Sean Payton: I never felt like it was too big for Bo Nix

The Broncos were leading at halftime in Seattle on Sunday, but they gave up 17 straight points in the second half and wound up on the wrong side of a 26-20 final score.

Rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw an ill-advised interception into a thicket of Seahawks defenders during that second half, but he also ran for a late touchdown to give the Broncos a chance to pull off a comeback and said after the game that he doesn’t “think we were far off” from pulling off a road victory.

Nix finished 26-of-42 for 138 yards and threw another touchdown while being sacked twice and running five times for 35 yards. Head coach Sean Payton said he thought the quarterback looked “very comfortable and ready” on a day when everyone involved needed to put forth a stronger effort.

“I thought he was into it,” Payton said, via the team’s website. “I never felt like it was too big or confusing. He was sharp. I thought he actually extended some plays with his feet. And again, we’ll look at the tape, but we have to be better around him.”

The Broncos lost several close games last season on their way to finishing 8-9. They’ll need Nix to go from keeping them competitive to actually pulling out games like Sunday in order to find the right side of .500 this time around.