The Broncos are playoff contenders, and quarterback Bo Nix is a rookie of the year candidate.
If there was any doubt of that before today, that doubt was erased when the Broncos went to Las Vegas and took care of business against the Raiders, winning 29-19 with Nix leading the way.
The Broncos are now 7-5, and although it’s unlikely they could catch the Chiefs in the AFC West, they have a great chance of earning a wild card berth. That’s something few expected with a rookie quarterback in Nix and a coach in Sean Payton who was just beginning what looked like it could be a long rebuilding effort. But Nix is playing superb football, and Courtland Sutton has proven himself a top-notch No. 1 receiver. The Broncos are in great shape.
The Raiders aren’t in shape to contend for anything other than the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Although wide receiver Jakobi Meyers was a bright spot today, and defensive end Maxx Crosby played relentlessly as he always does, the Raiders look like one of the least talented teams in the NFL. Quarterback Gardner Minshew was knocked out of the game late in the fourth quarter and replaced by Desmond Ridder, who promptly lost a fumble.
The loss drops the Raiders to 2-9 and raises major questions about their future, including whether Antonio Pierce is the right coach to get the Raiders back on track.
But the Broncos are definitely on track. This is the best team they’ve had in Denver in years.
Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew exited today’s game against the Broncos with an apparent left shoulder injury.
Minshew was sacked and went down hard on his non-throwing shoulder and was replaced with backup Desmond Ridder.
The Broncos led 26-19 with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter at the time Minshew exited, so Ridder was going to need to lead a miraculous comeback, and that didn’t happen. Ridder was strip-sacked on his second play for what will likely be a game-sealing turnover.
It’s been an ugly season in Las Vegas, and it’s only getting uglier.
The Raiders are playing today without their special teams coordinator, but that didn’t stop them from a game-changing call on special teams.
Before the game, the Raiders announced that special teams coordinator Tom McMahon will not be coaching today against the Broncos. The team did not offer an explanation. Assistant special teams coach Derius Swinton took over McMahon’s responsibilities.
Swinton made the most of his opportunity with a gutsy play call on a fourth down, with punter A.J. Cole throwing the ball to Divine Deablo for a 34-yard gain.
The Raiders lead the Broncos 10-9 just before halftime.
We recently made the case for the Steelers to ditch their longstanding, nonsensical policy of not doing contracts with players once the regular season starts. The Steelers won’t have to deviate from their policy, even if they were tempted to do so. An extension as a practical matter can’t happen.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, a new deal done during the 2024 season would complicate significantly the offset applicable to Wilson’s guaranteed pay from Denver this year. If Wilson did a deal during the season, some of that money would reduce what the Broncos owe him.
And so the options will be a new contract with the Steelers after the current season ends, the franchise tag (not likely), or unrestricted free agency.
Will the Steelers want to keep Wilson? Will Wilson want to stay? The team’s dalliance with Justin Fields, who got more than a few reps on Thursday night, hints at a hope that Fields will be the guy for 2025.
After the season, a decision will have to be made. In the end, Wilson could be back on the market again. Which would mean that all active quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls other than Patrick Mahomes will be free agents come March.
Former NFL defensive back Scott Turner will be part of the incoming administration.
Turner, a seventh-round pick of Washington in 1995, has been nominated by president-elect Donald Trump to become the secretary of the department of housing and urban development
Turner, who played for Washington, the Chargers, and the Broncos in an eight-year career. He appeared in 101 regular-season games, with four starts. He had five career interceptions.
During Trump’s first term, Turner ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. In a statement, Trump praised Turner for “helping to lead an unprecedented effort that transformed our country’s most distressed communities.”
The move comes at a time when many are anticipating an appointment for Jets owner Woody Johnson, who was the U.S. ambassador to the UK in the first Trump administration.
The NFL adopted a flex option for Thursday Night Football in 2023. On Friday, the league activated the break-glass option for the first time ever, bumping Browns-Bengals out for Broncos-Chargers.
While there’s no blanket ability for teams that get a Thursday shoulder tap to say no, the Broncos could have. Per the NFL, the league has a policy against giving a team two short-week road games in the same season. The league asked the Broncos if they’d been willing to make the shift and accept a second short-week road game. The Broncos agreed — even though it makes them the first team since the 1926 L.A. Buccaneers to play twice on the road on Thursday after playing on Sunday, via Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.
“It’s a road game anyway, right?” coach Sean Payton told reporters on Friday, when asked about the shifting of the game. “I like the fact that we have another opportunity. I remember this a long time ago, ‘Boys, we’d rather be flexed in than flexed out.’ It’s a real good team playing real good, and it flexes Cincinnati out who we play the following week. So there was a little. . . . But it is what it is, and they just tell us when we’re playing.”
Payton didn’t go into further detail about the Cincinnati angle. The reality is that the Bengals would have had three extra days to prepare for the Denver game. Now, the Broncos have three extra days. It’s a six-day swing when it comes to relative prep time.
Payton also was asked whether the flex shows that the Broncos have earned the right to play in bigger games.
“Yes, that’s a big game,” Payton said, “but we’ll play in bigger.”
It’s a great attitude. And it’s supported by the performance of rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who through 11 weeks quite possibly could be emerging as the best of the six quarterbacks taken in the first twelve picks — even though he was the last.
The Giants benched quarterback Daniel Jones for business reasons, not for football reasons. And the Giants allowed personal feelings to interfere with what would have been the best business decision — prevent him from going elsewhere and proving the Giants wrong, Saquon-style.
