The Denver Broncos might have one of the greatest defenses of all time in 2025. That’s not hyperbole. They have the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in cornerback Patrick Surtain II and the likely next NFL Defensive Player of the Year in edge rusher Nik Bonitto. The Broncos also have a real chance of breaking the NFL’s single season record for team sacks set by the 1984 Chicago Bears.
Winners of 7 consecutive games, the Broncos are now 8-2 with both of their losses coming in the last second of games in the first 3 weeks of the regular season.
The reason the Broncos aren’t undefeated falls almost squarely on the shoulders of second year quarterback Bo Nix, who has seen his sophomore campaign picked apart in the national media.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando put Nix in the category of “Too early to say, but there’s been good with the bad” in his NFL QB tiers alongside Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Sando also points out that the Broncos might have a limited ceiling with Nix under center.
“The Broncos have won seven consecutive games with a mixture of defense and fourth-quarter heroics from Nix and the offense,” Sando wrote on Thursday, November 13.”It’s an unsustainable formula that is temporarily tabling more consequential discussions regarding Nix’s trajectory. The quarterback’s year-over-year efficiency has declined by almost every measure except for sack rate, which was already low. It’s looking like next season will be defining for Nix’s trajectory with the Broncos.”
Nix’s play at the end of his rookie year in 2024 encouraged the Broncos and their fans he could take the momentum of leading the team to the playoffs for the first time in 9 years and spin it forward to 2025. That just hasn’t happened.
While Nix has been spectacular at times — mostly late in games — he’s been a frustrating player to watch the rest of the time.
The biggest problem, if we’re going to single one thing out, has been deep, downfield throws. Nix seems to be lacking the accuracy we’ve seen from other 2024 first round picks like New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
That’s too bad, because his struggles start to reflect poorly on what’s probably an underrated group of wide receivers led by Courtland Sutton and with young talent like second year wide receiver Troy Franklin and rookie Pat Bryant trailing not far behind.
Nix will be playing for big money in 2026, if he isn’t already. That’s when he’s eligible for his first big-time contract extension. Depending on how he plays over the rest of the year and next year, there could be a wild variation to what that amount ends up being.
Right now, Nix would probably be in line for a deal that would probably pay him in the range of $50 million to $60 million per year.
If he continues his current path of regression, it’s not hard to see the Broncos lowballing him along the lines of $30 million to $40 million per year, if not just outright parting ways with him after 2027.
On Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings look to rebound after losing four of their last five games with a matchup against one of the hottest teams in the league to start the season with the Anaheim Ducks. GM Pat Verbeek told everyone before the start of the off-season that he was going to be aggressive in getting his Ducks back to the playoffs and with a couple free agent adds and breakouts from young prospects, the Ducks are back and an 11-4-1 record.
It’ll be one of the season’s biggest tests yet for the Red Wings this season as they look to respond after losing 5-2 to the Ducks when on the road during their California road trip, two weeks ago. It’ll be the 99th meeting between these two clubs and it should be a good one as the Detroit faithful will bring their manic energy that they are known for to help prevent their team from losing their fourth straight.
The Red Wings had depth scoring carrying them through the early part of the season but over this recent stretch, the team has been far more reliant on it’s star players. Early season breakout Emmitt Finnie was stellar to start the season with eight points in his first nine career games but since the 20-year-old winger has gone seven straight without a point. To be fair to the youngster, he shouldn’t be so heavily relied upon to score at such a young age.
It should be the veterans that should be bringing some timely scoring with James van Riemsdyk, J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp and Mason Appleton all needing to contribute more, as the four have a combined one goal and six assists over the last seven games. Not to mention, many were expecting a breakout out of forward Marco Kasper after his red hot finish to last season but the 21-year-old Austrian has seen a slower than expected start to this season with three goals and no assists through 16 games.
A similar start to the season was recently seen by the Winnipeg Jets, where the team was heavily reliant on their top forward line of stars like Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. In their most recent win on Tuesday, they saw a complete effort with four of the five goals in the 5-3 win coming from other sources besides the top forward unit. This needs to happen with the Red Wings as captain Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond as well as Alex DeBrincat need more help.
They may be able to finally put together a complete team effort Thursday when facing off against a very familiar face. The Ducks have been playing starting goaltender Lukas Dostal quite frequently with starts in eight of their last nine games and could mean he gets a night off as Anaheim goes to their backup in former Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek.
The 33-year-old Czech backstop has a perfect 3-0-0 record this season but that has been mainly held up by his offense. Mrazek has a 4.57 goals against average and a .865 save percentage with 14 goals allowed in three games this season. If Mrazek does start, it should give the Red Wings a chance to finally spark some offense as they’ll likely need to if they want to keep up with the Ducks.
Anahiem’s forward group has received elite level scoring from across their lineup with their top line of Chris Kreider, Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry combining for 25 goals in 16 games. They’ve also seen production out of young talents like Detroit but at a much higher rate with Cutter Gauthier ranking second on the team in points with 20 in 16 games while 2025 first round pick Beckett Sennecke has six goals and five assists for 11 points just months after being selected 3rd overall as a 19-year-old.
The resurgence of the Ducks has also helped some of their older players like Jacob Trouba rediscover their game as the former Rangers captain has been playing some of the best hockey of his career with a team-best +16 rating with four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 16 games. It’s safe to say that if the Ducks’ offense, ranked second-best in the NHL, finds its rhythm, the Red Wings could be in for a long night.
DET ML (-139) | ANA ML (+115)
DET -1.5 (+165) | ANA -1.5 (-200)
O/U 6.5 Goals
It’s quite surprising after everything we just laid out, that the Red Wings are favorites in this game and that comes with the history between these two. The Ducks did beat the Red Wings just two weeks ago but prior to that, Detroit has won 16 of their last 23 home matchups versus Anaheim.
The Ducks have won just twice in their eight trips to the Motor City and will need to bring their best if they want to end their losing skid. Not to mention, both teams are slated for a turnaround game in the opposite direction of their recent trends as the Red Wings have lost three in a row while the Ducks are due for a loss with wins in seven of their last eight games.
The Red Wings will need to be mindful of Anaheim’s top scorer in Leo Carlsson, as the 20-year-old top line center has 26 points in 16 games, only trailing Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the league-lead. The Swedish export also has an dominant history in this matchup with points in all four of his career games versus Detroit with a goal and seven assists for eight points.
Detroit will look to respond with a healthy dose of Pat and Cat as the dynamic duo of Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat has been put on ice lately with Kane’s injury. Since his return, Kane has no points in two games and should respond versus a Ducks team that he has been able to excel against for years. The 36-year-old has 18 goals and 39 assists for 57 points in 53 career games versus Anaheim with a recent run of ten goals and 27 assists for 37 points over his last 25 games versus the Ducks.
Detroit: John Gibson (Season: 4-5-0 record, 3.15 GAA, .882 SV% | VS ANA: 27 Saves on 31 Shots, 4 Goals Allowed in One Start)
Anaheim: Petr Mrazek Expected (Season: 3-0-0 record, 4.57 GAA, .865 SV% | VS DET: 7-5-2 record, 3.26 GAA, .878 SV% in 16 games)