Bo Nix suffers season-ending injury during playoff win vs Bills

The Broncos are headed to the AFC Championship Game, but it came with the worst possible cost. Bo Nix’s season is over.

After Denver’s 33-30 overtime win against the Bills, head coach Sean Payton confirmed that Bo Nix suffered a fractured right ankle and will undergo surgery on Tuesday.

The injury happened on the second-to-last play of overtime when Nix scrambled for extra yardage before Will Lutz’s game-winning field goal. One play later, the Broncos were celebrating. Minutes after that, their postseason outlook completely changed.

Bo Nix done with the season with ankle fracture

*This* appears to be the play from the #Broncos–#Bills game that Denver HC Sean Payton is referring to when he said QB Bo Nix suffered a season-ending right ankle fracture.

“The second-to-last play, before he threw the pass to (Marvin) Mims.”

It was a QB run. | @TheAthleticNFL pic.twitter.com/GHY9eVp7Yl

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) January 18, 2026

Bo Nix was excellent when it mattered most. He finished 26-of-46 for 279 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, and he led the team in rushing with 29 yards on 12 carries. He was aggressive, tough, and in control of the game in the biggest moment of his career. Then one scramble ended it all.

This is the brutal side of football. Denver survives, advances, and instantly loses the one player they could not afford to lose. Nix was the engine of this run, and now the Broncos are one win away from the Super Bowl without him.

Here’s Sean Payton delivering the Bo Nix news:

(@MySportsUpdate)
pic.twitter.com/ifBrhHWhPo

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) January 18, 2026

That means Jarrett Stidham is up next. Stidham will start the AFC Championship Game against either the Patriots or Texans. He is in his third year with the Broncos, but he has not thrown a pass in an NFL game since 2023. That is not an ideal situation when the season is on the line, no matter how much Payton tries to sell confidence at the podium.

This win should have been all about Denver punching its ticket to the final four. Instead, it feels like a gut punch. The Broncos are still alive, but the margin for error is gone. Everything just got harder, and the clock is ticking on whether this magical run can survive without the quarterback who got them here.

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