DENVER — The biggest play of the game, the most costly play in the Broncos' second loss in as many games this season, was easy enough to describe.
"Uh yeah. Dropped back, threw it to the other team,'' said Bo Nix. And nothing more.
Nix is the Broncos' quarterback who threw the interception into the back of the end zone, ruining a two long-pass completion sequence, and a second-and-goal chance from the 6 yard line. Convert there and who knows.
But Nix is a rookie and rookies make rookie mistakes and this gaffe loomed large in the Broncos' 13-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on an sweltering, 88-degree, sunny Sunday afternoon before a sold-out gathering of free orange towel waving and gold Terrible Towel circling fans at Empower Field at Mile High.
The Steelers are 2-0 with both wins coming on the road while the Broncos dropped to 0-2.
"I'm hot, frustrated,'' said Broncos' outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper as he otherwise excused himself as he left the losing home locker room.
The Broncos knew heading into this season there would be growing pains with their rookie quarterback. But that didn't make the Broncos or their fans feel any better when Nix threw that costly pick in the end zone.
"We had a mistake in the route, too,'' said Broncos' head coach and play caller Sean Payton. "So there's some dirty hands on that play. But it's a fair question."
If yards were points, the Steelers would have trounced the Broncos by a halftime mercy rule.
Luckily for the Broncos, they still had a chance as they were only down 10-0 at the break. The Nix interception of note occurred midway through the third quarter and just as it appeared he and the Broncos' offense had something going.
After focusing his game plan on an abundance of short passes out of respect to the Steelers' excellent defenders like T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick, Payton starting having Nix throw it down the field midway through the third quarter.
On back-to-back plays, Nix drilled a completion to Courtland Sutton for 26 yards -- Sutton's only catch of the game. Then following some razzle-dazzle -- running back Javonte Williams taking the direct snap, moving left to pitch back to the receiver Sutton, who pitched it back to Nix -- the quarterback heaved it down the middle where Josh Reynolds outmaneuvered multiple Steeler defenders for a 49-yard reception.
The Broncos had first and goal at the 7.
But on second and goal from the 6, Nix threw a pass towards Sutton in the back of the end zone -- only to have Steeler defensive back Cory Trice Jr. step inside to intercept it. Ugh.
Steelers' ball out to the 20. No points for the Broncos. A killer mistake in a low-scoring, one-score game.
"That falls on me,'' Nix said when first asked about the pick. "That was just a bad decision. Can't have that.''
"I wouldn't be able to tell you what they see back in that pocket,'' Sutton said when asked about the play. "I have so much respect for every quarterback who sits back there and takes snaps. ... So I don't know what they see back there. All I know is they trust us to be in a spot and sometimes defense makes good plays. They have a lot of guys over there that get paid money to do their job at a high level. Sometimes you have to tip your hat to a guy who makes a good play and that guy (Trice) made a good play."
The Broncos are already in trouble. They are 0-2 with a two-game, 9-day Eastern road trip at 2-0 Tampa Bay and at the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets up next.
“It was disappointing,'' Payton said. "I just finished telling the coaches that that (offensive) side of the ball needs to get cleaned up. That starts with me. We have to start really looking at who we are asking to do what. It was frustrating because there were certain elements that went according to plan field position-wise. Our inability to score and convert third downs ultimately hurt us.”
In between those games against the Bucs and Jets, the Broncos will stay out East at a hotel in West Virginia.
"That'll be good staying on the East Coast,'' said defensive end Zach Allen, who has played well enough to be 2-0. "I've never done a stayover but I'm looking forward to it, being with the guys 24-7."
The Broncos' deficit could have been worse than 10-0 at halftime as the Steelers had 189 yards in total offense to 62 for Denver.
Steelers quarterback Justin Fields has been superb filling in for the calf-injured Russell Wilson, completing 10 of 12 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown by halftime. Fields had also rushed for 26 yards on five carries at the half. He was outstanding for three quarters against the Denver defense last season as a member of the Chicago Bears.
The Bears were up 28-7 late in the third quarter in that game but Russell Wilson led a Broncos’ comeback for a 31-28 Denver win.
The Broncos’ quarterback now is the rookie Nix, who was 7 of 11 but for only 39 yards at halftime as all pass attempts have been short. He was sacked twice.
Payton started calling more downfield throws in the second half and Nix finished 20 of 35 for 246 yards with two interceptions.
The Steelers led 7-0 after the first quarter as Fields converted a third-and-goal with a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Darnell Washington. Each team had two full possessions in the opening quarter with the Steelers outgaining the Broncos, 81 yards to 8.
Payton tried to establish a running game early but again the yards were hard to come by and his offense started with back-to-back, three-and-outs. Take away Nix scrambles and the Broncos rushed for a mere 39 yards off 15 carries, a desultory 2.6 yards per carry. Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin, the Broncos' top two running backs, combined for 23 yards on 14 carries, an embarrassing 1.6 yards per carry.
Perhaps practice squader Tyler Badie should be the top back. He got one carry in the second quarter and busted it for 16 yards. Badie never got the ball again.
Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell kicked a 22-yard field goal to end the first half and a 53-yarder in the third quarter to put Pittsburgh up, 13-0. From there the Steelers went into somewhat of a Four Corners offense although Denver's defense deserves credit for stiffening, also.
The Broncos finally scored on a short Wil Lutz field goal with 10:42 left in the fourth quarter. The key to the field goal drive was Nix converting a fourth and 6 from the Steeler 44 by hitting Reynolds, who got wide open across the middle for a 22-yard gain.
But the drive ended without a touchdown, as was the case with all of the Broncos' drives on this Sunday afternoon against Pittsburgh. In the end, the Broncos managed to outgain the Steelers, 295-251 -- Pittsburgh had just 62 yards of offense in the second half. But through two games, Nix has thrown four interceptions with no touchdown passes.
"There's learning curves that go into being a rookie quarterback,'' Sutton said. "There's obviously expectations that go into being a first-round rookie quarterback. And I think he's handling it well. ... I've been around the block and have seen a lot of other guys be in that position and he doesn't waver. He continues to battle, as we've seen these first two weeks. He hasn't went out there and given up. ... He's not a quitter, he doesn't get discouraged at himself. He has this spirit of, 'I got us.' You want that out of your quarterback. You want that out of a young guy. He's only going to keep getting better."
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