The Denver Broncos are 9-2 and lead the AFC through 11 weeks, backed by their eight-game win streak. On the paper and on the field, they look elite with the 15th-best offense and the 10th-best defense, per PFF. But in his second NFL year now, Bo Nix is learning that simply fulfilling his role as a Broncos quarterback isn’t enough. Fortunately for him, Broncos legend John Elway was quick to offer some advice to the young quarterback.

“It’s funny to listen, they’re 9-2, and everyone’s talking about ‘Oh, they’re not playing that good’ and this or that. I said ‘Bo [Nix], turn it down and don’t listen to it. If you keep winning games, everything else goes away,'” Elway said.

Elway knows a thing or two about dealing with criticism. He was the Broncos’ starting quarterback for 16 years. For the first 14 of those, he never won the big game. He came close, losing three times in 1987, 1988, and 1990, but he could never capture that elusive Super Bowl ring.

Despite everyone acknowledging that he was one of the best quarterbacks in the game, he always caught flak for his inability to win the Super Bowl. While Denver’s defense certainly didn’t help in those games, giving up a combined 136 points in his three Super Bowl appearances, Elway did himself no favors, either.

In those three games, Elway threw for a combined 669 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions while scoring just 40 points. After Denver’s Super Bowl loss in 1990, it took them seven years to get back. For a decade, Elway had to deal with the critics saying he couldn’t win the big one.

But after 15 years in the league, Elway took home his first Super Bowl victory in 1997, before following it up with another in 1998. He finally got the monkey off his back before he rode off into the sunset.

Needless to say, if there’s anybody who knows how to deal with criticism while winning games, it’s Elway.

“Having the job, no question,” Elway said without hesitation when asked whether fulfilling the job as Broncos quarterback was more difficult or having the job of quarterbacking for Denver. “It’s not for everybody.”

Nix is the latest to take that position. And he understands what the role entails.

Bo Nix and the Broncos’ expectations

While many have been quite harsh to Nix this season, he really hasn’t played that badly. He’s thrown for 2,421 yards, 18 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He’s 10th in yards and 7th in touchdowns. While a good portion of those numbers have come in the fourth quarter, who wouldn’t rather their quarterback show up in tough moments late than ball out in the first half and crumble in high-pressure situations?

You know that saying, “better late than never?” That’s basically Bo Nix in a nutshell. However, the facts are hard to ignore:

• Seven of Denver’s nine wins have been by one score, with the Broncos coming from behind in the fourth quarter in five of them.
• Nix is the league’s fourth-quarter king so far this season, throwing seven fourth-quarter touchdown passes (tied for third in the league) while rushing for two more scores. However, he has been silent for the rest of the three periods.
• Nix’s inconsistency has forced the Broncos to have the second-highest percentage (28.9%) of drives that end in three-and-outs in the league.
• He ranks 27th in the NFL in completion percentage with 61.2 percent. This puts him as the 28th among the active 34 QBs in NFL Next Gen Stats’ completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) at minus 3.2 percent. To make it look worse, he is only above the rookies Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward, and Dillon Gabriel.

The biggest recent example of the expectations? Their 10-7 win over their divisional rivals, the Las Vegas Raiders. In the Week 10 matchup full of miscues and a sloppy win, the Empower Field at Mile High roared with boos for head coach Sean Payton and Nix. 

“I’ve been booed before, and I’ll be booed again.” That’s all the quarterback had to say about what went down in the home arena that night.

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The league’s history books don’t lack examples of quarterbacks who came as nothing and turned into franchise icons over time. A prime example would be Tom Brady.

The New England Patriots drafted the No. 12 as the 199th pick in 2000. However, once he substituted for an injured Drew Bledsoe, he became their franchise QB, replacing the doubts with nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl titles. In recent memory is San Francisco 49ers’ QB Brock Purdy, who came in as Mr. Irrelevant but has helped dispel any doubts on his skill set.

However, as former Denver mayor Michael Hancock once joked, the Broncos’ QB1 is the person under the biggest microscope of anybody in this state. Elway knew it; now, Nix is experiencing that same pressure, too. So, there’s arguably no better person for Nix to talk to in this situation than the legendary QB and former GM himself.

John Elway thinks Bo Nix has “all the tools”

Part of Nix’s issues this season, particularly early in the year, was that he looked uncomfortable in the pocket and was panicking when his first read wasn’t open. That’s improved significantly as the season has progressed, something that Elway has observed and believes will only get better with time.

“I think he’s settling down a little bit,” said Elway. “For the first part of the season, it looked like he was just moving too quickly. Things were moving really, really fast for him. Once he slows that down with age and experience, it will help him out. He’s got all the tools.”

As long as Denver keeps winning, nothing else matters. In 10 years, nobody will remember how “poorly” Nix played if the Broncos go on to win the Super Bowl.

Denver has one of the best defenses in the last decade, which includes the most efficient pass rush we may have ever seen. The truth is, their offense doesn’t have to be great to win games; they just need to be serviceable and come through in clutch moments, and that’s exactly what Bo Nix and Co. have done this season.

Payton has already stated that the Shangri-La the Broncos fans are looking for is already here. So, just keep winning, Bo, and everything else will fall into place.