INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- In the moments following a tooth-grinding escape against the winless Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton talked about his continued wrestling match with time.
The Broncos hope to slightly slow quarterback Bo Nix's internal clock between the snap and the whistle to end each play. And they feel like succeeding with that adjustment would cause everything to fall into place for Nix and the Denver offense so they can, in Payton's words, "let it rip."
"There's a lot that's been said about his feet, I think he's settling that down," Payton said in the moments after Sunday's 23-17 victory over the 0-5 Chargers. "[But] I think it's important from a protection standpoint we provide that early in game so that clock doesn't get juiced up a little bit."
The Broncos moved to 3-2 with the victory, but it was not a smooth operation for the offense in its first game since Payton re-assumed playcalling duties. Denver finished 1-of-12 on third down against the Chargers, gained only 224 net yards and had one play longer than 12 yards before the fourth quarter. Nix finished with the second-lowest passing yardage of his career (16-of-27 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown).