In recent years, the Denver Broncos have been looking for a winning formula akin to a kid in his parent's basement that keeps starting fires with science experiments gone awry.
A few seasons ago, the Broncos thought they had a championship caliber defense, but poor quarterback play prevented them from cracking the postseason tournament. So, they acquired a veteran quarterback with Super Bowl winning credentials, Russell Wilson.
Boom.
The kid just started another fire in the basement.
Wilson was such a bust in the Mile High City that before he completed his first season he got his coach fired. Nathaniel Hackett was out of a job in time to do Christmas shopping that year. Turns out, a year later, the Broncos found out that Wilson’s problems were not tethered to Hackett’s suspect coaching, but his own ineptness.
They found that out by bringing in a new coach with Super Bowl credentials, Sean Payton. Now they thought they had the winning formula with Wilson and Payton.
Boom.
Another formula that exploded in the basement.
So, out with Wilson, and let's see if Payton still has it in him to coach a team to a championship. It is worth noting that no National Football League Head Coach has ever won a Super Bowl with one team and gone on to capture a Vince Lombardi Trophy with another. Payton led the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl win over Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts to complete the 2009 season.
Ironically, Manning was also the last quarterback to win a Super Bowl for the Broncos, leading Denver to the title in his final professional season, 2015. Ever since that triumph, Denver has been in search of a franchise quarterback with absolutely no luck.
Until perhaps now.
It is worth noting that Wilson came into the league as a third-round draft choice of the Seattle Seahawks, won the starting job in the preseason, and had Seattle in the Super Bowl in his second and third campaigns. Again, ironically, his lone Super Bowl win was over Manning and the Broncos to complete the 2013 season.
This year, the Broncos spent their first pick in the draft on Bo Nix, a quarterback out of Oregon who not unlike Wilson in 2012, played so well in his first preseason game that all competition for the job may soon fade to black.
Nix got his first professional experience last week against the Indianapolis Colts when he entered the game late in the first quarter. The rookie signal caller guided Denver to four straight scoring drives with a pair of touchdowns and two field goals. In all, Nix completed 15 of his 21 pass attempts and registered a quarterback ranking of 102.3.
Has the Denver second-year head coach found his diamond to lead the Broncos out of the rough?
I know, it’s just the preseason, but it was just the preseason in 2012 when Wilson impressed in the summer and went on to a Hall of Fame caliber career in Seattle.
Right now, Nix appears on track to excel and with Payton running the show the Broncos may have finally arrived with a winning formula.