The Colts' bye week, as late as it was, could turn out to be something of a blessing in disguise. It gave players fighting nagging injuries a chance to recuperate and get ready to go for the final – and crucial – stretch of the regular season, and it gave coaches time to self-scout and make the necessary adjustments so the team can play its best football at the most important time.
But the fact that the Colts' bye week fell before they traveled to Denver to play the 8-5 Broncos is arguably just as important – because of the major playoff implications of the matchup, yes, but also because quarterback Bo Nix and his team pose a tough challenge.
"He's been doing a hell of a job," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said of the rookie quarterback. "He's playing really good ball right now. I think the biggest thing (is) he's throwing the ball accurately, and he's making a lot of plays with his legs and creating."
Nix scrambles significantly more than Anthony Richardson, but both quarterbacks pose somewhat similar threats with the football in their hands regardless. Here's a quick comparison of some key statistics from this season from the two young quarterbacks:
| Statistic | Bo Nix | Anthony Richardson |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 13 | 9 |
| Percentage | 63.8 | 47.4 |
| Passing Yards | 2,842 | 1,511 |
| Yards Per Attempt | 6.5 | 7.0 |
| Passing TDs | 17 | 7 |
| Rushing Attempts | 67 | 70 |
| Rushing Yards | 304 | 383 |
| Yards Per Carry | 4.5 | 5.5 |
| Rushing TDs | 4 | 4 |
Nix had a bit of a shaky start to his rookie season, notably completing just 12 of 25 passes for 60 yards and one touchdown in Denver's Week 4 win over the New York Jets, but quickly found his groove after that. In Weeks 5 through 13, Nix only had one game in which he had less than 215 passing yards (164 in a win over the New Orleans Saints, Week 7).
In the Broncos' three-game win streak, which they'll look to extend this Sunday, Nix has completed 71 passes on 110 attempts for a total of 874 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the Broncos' Week 11 win over the Atlanta Falcons, Nix had a career-high 307 passing yards – with an average of 9.3 yards per attempt – and four touchdowns. In Week 13, Nix led the Broncos to a wildly exciting 41-32 win over the Cleveland Browns, finishing 18-of-35 for 294 yards. Nix recorded just one passing touchdown in that game, but it came off a dart of a throw to receiver Marvin Mims Jr. – a 44.3-yard throw that had a completion probably of 29.5 percent, per Next Gen Stats – that resulted in a 93-yard touchdown.
"He can make anything work with his feet and his arms," Colts second-year cornerback Jaylon Jones, who played against Nix when the two were in college (Jones at Texas A&M and Nix at Auburn), said. "Definitely a quarterback that's upcoming in this league – I mean, he's putting it on display right now."
Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley also noted Nix's proficiency at escaping from pressure in the pocket and creating plays both in the air and on the ground outside of his designed quarterback runs.
"He's a guy that can get out of the pocket," Bradley said Tuesday. "He can extend plays. He can make plays on the run."
Nix has 35 scrambles so far this season, tied with New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye for fourth-most in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. Richardson, with 16 scrambles, is tied for 21st in the league.
In the Colts' nailbiter of a win over Maye and the Patriots in Week 13, stopping the run game was an area in which the Colts' defense struggled; Maye had five carries for 59 yards, including scramble that turned into a 41-yard gain. Nix has six runs of at least 20 yards as of now – his longest run was 32 yards against the Saints – and clearly poses a threat any time he has the ball in his hands. The Colts are aware of that, and have spent much of their bye week focusing on how to limit those big plays.
"We're just giving up far too many explosive plays, not only in the pass game, but in the run game," Bradley said. "I think the run game is one of the issues that we're taking a look at right now...in this league, you have to affect the quarterback. You have to get pressure on him."
In facing such a mobile quarterback like Nix, the Colts aim to make a more concerted effort to slow the run game down and stop explosive plays, Bradley said. Nix is a threat both by air and by ground – no question about it – and Sunday's game will require a full effort from the Colts' defense to slow him down.
"It'll be a hell of a challenge for us on Sunday," Steichen said. "He's playing really good ball right now."
