Drew Brees Sounds Off on 'Ascending' Broncos Entering Playoffs

When push comes to shove, not everyone is jumping on the Bo Nix bandwagon just yet. For as long as Nix operates under the wing of Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, the experts will readily hang the title of "system quarterback" around his neck.

Nevertheless, Nix is performing at a high level. He's delivering results and putting up record-breaking numbers for the Broncos, so being a handpicked quarterback does have its upsides, it seems.

Should Nix continue his upward trajectory, the obvious comparisons will be made with Payton's most famous protege under center: Drew Brees. If any quarterback should know how Payton nurtures and develops a signal-caller, it's Brees himself.

After casting his keen eye on the Broncos' burgeoning coach and quarterback combination, Brees confessed that he's been impressed with how things have come together.

"It was definitely a limited playbook early on that was gradually growing and growing until what we saw on Sunday against the Chiefs," Brees told Sports Daily's DJ Siddiqi. "Tempo and the rhythm and the full breadth of what you saw with the playbook being at his disposal. He was operating at a very, very high level."

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Going back to the beginning of the 2024 season, alarm bells started to sound after Nix opened up the season by throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. But a vital back-to-the-wall road win in Tampa started to change the narrative.

After the ball started to get rolling in Denver, Brees liked how the Broncos managed Nix's transition to the pro game, and now the project is really on wheels after the team clinched a playoff berth and will be headed to Upstate New York for a Wildcard tilt vs. the Buffalo Bills.

"Offensively they continue to get better and better," Brees told Siddiqi. "You know it was going to be slower to start just because Bo Nix coming in, a brand new quarterback, brand new offense for him, coming from a style of offense in college where they're in the shotgun and it's a quick handoff or it's a quick pass, they aren't having to really process and make their way through progressions or take steps under center, turning their back to the defense... There's a lot that they have to get used to in the NFL game. In addition to developing chemistry with the guys on their side of the ball and understanding NFL defenses and just the flow of the game at the NFL level."

Thoughts now all turn to Sunday's monumental challenge against Josh Allen and the second-seeded Bills on enemy turf. Striking a blow as a heavy road underdog will require winning the time-of-possession margin, and Brees feels the Broncos are finally getting the jump start in the running game they need to help Nix thrive in the Payton scheme.

Combine that with an attacking defense and Brees is digging what he's seeing from the ascending Broncos.

"The run game has been more established and Bo is more comfortable under center with the play action and turning his back to the defense," Brees said. "That, combined with the great defense, is why they're an ascending team going to the playoffs. Look, they've got a tough test going to Buffalo. But they're playing well right now."

Payton hasn't been afraid to make controversial decisions either. Releasing veteran receiver Tim Patrick was risky, but putting the emphasis on developing youth within his wide receiver room is ultimately bearing fruit.

As Brees points out, now that the Broncos' receiving unit has developed in an organic two-step with Nix, they've got weapons like Courtland Sutton, Devaughn Vele, and Marvin Mims Jr who can throw different matchups at the Buffalo defense.

"What I was worried about early on in the season was they didn't really have a true game-breaker receiver," Brees said. "They have a bunch of big targets, but who's the guy that's really going to establish themself as the go-to guy? I feel like they've got a couple guys that at any moment can be great matchups for them through the course of the game."

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