Sean Payton Explains Viral Response to Bo Nix Criticism

Last Thursday, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton couldn't resist the urge to clap back at a Bo Nix critic on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz predicted a Year-3 regression from Nix during a First Things First segment on FS1. The video clip circulated on X, and Payton dropped the following comment beneath it, which went viral.

"Always easy to tell who works at it and who doesn't," Payton commented.

Always easy to tell who works at it and who doesn't.
— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) August 27, 2026

Following the Broncos' 34-6 decimation of the Minnesota Vikings on Friday night, Payton was asked about his viral social media moment.

“That was crazy, wasn’t it? I can’t help myself, though," Payton said. "When I see something like that, I’m sorry. It’s just, I have a pause and then it’s like, ‘What are you watching?’ Just watch the tape."

Lazy Analysis

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) before the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Schwartz leaned heavily on the untruthful trope that Nix doesn't throw deep and asserted that he's the same quarterback he was coming out of Oregon in 2024, as if he hasn't progressed or developed at all. It's exactly this type of low-hanging-fruit, lazy analysis that so triggered Payton.

"I just couldn’t help myself with that one," Payton said. "It was silly. Everything was the opposite of what he was saying and the worst part was he played at Oregon. I don’t even know the player, so...”

Indeed, Schwartz played at Oregon, long before Nix did, but he used that as a credibility marker, claiming he watched "every snap" Nix took as a Duck. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but if he did watch "every snap" of Nix's two-year Oregon career, Schwartz obviously hasn't watched much of him as a pro.

Broncos fans loved seeing Payton go to bat for Nix. It also illustrated that Payton does spend time online and on social media. He reads the articles on the Broncos and sees the posts; how many of them, is anyone's guess, but Payton can't help himself.

That's a good thing, because sometimes Payton can find stories and posts that he can use as bulletin-board material in the locker room to fire up the Broncos. The bulletin board can be a potent tool for football psychology, especially when it's used tactfully and with restraint.

After missing the playoffs for eight straight years following Super Bowl 50, the NFL at large treated the Broncos as dismissively as it gets. Even the Russell Wilson trade didn't change those narratives, as he became a target and a national lampoon.

The only way to change the perception of the Broncos nationally was to win. Vance Joseph couldn't do it as head coach, and neither could Vic Fangio or Nathaniel Hackett.

Payton has, though. He turned the ship around, due, in large part, to the drafting of Nix in the first round in 2024. Since then, the Broncos have won 24 regular season games and made the playoffs in each year Nix has been in Denver.

Last season, the Broncos were coming off their first playoff appearance in nearly a decade, but they still flew under the radar in the national press. 14 wins later, the Broncos had dethroned the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West, earned the No. 1 playoff seed in the conference, and sent Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills home in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Were it not for that catastrophically untimely ankle fracture, we all know that a healthy Nix would have made short work of Maye and the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game in Denver. Would the Broncos have managed to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl?

I wouldn't have bet against Nix and the Broncos, that's for sure.

The Takeaway

Nix seems to have an inordinate number of doubters and critics. Some would call them "haters."

Nix doesn't get the respect he deserves, and that's especially true in relation to his fellow quarterbacks of the 2024 draft class. Nix has more wins and stats than Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye, but few people in the national media talk about the Broncos' quarterback that way.

Let them hate. Let the NFL at large continue to sleep on Nix and the Broncos. It has served them well so far.

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