KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bo Nix did everything in his power to help the Denver Broncos end the Kansas City Chiefs' perfect start to the season.
Maybe he should have been blocking on their fateful field goal try, too.
The rookie quarterback bounced back from a poor performance in an embarrassingly lopsided loss to Baltimore by shredding what had been one of the NFL's best defenses on Sunday. Nix completed 22 of 30 passes for 215 yards and two scores without an interception, and he was unflappable in driving the Broncos down the field for the potential winning kick.
Only problem: The Chiefs blocked it, spoiling his otherwise memorable day and dealing Denver a 16-14 loss.
“It doesn't hurt you if you don't care,” Nix said. "It doesn't hurt if it doesn't mean anything to you. Everybody in that locker room is hurt because we do all the stuff. We put in the energy and the effort. Eventually it's going to go in our favor.
“The easy thing to do is stop,” Nix added, “but I feel our locker room is going to respond better.”
The only real flaws in Nix's performance against the Chiefs, who entered the game with the NFL's fifth-best defense and fourth-best scoring defense, came when he was under pressure. On multiple occasions, the 12th overall pick in April's draft backpedaled while getting sacked, resulting in huge losses that forced the Broncos to punt.
Dealing with pressure has become a bit of a problem; Nix also was sacked four times in that 41-10 loss to the Ravens.
But there also were plenty of superb plays amid the raucous din of Arrowhead Stadium to give the Broncos (5-5) hope that they at last have another quarterback who can help them compete with Mahomes and the Chiefs (9-0) in the AFC West.
There was the easy third-down flick to Devaughn Vele in the second quarter to give Denver a 7-0 lead. And the much tougher third-down throw to Courtland Sutton, who hauled in the 32-yard pass to extend the lead to 14-3 later in the first half.
“I thought he played well,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of his quarterback. “Gutsy.”
Things didn't go quite as well in the second half, when Kansas City started to figure out the Broncos' scheme. Denver's first drive was derailed by a holding penalty on Ben Powers, the next when Nick Bolton sacked Nix for a 17-yard loss, and its third chance with the ball was a three-and-out made worse by a false start penalty on the punt.
“I think (Nix) did a good job of playing within the system," Bolton said. “He made a couple of tough throws.”
Still, Nix and the rest of the Denver offense were left to watch their defense try to preserve a 14-13 advantage.
The Chiefs took possession with 10:40 left, and Mahomes converted on third-and-13 with a 31-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins down the sideline. Three players later, the two-time NFL MVP hit Travis Kelce to convert on third down again. But when Mahomes missed Kelce open in the end zone on another third down, Kansas City had to settle for Harrison Butker's field goal.
Nix trotted back onto the field with just under six minutes left knowing a field goal would be enough.
He threw a strike to Marvin Mims and another to Sutton to convert a third down. Nix hit Sutton again later in the drive, and Audric Estime kept it going with a 6-yard run on third-and-1. Three players later, Nix found Sutton again for 13 yards, giving the Broncos a first down at the Chiefs 17 and the opportunity to run the clock all the way down to nothing.
Everything went according to plan until the Chiefs got their hands on Wil Lutz's would-be winner.
“I feel like every team practices their four-minute offense. I thought as far as that drive taking five or six minutes off the clock, that is what everybody wants to do,” Nix said. “They just made one extra play. When we thought it was in our hands, it wasn't.”
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Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) talks with Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix following an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 16-14. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) scrambles away from Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah (97) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix pauses during a news conference following an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 16-14. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
SALEM, N.J. (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, as they were cycling on a rural New Jersey road briefly appeared in court Tuesday, where the judge extended the window for prosecutors to seek an indictment.
The brief hearing, in which the judge granted prosecutors 30 additional days in which to seek formal charges in the Gaudreaus' Aug. 29 deaths, marked the first time the Gaudreau family and the 44-year-old defendant, Sean M. Higgins, faced one another in court. Previously, Higgins appeared at hearings via video from behind bars.
Authorities say Higgins, who is from Woodstown, in southwestern New Jersey, was impaired after he drank five or six beers on the day he drove into the brothers' bicycles, and that he has a history of road rage and aggressive driving.
Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey on the eve of their sister's wedding. The family, including their father, Guy Gaudreau, declined to comment on the case Tuesday at the Salem County Courthouse.
Higgins told police that on the day of his arrest, he had been driving around for two hours while talking to a friend on the phone after having an upsetting conversation with his mother.
A driver who was in front of Higgins told police that Higgins had been driving aggressively. When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and moved left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreaus, she said.
Higgins had a blood-alcohol level of .087, which is above the state’s .08 legal limit, and he failed a field sobriety test, police said. He faces preliminary charges of two counts of death by auto, reckless driving, possession of an open container, and consuming alcohol in a vehicle.
Higgins faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of one of the death by auto counts. The judge said that made him a flight risk and ordered him jailed until the trial.
Defense lawyer Matthew Portella has called Higgins “a loving father of two daughters,” and a good person who “made a horrible decision that night.” Portella declined to comment after Tuesday's hearing.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the NHL and was set to start his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames.
Sean M. Higgins, right, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse with his lawyer Matthew Portella, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, left, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, listens to lawyer Richard Klineburger during an appearance at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, right, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse with his lawyer Matthew Portella, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn speaks during an appearance for Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, appears at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Judge Michael Silvanio speaks during an appearance for Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Sean M. Higgins, the driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road, is flanked by his layers, Matthew Portella, left, and Richard Klineburger, right, at the Salem County, N.J., Courthouse, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Salem, N.J. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
