Sean Payton\u2019s plan to become an NFL quarterback ended after a stint with the Chicago Bears as a replacement player and a year with England\u2019s Leicester Panthers.<\/p>\n
So the 25-year-old former Eastern Illinois star mapped out a trip to San Diego State, loaded up his weathered Chevy Cavalier and drove from Chicago to take a coaching job under Aztecs coach Denny Stolz in 1988.<\/p>\n
Payton did indeed have a bright future in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl alongside quarterback Drew Brees. And now, because he was right about Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, the 62-year-old Payton and the Denver Broncos stand one win from the club\u2019s ninth Super Bowl appearance.<\/p>\n
With Nix making plays and protecting the ball, the Broncos beat the Bills 33-30 in overtime Saturday to advance to the AFC\u2019s Super Bowl qualifier against the Patriots-Texans winner.<\/p>\n
But the win came with a brutal price: Nix sustained a broken ankle deep into the game-winning, field-goal drive, ending his postseason.<\/p>\n
Payton will turn to Jarrett Stidham, a veteran who knows Payton\u2019s system.<\/p>\n
The game will be in Denver, where Mile High magic continues to haunt visiting teams.<\/p>\n
Forcing five turnovers, the Broncos improved to 9-1 in home games and 12-2 in contests decided by one score. Payton\u2019s club played the sharper game, finishing with just three penalties overall and one turnover.<\/p>\n
The Bills (13-6) suffered their seventh playoff loss in the past seven years. Denver improved to 15-3.<\/p>\n
Both teams showed grit on a day when numerous players exited with game-ending ailments, including two gruesome head injuries.<\/p>\n
The Bronco made big plays via extreme effort.<\/p>\n
When Bills star QB Josh Allen dangled the ball on a downfield run late in the first half, edge rusher Nik Bonitto, having run far, swatted it from behind for a crucial takeaway.<\/p>\n
Undrafted Broncos cornerback Ja\u2019Quan McMillian made the biggest play of overtime by wrestling the ball from receiver Brandin Cooks after his leaping grab. The on-field call of an interception was sustained by the replay judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cCooks doesn\u2019t have possession,\u201d said CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore, a former NFL official.<\/p>\n
It was Allen\u2019s second interception of the game to go with two fumbles, each forced by Bonitto.<\/p>\n
Without a good game from Nix, though, the Broncos may have been cooked.<\/p>\n
After the Broncos drafted Nix 12th overall as the sixth QB drafted in 2024, Payton said Nix had a rare mind for football and would be able to process the game very well early in his career.<\/p>\n
The evaluation has held up, and Nix also has shown more mobility than he did in a 61-game career split between Oregon and Auburn.<\/p>\n
Against the Bills, Nix led six scoring drives of at least 64 yards, including a sharp two-minute attack in the first half. This despite losing two receivers to game-ending injuries in the first half.<\/p>\n
On the drive that led to Wil Lutz\u2019s game-winning 23-yard field goal, Nix threw two deep balls that netted 17 and 30 yards, respectively, for defensive pass interference.<\/p>\n
This Payton-Nix tandem isn\u2019t the NFL\u2019s flashiest. But it\u2019s productive.<\/p>\n
Nix has started all 36 games possible. Already, he has played in two NFL playoff games. And with Saturday\u2019s win, he has one more playoff victory than Justin Herbert, the Chargers\u2019 QB and fellow Oregon alum who is 0-3 in the postseason.<\/p>\n
Stidham can\u2019t match Nix\u2019s ability to make plays as a scrambler and designed rusher, nor can he stretch the vertical defense as well. But the Broncos have a good offensive line and a high-speed, creative defense.<\/p>\n
And in Denver, there\u2019s a long history of visiting teams coming unraveled late in games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sean Payton\u2019s plan to become an NFL quarterback ended after a stint with the Chicago Bears as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,752,74,76,75,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-138469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}