Bo Nix throws 4 touchdown passes as Broncos clinch final AFC playoff spot in Chiefs rout
The Denver Broncos entered Sunday knowing they controlled their own playoff destiny, and with the Kansas City Chiefs seeded first, all signs pointed to getting the job done at home.
Bo Nix didn’t just secure the win. He threw four touchdowns in the 38-0 game the chiefs to get the AFC’s No. 7 seed. This makes the Broncos the last team in the NFL to clinch a playoff spot.
While Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and others watched from the sidelines in what will be nearly a month off when they finally play again as the AFC’s top seed, Nix will be in immediate action against a Chiefs defense that also had key players on the bench.
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Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton hosts a reception on Sunday. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)
The Broncos needed just six plays to go 70 yards as Marvin Mims Jr. scored the game’s first touchdown on a perfectly executed 32-yard screen play to make it 7-0 on the snap.
Two more touchdowns followed to make it three in a row for Nix, which he found Courtland Sutton from 10 yards, then led an 11-minute drive that was capped by Devaughn Vele somehow catching a slant pass for a three-yard score. It happened on the 18th play of the drive and the score was 21-0.
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Meanwhile, Carson Wentz, who started in place of Mahomes, couldn’t get anything going against a stingy Broncos defense that forced two three-and-outs to start the game. Then, after gaining a few yards, the Chiefs missed a 51-yard field goal when Harrison Butker went left.
That was the closest the Chiefs got to any points. They went punt, punt, turnover-on-downs and punt in the second half.
Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper sacks Kansas City Chiefs running back Carson Wentz in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)
On the other hand, Nix wasn’t done putting points on the board, and that came in the form of another Mims touchdown, this time from seven yards out.
To add to their lead, the Broncos had Audric Estime run in from one yard out to celebrate the victory that sent the Mile High crowd into a frenzy, knowing they had finally clinched a playoff spot.
In the box score, Nix was an impressive 26-of-29 for 321 yards with his four touchdown passes, and his main target was someone with one of those Week 18 incentives.
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is shown during the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Empower Field in Mile High. (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)
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Sutton needed 82 receiving yards to earn the $2 million incentive, and he did so by finishing with 98 on five receptions, including a 47-yard bomb from Nix as his first reception of the game.
Nix also led the Broncos in rushing with 47 yards on seven carries.
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