But they’re going to waive him. Even though they haven’t done it, the owner has said it’s going to happen. (The reason for the delay isn’t clear, but it’s clearly coming.)
While many have adopted the narrative that Jones stinks, he doesn’t. He hasn’t. He helped lead the Giants to the playoffs in 2022. With Jones at the helm, the Giants beat the Vikings in Minnesota in the wild-card round. His struggles have typically traced to subpar offensive line play.
Once he’s released and clears waivers (he absolutely will), Jones will be free to sign with any team at any time. He’ll first need to ask whether to join a team now or wait.
Waiting would allow Jones to get a better feel for who the real contenders will be — and it might give him a chance to play sooner than later, if a starter gets injured elsewhere.
Regardless, consider the backup situations for the various contenders and ask whether a guy who earned a contract that paid $40 million per year and won a playoff game would be better than the current No. 2.
Buffalo: Mitch Trubisky. (Probably.)
Miami: Skylar Thompson/Tyler Huntley. (Yes.)
Baltimore: Josh Johnson. (Yes.)
Pittsburgh: Justin Fields. (Yes, but they seem to be committed to Fields as current backup and potential future starter.)
Houston: Davis Mills. (Yes.)
Kansas City: Carson Wentz. (Probably.)
L.A. Chargers: Easton Stick. (Yes.)
Denver: Jarrett Stidham. (Yes.)
Philadelphia: Kenny Pickett. (Yes.)
Washington: Marcus Mariota. (Probably.)
Detroit: Hendon Hooker. (Yes.)
Minnesota: Nick Mullens. (Yes.)
Green Bay: Malik Willis. (Yes, although Willis has played well this year.)
Atlanta: Michael Penix Jr. (Yes, but they likely wouldn’t do it.)
Tampa Bay: Kyle Trask. (Yes.)
Arizona: Clayton Tune. (Yes.)
Seattle: Sam Howell. (Yes.)
San Francisco: Brandon Allen. (Yes.)
L.A. Rams: Jimmy Garoppolo. (Probably.)
So, yes, someone who is currently contending should want Jones. Jones can afford to take his time. To wait for a clear shot to potentially contribute on a team that has the ability to go deep into the playoffs.
And maybe to wait to see if/when a starter gets injured and an immediate need arises for Jones to play, sooner than later.
Raiders running backs Zamir White and Alexander Mattison both are banged up this week.
White (quad) and Mattison (ankle) will have doubtful designations, coach Antonio Pierce said Friday.
Mattison and White have combined for 162 carries for 503 yards and four touchdowns.
Pierce said Ameer Abdullah will lead the backfield. Dylan Laube will back up Abdullah, who has 17 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown this season.
Cornerbacks Jakorian Bennett (shoulder) and Nate Hobbs (ankle) will not play.
The Raiders’ other starting cornerback, Jack Jones (back), will practice today, Pierce said.
Darnay Holmes, Decamerion Richardson and Sam Webb are the other corners on the 53.
Center Andre James (ankle) also will practice today, but Jackson Powers-Johnson will start Sunday’s game at the position.
The NFL has issued its first-ever flex for Thursday Night Football.
The Week 16 matchup between the Browns and Bengals on Thursday, Dec. 19, has been swapped out for Broncos at Chargers, the league announced on Friday.
With the Browns currently 3-8 and the Bengals 4-7, the divisional matchup between 6-5 Denver and 7-3 Los Angeles would seem to have much more significant postseason implications.
NFL owners approved the proposal for flexing Thursday night games in May of 2023, but the league did not use it last year. Friday was the deadline for moving the Thursday night game in Week 16.
The Chargers and Broncos played their first divisional matchup this season in Week 6, with Los Angeles coming away with a 23-16 victory in Denver.
The Browns and Bengals will now play Sunday, Dec. 22 at 1:00 p.m. on Fox. The Bengals won their first matchup 21-14 on the road in Week 7.
Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix put together his best performance to date in Week 11, helping power Denver to a 38-6 victory over Atlanta.
Completing 28-of-33 passes for 307 yards with four touchdowns and no picks, Nix was named AFC offensive player of the week.
In his Wednesday press conference, Nix told reporters that even with this bit of success, he wants to continue being steady as the same guy through the highs and lows.
“You can learn a lot in 10 games,” Nix said. “[I’m] still learning, still growing, but just finding ways to execute the play that’s called, no matter what it is: run play, pass play. It doesn’t matter. Just finding the right way to go with the ball.”
To that point, Nix noted how his developing partnership with head coach Sean Payton has helped Denver’s offense get to the next level.
“To be honest, I think at the beginning, you kind of make the NFL bigger than what it actually is,” Nix said when asked where he feels he’s made the most strides. “These players are really good, but at the same time, you have really good players on your level. I think simplifying the game, trying to play as fast as possible, and finding a completion, which is what we’ve been able to do here recently.
“I think as we’ve gone on, Coach and I have found a good rhythm of what we both like, what we can kind of put out there on the field, and what we can execute. Then the guys have kind of adapted to it, found our roles within the offense, and executed at a high level. It’s just all about slowing the game down and processing things in a manner that you can handle. Just kind of see one or two things, and let those guys take you to where the ball is supposed to be.”
Through 11 games, Nix has led the Broncos to a 6-5 record, completing 65.5 percent of his passes for 2,275 yards with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also rushed for 295 yards with four TDs.
