Coming into Kansas City and taking on the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Broncos did everything in their power to emerge victorious. And for the most part, they looked like they would. However, it just wasn’t meant to be, as the Chiefs maintained their unbeaten record thanks to a special teams player. Although the Chiefs finally had a lead in the fourth quarter, Bo Nix led the Broncos to set up a 35-yard field goal attempt. And it was all but certain that the hosts were going to taste their first defeat of the season.

Linebacker Leo Chenal had some other plans as he leapt the highest to block Wil Lutz’s kick, thereby sending the Broncos empty-handed and Patrick Mahomes into a frenzy as he ran like crazy to celebrate the 16-14 victory. On the other hand, coming up against the league’s best defense, Bo Nix had a nearly perfect outing as he completed 22 of 30 passes for 215 yards. He even scored two TDs without a single interception on Sunday, as the Broncos pressurized Mahomes to no end—they sacked the Chiefs QB four times, and forced their opponents to choose three field goals on its four trips to the red zone.

Finishing with a passer rating of 115.3, Nix had a spectacular day that even got Mahomes—who’s evidently struggling in the current season—heavily praising the rookie. But it still wasn’t enough and their hopes of a first win against the Chiefs at the Arrowhead Stadium since 2015 went down in flames. In Mahomes’ own words, “Way to play your a– off. Keep leading those dudes. It’s just the first one, we got a lot of these.” Notably, Mahomes wasn’t the only one who appreciated the efforts of the 24-year-old.

Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton, who had previously compared Nix to his former QB and Super Bowl winner Drew Brees, said, “For a rookie quarterback, I think all of these are steps. Confidence steps. We’ve seen it. The key is and I’ve said it, the key is around him. Are we good enough at these other positions around him? That’s what we’re constantly looking at. We have to paint the picture, and when we do that, we’ll have success.” This game surely proved one thing: Nix does have the capability to stand tall on those Brees comparisons.

Payton’s latest comments come months after he had mentioned how Nix’s pocket presence and ability to make the right decisions has shades of Brees written all over him. “I think it’s a trait that when we watched his tape, you see a pretty good pocket sense. Brees was one of those guys. He was a tough sack. The football came out quickly, and I think Bo has traits like that,” the 61-year-old had said back in August. Well, Payton spent a chunk of his coaching career with Brees as his signal-caller. So him drawing out similarities between the two isn’t surprising. And now that Nix is settling well in his rebuild in Denver, the future for the Broncos does look high.

But for now, the Mile High City remains devastated after their loss to the Chiefs, which put their playoff hopes in a limbo.

Bo Nix’s Broncos dejected as Patrick Mahomes jumps in jubilation

Although Payton was proud of his players after their fight in Chiefs Kingdom, it was a heartbreaking loss, plummeting them to a 5-5 record: “I told our team I was proud of how they fought. I thought we outplayed them. Nonetheless, you have to beat a champion. We weren’t able to do it. It is gut-wrenching.” Reportedly, the heartbreak was so much so that Lutz, who missed the last kick of the game, was close to tears in the Denver locker room.

“It didn’t go in. That was my vantage point. We’re all still trying to take it in right now,” the placekicker lamented about the loss, as defensive lineman Zack Allen described it as the “worst loss I’ve ever had in my life”.

Furthermore, defensive tackle Malcolm Roach spoke of the despair in the locker room, and said, “Games like this are supposed to hurt, man…We see the faces on everybody in this locker room. It’s supposed to hurt because we’re so invested, man. Everybody works their tail off every day, and we see it. If you’re not invested in it, it wouldn’t feel this way. It wouldn’t feel this bad. We know where we want to go, where we’re trying to go, where we’re fighting to go. We’ve got to give this city something to be proud of.” 

Nix, on the other hand, took a deep breath and stared at the sky. But Broncos‘ offensive tackle, Mike McGlinchey, still isn’t ready to give up yet, “If you’re hanging your head at this point of the season. I don’t think you belong in this league. We’re 5-5. We’re right in the thick of it. And we kind of control our own destiny here as this goes out.” As things stand, the Broncos would have to win a three-team horse to claim the final Wild Card spot.

It also depends on the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers, who are fighting for their own spots. Do you think the Broncos will be able to turn their misfortunes around?