PlayAction column: Unlike most rookies, Denver's Bo Nix excels at avoiding sacks

The prospect of facing a rookie quarterback in his first playoff game normally would be a lick-their-chops moment for opposing pass rushers.

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, however, has succeeded this season where so many other rookies who scramble their way into sacks fail.

The Broncos rank fifth best in the league in sacks allowed per pass attempt.

One big factor in Nixs favor is the Broncos have one of the better offensive lines in the NFL.

A clear indicator of whos going to win is that offensive line-defensive line combination, said Bills defensive end Von Miller.

And its a little tougher to decide this week versus the Denver Broncos because they have a really good offensive line, a really good defensive line as well.

Pro Football Focus ranks the Broncos offensive line No.

2 in the regular season, behind only Philadelphia.

PFF put the Bills No.

5.

The two elite players on the Broncos line are left tackle Garett Bolles and right guard Quinn Meinerz.

Bills defensive end Von Miller has a lot of respect for former Denver teammate Garett Bolles.

I feel like hes one of the best left tackles in the league, Miller said of Bolles.

Hes playing really, really good, and hes going to play really good on Sunday.

We just got to find a way to make plays.

Hes played some of the best pass rushers in the league, Khalil Mack ...

and he does an excellent job.

We just got to find the small windows to go in there and make plays.

Offensive line analyst Brandon Thorn of the Trench Warfare Podcast rates Kansas Citys Trey Smith and Meinerz as the top two at right guard in the NFL.

These two guys are the most physically imposing right guards in the league, and I dont think its really close, Thorn said.

These guys are dynamic, dominant run blockers.

Meanwhile, Nixs athleticism allows him to avoid sacks.

PFF ranked him eighth among starting QBs at avoiding sacks when pressured (Josh Allen is first).

Bills backup linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio played Nix three times the past two years when his Washington team played Nixs Oregon Ducks.

Washington won all three in shootouts (34-31, 36-33, 37-34) but sacked Nix just once in three games.

I think the thing watching him thats interesting in my eyes, I thought he was a better passer than a runner, but hes moving very elusively, Ulofoshio said.

Hes up there with anybody in terms of mobile quarterbacks.

Youve got to respect him in both phases.

One factor to watch on Sunday: Nixs performance against the blitz.

While Nix has taken only eight sacks on blitzes, hes 25th in passing efficiency on blitz plays and 32nd in completion percentage (56.8%), according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Quotable Broncos coach Sean Payton on the importance of sack avoidance: Jim Nantz's call alongside analyst Tony Romo for Sundays wild-card playoff game (1 p.m., WIVB-TV) between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos is a historic one.

The reason I think its important when you do these studies ...

you can analytically assign points per drive.

You get 11 or 12 drives a game, give or take.

Then you can analytically say, What do my points per drive look like after a sack? Obviously, those numbers drop.

Lets say its an 8-yard penalty, loss of down.

It goes against trying to stay on schedule.

It goes against getting to the third-down numbers that are manageable.

Then, theres this emotional and psychological toll with a sack that you have to overcome.

No.

1, what it does to put you off schedule.

The 30,000-foot view General managers Brandon Beane of the Bills and George Paton of the Broncos might want to shake hands on the field before the game and congratulate themselves on making it to the Dead Cap Bowl.

Both made difficult decisions to absorb the pain of a tough divorce all in one year.

The Broncos realized quarterback Russell Wilson was taking them nowhere and parted ways with him, accepting a $53 million dead cap hit.

Denver leads the NFL this season in dead cap space at $89 million, or 35% of their cap spending for the year, according to the sports financial website Spotrac.

Buffalo, of course, threw receiver Stefon Diggs overboard at a cost of $31.09 million in dead cap space.

The Bills stand at $75 million in dead cap space, third most in the league, and 29.4% of their total cap.

The Giants are No.

2 at $82.5 million.

For perspective, when Beane and Sean McDermott pushed the reset button on the roster in the 2018 season, they absorbed $70 million in dead cap space, or a whopping 39.5% of their salary cap for the season.

The Bills went 6-10 but were primed for a big move the next season.

Rookie support The Bills held a rookies-only meeting after practice Wednesday, conducted by the teams player development staff.

The point was to make sure the rookies were properly focused for the playoffs, as reported by The News Katherine Fitzgerald.

The Broncos set a franchise record with 63 sacks this season, and they know their best chance at upsetting the Buffalo Bills in Sundays AFC wild-card game is to put pressure on quarterback Josh Allen.

The Bills allowed a league-low 14 sacks.

They do kind of these check-ins with us all the time, said defensive tackle DeWayne Carter.

So theres different (meetings) preseason, midseason, postseason, whatever it may be, and this was postseason, now.

Basically just checking, making sure (were in the) right headspace, reminding us kind of who all we can talk to, with the intensity, how it turns up, or whatever it may be, especially since its our first time.

The meeting was run by Mark Carrier, director of player engagement, and Kelsey Harkins, coordinator of player services.

Carrier played 12 seasons in the NFL, the last four for the Carolina Panthers, and caught 569 passes.

On a message from the meeting, Carter said: Just stay ready.

Obviously, were young guys on this team, and this team plays a lot of guys.

So you dont know when your number could be called at any point, so just stay ready, be ready to play, and help the team however you can.

Big slot Taron Johnson has an interesting matchup with Denver rookie slot receiver Devaughn Vele, who is 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds.

Vele (pronounced Veh-lay) is bigger than most slots and calls to mind Paytons prototypical big slot in New Orleans, Marques Colston.

He was 6-5, 225, and caught 711 passes for the Saints.

Vele, a seventh-round pick out of Utah, has 41 catches this season.

He was actually my locker mate at Utah, said Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid.

Off the field, hes a great guy.

Hes a phenomenal player on the field.

Its pretty good to see his success being a later-round draft pick.

We played basketball all the time, and hes a converted basketball player.

Stats for the road Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II has split his snaps almost 50-50 between right outside cornerback and left outside cornerback.

He almost never plays in the slot.

Will he travel with one of the Bills wideouts? ...

Buffalo has 486 wins, 19 playoff victories and four Super Bowl appearances since 1960.

Denver has 518 wins, 23 playoff victories and three Super Bowl crowns in eight appearances.

...

Payton has 179 coaching wins in 17 seasons, tied for 17th most.

Get in the game with our Prep Sports Newsletter Sent weekly directly to your inbox! Bills/NFL writer {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..

This article has been shared from the original article on buffalonews, here is the link to the original article.