the Broncos’ win over the Raiders. After the 34-18 win, the Super Bowl-winning coach declined to reveal much more details about the conversation, other than to compare his rookie quarterback to the lead character in a legendary 1980s movie.
“There’s still a little bit of Ferris Bueller in this player that we’ve got to get rid of,” said Payton. “I’m talking about Bo, and I love him to death. And so, sometimes it’s my love language.
“Ferris is kind of quirky, doing his own thing once in a while. … Look, there are times where you send something in and I don’t want it flipped and it gets flipped. So, it’s all good.”
Nix was all good after the exchange, immediately turning a 20-10 lead into a pair of touchdowns – first on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and then on a nifty 9-yard pass to Josh Reynolds – to break the game wide open in the fourth quarter. The rookie finished 19 of 27 for 206 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
And speaking of interceptions, Pat Surtain’s 100-yard interception-return touchdown midway through the second quarter was the game’s turning point. Trailing 10-3 with Las Vegas on the Denver 5-yard line, Surtain jumped a pass intended for Brock Bowers and sprinted down the Broncos’ sideline.
The Broncos didn’t surrender another point until Ameer Abdullah‘s touchdown with four minutes left and the game out of reach. Surtain also intercepted Aidan O’Connell on a deep shot in the fourth quarter, matching a single-game career high for the Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
Suddenly, after an 0-2 start, the Broncos (3-2) have won three straight and are just 1½ games behind the first-place Chiefs (4-0), who meet New Orleans on Monday night. Denver also snapped an eight-game losing streak in the Raiders series, registering its first win over its AFC West rivals since Dec. 29, 2019. It was the NFL’s second-longest streak behind Green Bay’s 10 straight wins over Chicago.
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