Defense, newfound running game carry Broncos as Nix refines his passing

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As Bo Nix continues to develop as an NFL passer, the Broncos have figured out how to win here and there through first, through strong defense, and more recently, a formidable running game.

They can be Bo’s best buddies, a defense that ranks No. 3 in the NFL in both yards and points allowed, and a running game that just accumulated 225 yards at New Orleans which was the most since a late November 2013 game on a blustery night at New England, when Knowshon Moreno accounted for 224 of the team’s 280 rushing yards.

“Well hopefully that’s the identity of any championship team,’’ Broncos head coach Sean Payton said during his Monday media conference call. “You want to play good defense. Now there’s some weeks where you might have to throw it more than run it. But a lot of it depends on the game plan and who we’re playing, relative to what we’re trying to do.”

Nix has been part of the Broncos’ recent rushing success, gaining 136 yards on 16 carries in the last two games combined, an impressive 8.5 yards per carry average.

“He’s a little bit faster than we anticipated coming out (out of the draft), so it does give you a little flexibility, particularly on third down or in the red zone,’’ Payton said.

As for the quarterback experts who point out Nix’s poor footwork on the intermediate throws he misses, Payton indicated it’s important not to take away the good while trying to repair the not-so-good.

“You’ve got to be careful you’re not overcoaching it,’’ Payton said. “There are some things he does very well out of the pocket, or climbing up in the pocket. We start with the timing of the route, the depth of the route … Then we work on the rhythm of the play so that his feet marry up to the depth of the route. And the times when he climbs the pocket or is moving in the pocket, we’re pretty smart about how much we say or how much we try to fix.”